The Uninvited Stager Series

I found some interesting homes for sale this morning that will illustrate some common problems that sellers have when showing their homes for sale.  Very easy to fix...don't know why they still persist!  Always consult a home stager in your area when starting to market your home.  They will give you an unbiased opinion of your home because they don't have to tell you nice things that a potential realtor might say...because they are not making money from your listing!

Clutter: So easy to remedy this.  It would take me about a half hour to fix this room.

De-Clutter and Paint:  It would take 15 minutes to de-clutter this dining room and about a day to re-paint with a neutral color that will appeal to more buyers and will make the room look more spacious, light and airy. I would probably have chosen Carrington Beige (HC-93) from Benjamin Moore for this dining room.  It would help update it and make it a brighter room.  Here's a link to more suggestions from Benjamin Moore on great colors for home staging.

Cluttered and Too much Furniture in the Room:  This is a very spacious room but it looks smaller because of all the stuff in it.  There's no appeal at all in this photo. No care was taken to make this room warm and welcoming.  It says - "This is how we live...take it or leave it!"

Clutter, Clutter and more Clutter: This is a nice kitchen but you don't notice it...you notice "the stuff."

Below is a Competing Home's Kitchen:  Which would you prefer??

However...Once you looked around a bit in the above home, you'd find this...

So...this takes a few points off the house in terms of buyer magnetism. Always remove items that are just a bit too personal.  Deer heads are a big "No-No."

And along this line are decorating no-no's such as this: A different kind of clutter...

Below - I edited the amount of blue and white dishes (not perfectly!) but I think you can see that this would give you an impression that the kitchen is much larger and less cluttered!

These rooms (as seen on the online listing) feature just a little bit too much "blue and white."  Maybe some people will disagree with me (Do You?), but this type of decor in a house might put some people off.  It's a bit too cluttered - not like the kitchen clutter in the first grouping, but cluttered all the same.  This is decorative and very personalized clutter that will prevent the buyer from seeing the actual room.  They will only remember the blue and white items and NOT how clean and spacious the rooms were.

And...you should know that blue is one of those colors that people either love or hate.  So, you may be putting off half of the people who come to look (online or in person).  Try to tame your use of this color - or other very personalized color schemes. Also - this blue and white home might be saying to the buyers "Grandma lives here." That can be a nice, homey thing to some - but younger buyers (and even empty nesters) are looking for more modern decor in homes.

To recap...make sure that you clear your rooms of clutter (the ugly kind of day-to-day stuff and the decorative kind)...re-paint your rooms in lighter, neutral colors to make them brighter and more spacious.  And - reduce the use of very personalized colors and decorating schemes and...get rid of your deer heads!!

If you are having some difficulty selling you home and if you don't know if your home has any of the above issues, Contact Me, Linda

Happy Selling!!

The Uninvited Stager Series

Today I found a home online that could have looked so much better - if only some care had been taken before the shots were taken.  I guess because I am a designer and artist as well, I look for the emotionality of a shot and in this house...there were none.  If you want to attract a buyer, you have to hit them in the heart.  You only have a few seconds to really get to them - so don't waste a single online photo.

Let's talk about this living room. It is so unappealing to me. The furnishings are so boring - and what's the deal with all the throws thrown so neatly over each chair and sofa?  I may be politically incorrect about this - but, to me, a man decorated this shot.  Whenever I stage a home for a male realtor, they always rearrange the way I place a throw on a sofa.  I do it in an artistic, casual way and they always change to look like the above picture.  Awful!  Anyway, this room would have looked better without as much furniture. Also, the draperies do not do anything for this room. They actually make the room appear less tall.  The orange wall color (being a warm tone) actually shortens this room as warm hues "advance" a room.  I would change that color.

There's too much information in this shot.  A potential buyer doesn't need to know the relationship of the rooms to one another. Also, the crosses should have been removed for this picture.  No one has to know the religious affiliation of the seller.

I don't know the purpose of this photo.  If the realtor wants to show the closet as an "extra" benefit of this home...at least make the closet appealing to the viewer.

The kitchen is the most important room to feature in an online lsiting.  No care was really taken for this shot.  Things were not put away and we don't need to see the bulletin board and the clock (a nice picture in this spot would have helped). Also, the paint color on the dining area wall shortens the space.  It would have looked more spacious and longer if a cooler and lighter paint color had been used.

You can see that this is a nice, open kitchen...but some of the clutter on the refrigerator and above the cabinet and the microwave on the countertop (and, again, the bulletin board and the clock) make it less appealing.

There's too much clutter in the dining area - the chest and the stereo equipment should not be there.  The china cabinet is too cluttered (inside and on top) and it should be be placed in the middle of the room - not at the end.

Way too much clutter!  Very unappealing shot.  Enough said.

The unappealing nature of this home continues in this office/kids's area/catchall room.  Each room should have a specific function, so that the buyer knows what kind of room it is.

Always open the shower curtain.  It will make the room seem larger.  There's too much clutter on the counter - personal effects and toiletries should be put away. A different shower curtain, some artwork and a nicer rug would have improved this bath tremendously.

Finally...to add insult to injury, the deck and the backyard make me want to call one of those HGTV shows where they make over someone's backyard.  This place needs an intervention!

So, this home really shows a buyer that they should offer a lower price because there's a lot to do to make this home nice. I wish them good luck - because that is what they need! 

Don't leave your home's online marketing to luck and chance. If you want to avoid these homeseller mistakes before you put your home on the market, call me at 631 793-1315.

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.