Stop Selling Just a "House." Sell a Beautiful Home to Make Memories In

Want to Sell Quickly and Profitably? Sell the "Outcome" of Buying

 

The famous sales guru, Jeffrey Gitomer, said that "People don't like to be sold...but they love to buy." And when you are selling your most precious asset - your home - you need to take that statement into consideration. Think about the word "love," and really assess whether or not your potential buyers could possibly fall in love with your home.  That's what it takes today - buyers need to fall in love. Buyers are out there...looking at house after house. They really do want to see one that they love - they don't want to see yet another disappointment.

 

If you are having trouble getting your home sold (or if you are just about to put it on the market) - you need to really take a long hard look at your home to see if it's got that "love" factor and you need to start thinking about "outcomes."

 

 

Stage Your Home...to Tug at a Buyer's Heartstrings



To help you along with this, here's what I mean about the "outcome" of buying your house. Let's put it into words, sentences or thoughts a potential buyer might say when they see a home they love.

• "I would love to cook big family dinners in this kitchen." 
•  "We could sit by the lovely fireplace and have a glass of wine."
• "I could get a peaceful night's sleep in this bedroom."
• "I can just imagine our kids playing in this big backyard."
• "What a great spot to have a cup of coffee in the morning before work."

Think about these buyer outcomes and apply them to what your home currently looks like. Is there a disconnect? Start thinking like a buyer would - I call it "buyers' eyes." A qualified home stager can help you with this - they know what a buyer is looking for and can help you achieve that in your home. They can help your home be a buyer magnet - the one that makes a buyer fall in love.

 

If you are in the Long Island or Queens area and you need help getting your home sold, give me a call at 631 793-1315. A consultation is painless, inexpensive and it's the ticket to getting your home sold.

 

Have a great day...

 

 

 



From a Pile of Coal Comes a Diamond

Just a quick post today.  Sometimes when I'm getting reading in the morning I have thoughts about improving my business or other people's businesses (including the business of selling a home, for instance).  I tell homeowners and realtors about the staging process and why it works...but some people listen and some don't.  Happy are those who listen to me because their homes move!

So I try to come up with ways to explain why you need your home to look great if you want to sell it. I try to come up with analogies and stories so that people get the concept. Pictures help a great deal...so here's my picture analogy of why you should make your home look the best it can and how a qualified home stager can help your home look its best.

Lumps of coal Source

Can turn into...

It takes work, but your house can be a Diamond! Which of these two pictures represents your house? Make sure it's in "Diamond" condition - then your days on market will be short!

Call me if you need any help getting your home ready for the Spring selling season! 631 793-1315

Image credit for diamond: Source

A Great Idea for FSBOs and Realtors to Quickly Post Their Properties Professionally on Craigslist

Just a quick post to let all of you know about a service that's free to use - it's called Thumbtack.  What's wonderful about it is once you've posted your information on the site, you can set up craigslist posts automatically (and they look great!) It's best to have a craigslist account first - then all you do is hit a few buttons - and within 15 minutes you have a great ad on craigslist.  This is great for For Sale By Owners and Realtors - you can post many pictures of your home/listing.  Here's an example of mine!

Creative Home Staging

Once you have signed up for Thumbtack - they will send you an email with a link on how to do your ad on craigslist.  Check it out and let me know how you do!

New EPA Lead Regulations Will Impact Home Buyers, Sellers & Realtors

Image by Runder via Flickr

New EPA Lead Regulations will impact the real estate industry in a big way. 

The EPA has come out with new lead safety procedures and regulations that are much more stringent that ever before.  All homes built before 1978 (with the possibility of having lead paint) now need to be tested and painted/repaired by certified lead abatement painters or contractors if remodelling work is to be done in the home.  Stiff penalties will be levied, if these guidelines are not adhered to.  Contractors need to be certified before they can work on these homes - they go through 8 hours of classes and an additional 2 hours of hands-on experience.


What does this mean to the realtor who suggests a painter or remodeller/handyman who is not certified to their cllient?  The realtor will be liable.  You can no longer just have the homeowner sign a waiver which releases them from any lead liability.


This will also impact costs to remodelling and painting.  If a home will need some renovations in order to bring it up to today's standards - the costs to remodel have now increased because of the stricter regulations.  Buyers needs to be aware of this - as well as sellers. 


We are scheduled to go through this training next month - and since April of this year, we have only been using subcontractors who have received this training and who know what they are doing.  This is serious business and the fines are serious money.  You should only be hiring certified lead abatement contractors to do work, if lead is suspected in the home.


Here are some additional sources for you to look at about the subject:


Trulia


EPA


Fine Homebuilding       


Call us if you have any questions about this!

The 9 Biggest Mistakes Home Sellers Make When Preparing and Staging Their Homes for Sale

Home sellers who make the following mistakes when preparing their homes for sale, will have their homes on the market for a lot longer than they want...and they will probably have to reduce their asking price.

1) Not Updating the Kitchen or Bathrooms. These are the two most important rooms in the house...the ones that make or break the ability to get an offer. And you don't even have to completely gut the kitchen or bath. See some of my earlier posts on how we updated several kitchens beautifully...and inexpensively. Even simple updates like painting your cabinets will create a new look that will be very appealing to a buyer. Buyers want a home that is move-in ready - but you don't have to replace everything in a kitchen or bath to achieve that. New faucets, clean and sparkling sinks, uncluttered countertops and new hardware can really spruce up these rooms. If the budget permits - do updated appliances, better countertops and new flooring.

Before: These kitchen cabinets were originally a mid tone taupe color

After: We painted the cabinets, added decorative onlays and we also created a beautiful faux marble look for the island countertop. You can make your kitchen beautiful...

without expensive replacement costs.
2) Not Caring About Curb Appeal. A buyer prejudges a home in 12 seconds from the outside of a home. That's why curb appeal is so very important if you want to attract a buyer to "come in." It's like the cover of a book - if the cover doesn't look interesting...chances are the book will be passed over.

3) Not De-Cluttering, Cleaning and Deodorizing. If you take the time to remove clutter, edit the amount of furniture you have in your rooms and clean your home to shine like a diamond - your space will look larger, more pristine and well-cared for. Endless knickknacks and collectibles in cabinets, magnets on the fridge and family photos all over the place deter potential buyers from envisioning themselves living in the home. It's best to pack up the treasures and make all surfaces shine. Making your house smell sunshine clean is also very important. You want to remove as many negatives as possible when your home is up for sale.

This bathroom would have looked great if the homeowner had removed the dated mirror, old towels and toiletries and added nice, fluffy white towels, a new faucet, shower curtain...and a neutral colored paint on the vanity and walls. Our company could have also created a limestone look on the countertop - a durable and beautiful finish that is less costly than buying and installing a new one.

4) Keeping Taste-Specific Furniture, Carpeting, Colors and Accessories as Part of the Decor. If you bought your home in the 70s or 80s and if the decor still reflects those eras, your home won't be on a potential buyers "make an offer" list. Odd colored carpets (teal is a big no-no), draperies, wall colors etc will not be appealing to a broad range of buyer. Why? Number one, not everyone has furniture that would go with specific colors - that's why neutral colors are the best to use when getting your home ready for sale. Another reason why taste-specific decor doesn't work is because more and more prospective buyers are young, first time homebuyers (ages 25-35). They weren't even born when Avocado and Harvest Gold were the "in" kitchen colors! The younger, first time buyer wants neutral colors, clean lines and uncluttered spaces. Tip: A buyer should not be able to tell if the seller is 90 or 30 years old and whether the seller is male or female.

 5)Trying to Sell A Home When It's Vacant. A home with no furniture is soulless and very unappealing. A vacant home can also translate into "desperate seller" in buyer-speak. The buyer gets the idea that a seller really needs to sell the home and so they assume the seller will take a lower offer. A vacant home never gets a full asking price offer - always lower. It's much more prudent to have a competent home stager bring in furniture and accessories - and make the home warm and livable. In addition, a vacant room actually looks smaller than it is. Plus - a buyer will only focus on the negatives of a space because there is nothing else to focus on.

Every hairline crack, every speck of dust...any minute "less then perfect" aspect of a house

is magnified when it's vacant.

6) Not Letting in as Much Light in to the House. Dark, heavy draperies, closed vertical blinds...any window covering that blocks light from coming in to a house - will not make the buyer feel that the home is bright and airy. You have to find ways to "steal the sunlight," as real estate guru Barbara Corcoran says. Add more light fixtures, uplights and take dark shades off your table lamps - replace with more translucent covers that will emit more light.

7) Refusing to Put Any Money into Necessary Repairs, Improving the House or Staging Before Selling. For every deferred repair, the homeowner will receive less money offered for the house. Avoid possible buyer objections by fixing the things that are wrong with the home. A wife may fall in love with a kitchen - but her husband will be looking at very crack, every bulge in the wall that spells water trouble and every electrical no-no in the house. Fix things before you have a buyer offer you less than you want. The money you spend on repairs will net you a bigger profit on your home. Also, consider hiring a home stager - even just for a consultation. Staging is an investment - not a cost. Plus, it's tax deductible. For every dollar you spend on staging, you get $3 in return.

8) Keeping Fido and Kitty at the Home When it's Being Shown. Many times I have been to Open Houses where I have been greeted by the family cat or dog. I have also attended Open Houses where there are 4 or 5 dogs in a crate - and they are all yapping and barking so much that I can hardly hear what the realtor is saying to me! I've also seen wee wee pads here and there at Open Houses. I am an animal lover - so these things never bother me. But, what about any prospective buyer who might be allergic to cats or dogs? It's best to keep the family pet away for the Open House day - and any time the house is being shown. You should also remove any sign (or odor) of pet ownership.

9) Not Marketing the Home Properly with Great Online Photos. With over 80% of potential buyers searching online first before viewing a property, it's imperative that a home look beautiful online. Badly lit pictures, cluttered surfaces in the photos and even just pictures of the exterior of the home (and no interior shots) spell "not worth a visit" to a prospective buyer. Even worse is when there are no photos of the home. Take the time to do a great photo shoot. It will really pay off. Staged homes, by the way - look great online.

Updating a Kitchen that has Soffits

Before the Transformation

There are many things that "date" a kitchen but one thing that broadcasts the fact that the kitchen is older is the presence of soffits. So, when you are selling your home - what do you do to offset these architectural wonders, other than an expensive renovation? Well - one thing you can do is to paint the entire kitchen a color that blends with the color of the cabinetry. If you have warm oak cabinets, paint the kitchen a warm, yellow/beige, for example. You want the soffits to recede - so don't paint them a contrasting color that will make them stand out.


We transformed these kitchen cabinets by using the soffits - but we added crown molding, paint and then did a faux oak woodgraining to match the already existing cabinets.

That's me, putting the first layer of woodgraining on the soffits

After we finished graining and matching the color of the oak cabinets (it was a bit hard because each cabinet had a slightly different tone of oak - probably from age), we then added a faux wood inlaid design on the soffit.

After: The cabinetry looks taller and more modern

With a little creativity, you can turn a negative into a positive. Before, these cabinets made the room look shorter - and the cabinets seemed shorter. This technique helps to "bring the eye up" and to bring a more modern feel to the room.

Welcome to My Blog and Why I Started it

Hi!

Welcome to my blog. I am new to this form of communication - but not new to helping homeowners transform their homes into beautiful spaces. What I want to share with everyone is some unique yet very simple ideas that you can use to make your home more marketable once you decide to put it up for sale.

I just heard some recent statistics for the New York/Long Island real estate market - for every day that your home remains on the market, you lose 1% of its value. That's an alarming number - and all the more reason to do everything you can to get your home in the best shape possible...so you can sell it more quickly.

Here are a few important things to consider when you are selling your home:

• Once you put your home up for sale, it is no longer your home...it's a product. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you will sell your home. Any product that appeals to the widest range of buyers has the best chance of selling. You may love your red painted walls - but not everyone loves that paint color. You may adore your teal colored carpet in your bedroom - but not everyone has furnishings that go with that color. You have to neutralize your color schemes so that they appeal to the most people.
• Make your home clutter free. The less stuff you have in a room - the more people can really "see" your home. For example - if you take the small appliances (toaster, canisters, coffee pot, dish drain etc) off your kitchen counter...potential buyers will be able to "see" that you have countertops. You want to sell your home - not your stuff.
• Improve your curb appeal: If your home doesn't look inviting on the outside - no one will want to come "inside"
• Make sure your home is Q Tip clean. From your front yard to your backyard...and from basement to the attic, make sure that every surface is spotless. Have a professional window cleaner make your windows shine.
  
• Make sure you have great photos of your home for flyers and for online marketing. Once you have de-cluttered, cleaned and painted, have your realtor take photographs (many real estate companies have photographers that they use) or, if you are selling the property yourself, have someone with a great digital camera take the photos - or consider hiring a professional. Important: 80% of today's buyers research real estate listing online first...before they even consider going to your open house. So - you must make sure that your home looks great online.