12 Days of Staging, A Home Staging Series
The art of great marketing is in the capability to position your product in the mind of the buyer as a product that will fill their exact need and desires. This customary marketing concept is very fine when it comes to home staging. "Positioning" focuses on what you do to the mind of the buyer rather than what you do to the product. In other words, a home distributor does not need to make expensive renovations and redecorations to have a profound influence on buyers. Small improvements can make a big impact. For example: very appropriate cleaning, removing unnecessary furniture, and de-cluttering. In our series "The 12 Days of Staging" we will show you some easy tips and tricks to speed up the sale of your home or listing.
Day 1 Positioning: Start the "Positioning" process by having the homeowner take an active roll in the sale of their home. A astounding source for facts is right close by: take advantage of peoples opinions. scrutinize friends and family about the way your home looks and feels. Ask them to write down their comments to ease any ache complicated in critiquing your home. After all, most home owners forced to sell in this shop know that it won't be easy. Put them to task to expedite the sale of their home. The days of naturally putting a house on the shop without any establishment and selling it in a few hours or days is long gone.
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Day 2 Curb Appeal: Many times curb request for retrial is at the top of our list because it certainly is the first impression. This first impression is all-important because it sets the tone for the way the buyer will view the rest of the house. The clock starts ticking at the curb and within fifteen seconds the buyer will develop an attitude toward your house, either confident or negative. Then the buyer will be finding to reinforce their confident or negative first impression throughout the rest of the home tour. By manufacture the first impression a confident one, the buyer will seek other confident aspects of the home to reinforce their first impression.
A great exercise to get the ball rolling is to standing in front of your home with important "buyers eyes" and write down all that comes to mind. It is all the time difficult for any home distributor to see all the shortfalls of their own home yet it is important in the success of the sale. To help you in this task ask trusted friends, neighbors, and family what they see when standing in front of your home. Ask them to be brutally honest, or ask them to write down their comments and put them in a hat to be pulled out only after everyone has commented. This way you might get better results and avoid manufacture people feel uncomfortable about criticizing your home.
Day 3 "Here Kitty Kitty": Who doesn't love the sound of a cat purring in your ear? So soft, so fluffy....so Smelly! Well, not always, but cat odors can be a big qoute for home sellers. As cat owners ourselves (or "captors" as most felines would put it) we know just how stinky kitty can be sometime. For a home distributor this issue can mean the contrast between a buyer that stays and looks and one that runs for the door.
1. On days that you know your home is going to be shown reconsider taking kitty for a car ride. Cats come to be well accustomed to being in the car and most certainly will enjoy the ride. (Note: Do Not leave your pet in the car unattended. Especially during warm to hot days. Cats can overheat and suffer brain damage or death if left in the car. Dogs too!)
2. If inherent on show day's move the litter box to an out of the way area, or better yet, out of the home.
3. Take up any wet food. Besides being unappetizing to look at it stinks to high heaven!
4. Keep litter boxes scooped as often as inherent and replace every concentrate of weeks with fresh litter. Your cat, and inherent buyers, will thank you.
5. Have you noticed that your cat produces an unimaginable estimate of hair? We concept so. Keep it swept up. We know, it's a never ending cycle but our job is to help you sell your home. Tufts of hair on the floor make buyer's think "dirty house" and that is the last impression they need.
6. Kitty go covering the litter box? If this is a new qoute you should take them to the vet. Cats can get crystals in their urine, which can be deadly if left untreated.
7. Help is on the way! discern the "Stink finder"! This tool is a great way to spot just what kitty has been up to. Also known as a black light you can purchase one at your local pet supply store. naturally turn off the lights and walk colse to the walls of each room. If kitty has made a mess it will show up in the light. Also, move over every inch of carpet. (Keep blinds closed so your neighbors won't think you've gone crazy as you crawl colse to on your hands and knees in the dark retention a black light.)
8. If you find an area that is suspicious you will need to confirm with the good old fashion smell test. (For those of you not customary with the unmistakable smell of cat urine, it can best be described as somewhere between ammonia and the worst smell imaginable. reconsider yourself warned.)
9. After your blood pressure has returned to general it's time to tackle the problem. Luckily today there are a estimate of good products on the market. First, pull up the carpeting and seal the concrete to eliminate the smell. (Kilz is a good product) Cat urine does not lose its odor so it's imperative that you seal off the smell from the source. Next, either have the carpeting professionally cleaned or purchase an enzyme type cleaner from the store. If kitty has gone on the walls or baseboards repeat the first step above using Kilz and then repaint the wall. (Aren't cats fun?!)
10. Lastly, keep your home as clean as possible. Pet dander is a real qoute for some people so clean, clean, and clean and replace your air filter often. A buyer having a sneezing charge upon walking in your front door is more than likely not going to be a buyer clamoring to purchase your home.
Day 4 It's Ok To Point...Focal Point That Is: Focal points throughout a home are particularly important. They pull a buyer into a space, bring emotions into play, and tell the story of a home's details. Every area has a focal point and every focal point must maximize the confident impact on a buyer touring a home.
As a distributor ask yourself some tough questions about your home's focal points. Write down the questions and answers, and then ask friends and family to talk the same questions. You might be surprised at some of the answers. It's very hard for people to be impartial about their own home.
Use the questions below as a template:
1. What is the first thing person notices when they walk into this room?
2. Is it confident or negative?
3. What is the focal point in this room?
4. What should be the focal point of this room?
5. Is it a confident or negative?
6. Does it compete with another focal point?
7. How can we complement the focal point?
8. Is your seating reinforcing the focal point?
9. Does the focal point pull you into the space?
10. Is the focal point well lit, clean, and inviting?
Once you have identified every room's focal point be sure to emphasize its confident attributes so it naturally draws the buyer's eye and inspires a confident emotional reaction. A buyer's attraction to a gorgeous focal point is not just endearing, it also serves to downplay any negative elements a space might have.
Day 5 Skeletons in the Closet: Closets throughout a home are important, yet often overlooked by sellers. Buyers touring homes all the time look into closets, checking out the size, functionality and capacity of the space but that's not all buyers are finding for. Buyers are also finding to see if there is a story to tell just under the surface. A well organized closet says volumes about the seller, a home's maintenance, as well as the home's unseen details.
Everything in a home and every space throughout a home, even the closets, must look their very best.
Since you will be packing things away anyway tackle one closet at a time beginning with the devotee closet.
1. Pack away whatever you have not used or worn in four months. For most of us, it's about 80% of our wardrobe.
2. Group by item beginning with shirts, blouses, jackets, skirts and lastly pants (If you have a walk-in closet, pants should be in the back.) isolate the His and Her's sections.
3. Make sure each item is facing the same direction (away from the door).
4. Organize shoes preferably in a rack on the floor.
5. Clear off and pack away whatever on the top of the closet shelf.
6. Organize any "loose" items such as belts and scarves in matching boxes or baskets on the top of the closet.
7. Consider buying reasonable hat boxes/nesting boxes for accessories to add a miniature drama.
8. Consider buying a closet organizer (Target has these now) which can be very consuming to homebuyers.
9. Finally, since closets usually don't have any natural light, make sure your artificial light is extra consuming by replacing the bulbs and cleaning the fixtures.
10. Remember, establishment your home to sell is a process that takes time but will net you thousands in return!
Closets are an area that home buyers pry into, so it's a good idea to appear spacious, neat and organized. The neater you appear to be, the more your homebuyer will view the house as well "taken care of".
Day 6 Dog's playing poker: What is "art"? Webster's dictionary defines art as: the quality, production, expression, or realm, agreeing to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than commonplace significance.
When it comes to selling a home it's best to leave the art critics in the galleries. In other words, your "Dog's playing poker" or 5' tall velvet paintings of Elvis is not what buyer's are finding for. Think simple, classic and neutral (yes, art can be neutral). Landscapes, flowers, and abstracts are a great way to soften walls without detracting from what the space has to offer. We never know what a buyer's particular taste is going to be and in the high stakes game of real estate we need to make sure that your space feels like their space. This can mean all the contrast between getting an offer or not.
You can often find nice capability finding art pieces at places like Ross or Marshalls. If you don't have a lot to spend reconsider purchasing some reasonable frames and manufacture your own art by printing out non-copyrighted pictures on high gloss paper. Place in a frame and "Voila!" instant art. Yard or estate sales are also a great way to find some bargains.
Remember, the key to a home that shows well is neutrality. You will have abundance of time to make a new home your own, so generate a space that buyers will love. It's a easy as that.
Day 7 "It's a jungle out there": Today's will focus on the one of the base problems that sellers often overlook: the front and back yard of a home.
Sellers need to keep in mind that when a inherent buyer is finding at their home they are not just finding at the inside, but the covering as well. This article will help you get ready your covering so that your home will be the best one on the block.
1. A brown lawn does not improve curb appeal. Add fresh sod to any brown or dying areas of your lawn. This small investment will make a huge difference.
2. Take a walk colse to your neighborhood. Which houses look the best with regard to curb appeal? Ask yourself why?
3. Take pictures of yards that you love. This way you can use them as a template for your own yard.
4. Plant some fresh blooming annuals. They are reasonable and will add a nice burst of color. Remember, as we talked about before but worth repeating, curb request for retrial is extremely important and your home truly needs to stand out.
5. Make sure that weeds are pulled and any dead growth is trimmed. If a buyer is distracted by untidy landscaping they will not only start a mental "To do" list but also feel that the home is not being kept up.
6. A few bags of red mulch can have a huge impact on the look of planting beds by freshening and providing contrasting colors in the plant beds.
7. Keep bushes and hedges trimmed down so that the covering of the home can be seen. When trimming pay close concentration to windows; trim all vegetation to expose all windows to maximize the available ambient light inside the home.
8. If you know that you are going to have a big open house weekend reconsider hiring a lawn service to come out the day before so that it is fresh looking.
9. If you have a pool make sure that swept clean and looks inviting.
10. Keep hoses coiled up and put away. Put away any gardening tools and maintenance equipment.
Too often sellers only focus on the inside of the home and neglect the all important exterior. Don't let this happen to you.
Taking care of these easy things can make all the contrast in how your home shows to a buyer, and in today's real estate shop you need all inherent things to show in your favor.
Day 8 Is that take-out from two months ago? Yum!: When you place your home on the shop it becomes a commodity or product. Today's buyers are faced with an practically astounding estimate of choices so to be competitive you must make your home look and show its best at all times.
An often overlooked, but still very important, area of the home is your kitchen. Having shown inherent homes to thousands of people during my years in leasing and marketing I can tell you that buyer's will look in your refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, even the dishwasher!
Guess what? That take out holder of general Tso's chicken from two months ago is not appealing. A dirty refrigerator with spoiled food can certainly ruin a home tour. Why? naturally put, if a buyer sees that you aren't willing to clean out your fridge then they start to wonder "What else has not been taken care of?" Remember from our old letters that the last thing we want during a home tour is a buyer to start a "To do" list in their head. This only reinforces negative opinions of the home.
Solution: Keep the refrigerator, cabinets, and the rest of the kitchen certainly spotless at all times. Throw out any expired food, take out containers and make sure the refrigerator is wiped down and spotless. Keep a fresh box of baking soda in both the refrigerator and freezer to suck up any odors. And finally, have all items lined up and labels facing out and in one direction. Sound crazy? Nope and here's why. If I buyer opens your fridge and sees all the Coke cans lined up and orderly then they immediately assume that the rest of the home sees the same concentration to detail. It's often the miniature things that can have a major impact on the way a buyer sees your home. The same goes for the pantry and cabinets. Selling a home is not just about the corporal aspects and pricing. It's also about a psychology with regard to the buyer. This is why staging is so important in how a home shows.
Day 9 Feng shui: It's day nine in our "12 days of Staging". Feng shui (or Fung shui as some spell it) is not the dinner special at your local Asian restaurant. In fact Feng shui can be a fine concept in real estate marketing, relating certainly to our ongoing conference centered on the concept of "Positioning", which focuses on what you do to the mind of the buyer rather than what you do to the product.
Do buyers run through a particular listing? Never refer to it again? Turn their nose up when it's mentioned again? Does the space feel cramped, dark, or stale yet the home is spacious with lots of windows? Your listing may be suffering from bad flow, negative power and bad feng shui.
Feng what? Pronounced ("fung shway"), it's a complicated philosophy from the Far East swiftly manufacture inroads in many cultures colse to the world. naturally put feng shui studies the art of placement, the art of living life, and the power that stirs emotions. It could just as well be called "the art of flow." This old Chinese practice, certainly translated as "wind" and "water".
In real estate sales feng shui is used to maximize the useful movement of power through a space. A home's flow is crucial to buyers when touring. Buyers want to wander gracefully through a space, like a diplomatic zephyr or a winding stream. They want to feel the exhilaration of taking in fresh air, warm sun light, and a clean environment. When buyers are nourished buy confident power in a home it usually means the tour was a success. Buyers will aspire to live in a space that is clean and open and start to visualize their life in these surroundings. To perform feng shui walk through a home finding for natural flow in all the spaces. Ask does this space flow from one room to another? Is the flow natural? Are the windows certainly accusable? Are rooms blocked with too much furniture? Does the space feel clean and look bright?
When the flow through a space is blocked, weak, or misdirected the buyer's perceived connection to the home suffers, resulting in an unsuccessful tour. Dark, dirty, or stale spaces can choke the confident reaction to a home. Buyers may feel tired, run down, depressed, unable to focus, hampered in their efforts to move transmit with the tour. It is practically impossible to turn that colse to in the buyer's mind. Once buyers have a negative feeling toward a home it permeates every reference to it. Remember most homes are purchased based on emotions. Often emotions can't be reasoned with, so it's important to carry on every aspect of a tour retention the power confident and the buyer's imagination nourished by every aspect in the home.
In today's real estate shop it is important to minimize any negative aspects of a home, but even more important is highlighting the confident useful aspects of the home. Use the art of placement and feng shui to generate that confident space crying out to be purchased.
If sellers think feng shui (natural flow, fresh air, immaculately clean, consuming sunlight, uncluttered, and concentration to detail) it will greatly influence every tour. As I mentioned, feng shui is complicated so take advantage of the resources you have available; palpate your local home stagers who are ready and willing to perfect an widespread analysis of your listings incorporating fine tried and true philosophy such as Positioning, Feng shui, among many other marketing tactics which focuses on what you do to the mind of the buyer rather than what you do to the product.
Day 10 On day #10 of "The 12 Days of Staging": we discuss staging the devotee bedroom by added highlighting the concept of "Positioning", which focuses on what you do to the mind of the buyer rather than what you do to the product.
A devotee Bedroom should be an escape, a sanctuary away from the chaos of life. Relaxing colors, plush linens, and fluffy pillows all subtly display this desired effect. Blue is a beloved color for a devotee Bedroom because subconsciously it is very calming to buyers. It is also a neutral color that goes well with white, the second beloved color in bedrooms.
Ask yourself: "What is the first thing person notices when he or she walks into the devotee bedroom? Is it confident or negative?" usually a gorgeous bed with comforter and many pillows is the first thing buyers notice, it's the focal point. Due to the importance of the devotee bedroom we extremely recommended that sellers purchase a new neutral colored bed set for their bed and lots of fluffy pillows. It will be one of the best staging investments you can make for this space and the great thing is you get to take it with you!
It is important to neutralize the devotee bedroom as much as inherent so buyers don't enter and immediately profile the home seller. Buyers want the devotee bedroom to feel like it is their own escape, not yours. The bed should be on the longest wall over from the doorway with easy natural flow through the space to windows and devotee bath. Try not to position the bed so buyers have to walk colse to it to get to where they are going.
Bright, warm and consuming is all the time good for this space. The devotee bedroom should ask the buyer to linger and enjoy the space. perform this by allowing as much natural light in as possible. Take off window coverings that are blocking out the sun. Add more lighting in the form of consuming bedside lamps or a standup lamp. Make sure the bulbs are the brightest kind you can safely put in the lamps.
The devotee bedroom should not be a space that has accumulated clutter although many of us still tend to do so. Buyers are distracted by clutter and don't talk well when they see it especially in the devotee bedroom. Keep the furniture and accessories to a minimum, queen bed, two nightstands, a dresser and mirror.
Part of creating your sanctuary in the devotee bedroom is adding a reading space. Nothing draws a buyer emotionally more than a cozy chair that is perfect with an ottoman, pillow and throw. It just makes the buyer want to curl up in it with a great book and cup of hot java. So if the space permits add an inviting, comfortable reading nook.
Day 11 "Update the Style": When it comes to prepping a home for sale one of the most important things to do is to make sure that your interior reflects what is current with develop trends and what is "in". Buyers don't like outdated, especially when it comes to something as large as a purchase of a home.
If your home is older or outdated you might have some tough decisions to make. In expanding to the devotee bedroom and living room, buyers are certainly concerned in the kitchen and devotee bathroom. If your kitchen has older or outdated appliances this could potentially turn buyers off.
Replacing the major appliances can be a way to add serious value to your home. With the economy in such bad shape most of the appliance retailers are slashing prices in order to move inventory. What this means is that you may find some imaginable bargains. Also, reconsider donating your old appliances to a charity such as "Habitat for Humanity" "The Red Cross" or a local organization. Besides helping person else you can take advantage of a nice charitable tax deduction (see your tax advisor for specifics).
If you can afford it, reconsider stainless steel appliances. They are still very beloved and look great in most applications. If you don't go the stainless steel route then make sure that your appliances compliment your kitchen cabinets and flooring. White cabinets and black appliances are a "No, no." If you have dark cabinets, say cherry wood for instance, then you should use dark appliances. contrast should be miniature in the kitchen, especially if the kitchen is smaller.
Another great way to modernize the look of your kitchen is to add new handles to the cabinets. Often times your search allowance store will have a great selection of handles. This quick, reasonable trick will pay off in the long run.
A small or outdated devotee bathroom can be the death of a inherent sale. Short of doing a full bathroom remodel (which can cost thousands of dollars) reconsider some cosmetic changes. A large estimate of devotee bathroom come with a appropriate non-framed mirror, plain sink, 3 or 5 strip lighting and a rehabilitation cabinet. Yawn! Replacing these items with a new light fixture (around .00), framed mirror (0.00) and adding a new vessel sink/cabinet combo (0.00) finishes off the look. Adding plush towels and an appropriate shower curtain and you have a fresh and new finding devotee bath; and buyer's Love the word "New".
Red walls: Bad. Taupe or cream colored walls: Good! The color of your walls can make or break a sale. Sure painting is a relatively easy and reasonable investment but today's buyers are finding for "Plug and play". In other words they don't want to have to move in and spend time and money changing your Pepto Bismol pink devotee bedroom back to a more neutral color. (And to talk your question: Yes, we have seen a pink devotee bedroom, on more than one occasion in fact.) A fresh coat of paint can make a huge contrast and is something that should be extremely considered.
Day 12 Open House Tip: Well here we are the last in our "12 Days of Staging" series. Our last topic is one of the most important, yet is often neglected by the home seller. There are differing opinions on either an Open House is productive or not with regard to selling a home. No matter what your reliance it is important for a distributor to keep their home "Open house" ready at all times, especially if the home is on lock box.
The prospect of retention your home neat, spotless and show ready at all times starts to come to be a daunting task. Everyday life, kids and pets can mean that sellers feel overwhelmed. What we're going to offer are some tips and tricks to maximize the homes request for retrial while minimizing the inconvenience to the homeowner.
Tip #1: Baskets are your friend. Buyers hate clutter, but clutter is often inevitable. A great way to minimize clutter is to purchase several wicker baskets of varying size to hold lose belongings. Toys, medicines, toiletries and the like can easy be placed in a basket and moved out of sight. Big Lots often has a nice selection of fabric lined wicker baskets beginning at colse to .50.
Tip #2: How about some fresh air? during the cooler months take the time to open all the windows and let some fresh air circulate. Homes are great for trapping Everyday odors and by letting a miniature air in we can all breathe easier. Store bought air fresheners are often productive but they can have a strong chemical smell and can even be a trigger for some asthma sufferers. A trick we like to use is to purchase a small bouquet of eucalyptus from Joann fabrics or Michaels. isolate the bouquet into smaller bundles (depending on the estimate of rooms), wrap the bundles in cheese cloth and place under the couch, behind the bed, in the laundry room, etc. They will make the whole house smell great, last a long time and are inexpensive. Note: Eucalyptus often has dye coloring added to it and can come off on carpets and fabrics if it gets wet, so please be careful.
Tip #3: Music to your ears. A great way to generate a calm and pleasing touring environment for buyers is to have soft music playing in the background. (Think "Elevator music") If you have cable turn to the flat jazz music channel on your receiver, turn the Tv off and you now have a pleasing environment. (If you don't have cable or music channels use your stereo and tune to your local flat jazz station.)
Tip #4: Turn up the lights. When you know your home is going to be shown make sure you have every light on in the home. A consuming and open space is what buyers are finding for. They need to be able to see each room's features. Furthermore, open all blinds and shades to let in as much light as possible.
Tip#5: High end hotel. The last, and final, tip is to "stage" your home like a high end hotel room. Neutral spaces that are warm and consuming can go a long way in enticing buyers to reconsider your home over the many others they are maybe finding at. Neutral bedding, throw pillows and floral art is a good route to take. Take off all traces of your personal items (family pictures, religious artifacts, political affiliations) from the home. Keep in mind that the extreme goal is to sell your home and move on. It becomes hard, if not downright impossible, to perform this if a buyer feels as if they are in "your" space and not theirs. A miniature bit of inconvenience now can make all the contrast later.
We hope that you found the articles to be informative as well as interesting. By incorporating these tips into your sales tactics you will be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Stay focused on positioning your product and happy staging!
12 Days of Staging, A Home Staging Series
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