While selling your home it’s best to enjoy the holidays away from home especially if the holiday is religious in nature.  Why?  We don’t really know who’s going to purchase your home or their religious preference so keeping the decorations out of sight will help you appeal to everyone.  The best part about this tip is you can get away on a short vacation or enjoy your aunt Betty’s apple pie.

When I entered this once empty elegant living room I found the fireplace and it’s amazing mantel very imposing.  What I mean is….as beautiful as the majestic fireplace was, it was overwhelming the space partly because of it’s size.  The best way to downplay a wonderful feature like this without losing it’s importance is to add a little drama.

From the foyer you can see the measurable size of the mantel

In a nearby tree I found the exact amount of drama I was looking for.  Why drama you ask?  By adding some worthy drama I downplayed the size of this magnificent fireplace but didn’t take away it’s relevance.  Now buyers can take in the windows, custom cabinets and molding, hardwoods and last but never least the chandelier too!

A little drama can sometimes go a long way

And now the ‘big picture’…….

The end result was a living room that displayed all of it's beauty!!!

Presto, a buyer can now love it all.

HomeGain Survey:  Home Staging Top Priority for Sellers

HomeGain recently conducted it’s third Nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer survey to reveal the top 12 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people getting their home ready for sale.  Nearly 1,000 Realtors responded to the survey.

To read more just go to the link below.

http://tinyurl.com/yeaxzct

In today’s world of ‘free’ information it’s important for realtors to realize that sellers are watching, not their back, but them.  

I’m certainly not an advocate of hype and hysteria nor is my intention to promote it.  Rather, I think it’s important to help my realtor friends and colleagues with valuable information that can help them along their career path.

Everyone is looking online these days, sellers and buyers.

Sellers are more involved in the process of selling their home in today’s market so they naturally spend more time wondering why their house isn’t selling or just trying to stay on top of this important transaction.  They’re searching the Internet to compare their home verses the competition and while there, they’re also noticing how their home appears to a prospective buyer.  They want to know if their representation is getting the job done.  

For more information about this important survey and other questions asked sellers/buyers go to the 2008 Survey of California Home Sellers (released July 2008) link below.  I’m thinking it might be of great interest to my colleagues.

http://www.car.org/meetings/carmeetings/committee-materials-archive/oct2008committees/spf/2008_Home_Seller_Survey_FIN1.pdf

Home Staging is How You Sell Real Estate in Today’s Market. Lise Desormeaux, Atlanta’s Home Staging Expert, shares How to Stage Homes for Sale in her Home Staging Tips. Join Lise’s Home Staging Tips Newsletter Today!