Tips to help Sell Your House Faster

The first and most important part once you have made the decision to sell your house is to get emotionally detached from it and start viewing your house as a marketable commodity. This is not an easy task; a home holds wonderful memories that will stay with you possibly for the rest of your life. But at times of selling, homeowners must put aside all those special moments and memories and make the transition from home to house. Without eliminating the house’s personality it must become anonymous to allow prospective buyers to imagine themselves in the house. Removing all memorabilia, decorative items, personal souvenirs from past trips around the world, and your children’s wonderful artwork may just do the trick.

Key Element: At all times we must be aware that part of selling a house is being able to buy another one, and even though some expenses may be required to get your house in the best shape possible to sell, such expenses must be maintained at a minimum. Some investments may not be recuperated at the time of sale, so be aware of overspending in unnecessary repairs and upgrades.

Where to begin?

Phase 1-Start Outside

First impressions are extraordinarily important. As owners, we must ask ourselves; does my house have “Curb Appeal”? The answer to this question is easy to get to, but there are a few steps to follow. Begin standing in front of your house and comparing the landscaping and general appearance of the outside of your house to the rest of the houses on your street. When it comes to landscaping, make sure grass is cut and looking healthy. In the event grass is looking unhealthy, a trip to the nearest Home Depot or nursery may help. Identify the house in your neighborhood that you consider has the most appealing landscaping and try for yours to resemble it without making unnecessary expenses.

Suggestion: Ad bushes and plants which are easy to move and maintain. Another option is to get bright colored flowers. The bright and fresh feeling that a simple but well manicured landscape project has great results on buyers.

If a paint job is required, don’t hesitate in painting the exterior of the house. It is always a great investment.

Suggestion: when selecting a color, choose from within a neutral color pallet. Don’t forget to look at houses on the street as well and their wall colors. It is essential for your house to fit well with the neighborhood.

If you are aware of the fact that the roof has leaks or the existence of some other structural problem, hire an inspector and make any necessary repairs after you have received the inspector’s report. As a seller you are not obligated to take care of all problems, but if they do exist they must be disclosed to buyers and you may need to be willing to negotiate the sale price as a form of compensation.

Phase 2-Inside Work

Once you have taken care of the outside of your house and phase 1 has been completed, focus on the inside of the house. Keep in mind that “curb appeal” will attract possible buyers, but once they cross the front door, we go back to step one and we must cause a great impression.

Sometimes clutter becomes part of the decoration of a house and grows to be invisible to the eyes of its owner. If we were to see clutter in someone else’s house, it would bother us and certainly give us a bad impression, but  by walking into one’s own cluttered rooms for days, weeks, months and even years our eyes get so used to the fact that it is there, that our brain begins to ignore the mess.

Suggestion No.1: Ask your realtor for assistance and ask him/her to pretend they are buyers as they walk around the house pointing out all details that he/she do or don’t like. Be ready to accept their opinion. Ask others to do the same exercise.

Suggestion No 2: Take pictures of the inside of your house. Looking at spaces that you are so familiar with from the perspective of a picture has a totally different effect.

Start with the most important rooms in the house: Kitchen and Bathrooms; try for them to look impeccable. These rooms may be the deal maker or breaker, so make sure prospective buyers have a chance to imagine themselves with their own personal things in them. Begin by removing everything from the counters: appliances, decorative items, and dishware. Same with the bathroom counters/shelves: perfumes, personal products, or any other items that you do not use on a daily basis.

Suggestion: Removing clutter and putting everything away in closets is usually the quickest and easiest solution, but open, comfortable closet space is another issue that comes up frequently among buyers. Prospective buyers will look inside your closets, so try not to put everything you have removed from the kitchen and bathrooms in it. Organized and uncluttered closets are also very important.

Do not remove everything from the house, some furniture and a few small decorative items help buyers imagine themselves living there. Some people have the ability to see great potential in a house even if it is totally empty, but most don’t, so help buyers a little bit with their imagination.

Cleanliness

With so many options available to buyers in today’s market, sellers must make an effort for their houses to stand out of the crowd. A simple and costless way to help sell your house is to have it thoroughly cleaned. You may hire a cleaning crew to do this once and just maintain it afterwards. The incredibly positive impact that a clean house has on a prospective buyer is immense.

Suggestion: light scented candles or have an air freshener ready prior to buyers coming to see the house. Avoid strong scents, stay with fresh and light ones. Some aromas may transport people back to wonderful past memories and ultimately result in a much more enjoyable showing experience.

If you have carpets and they are in good condition, you may just need to give them a good cleaning, but if they are stained, worn out or too outdated you may want to consider replacing them.

Suggestion: In the event of replacing your carpet, select neutral colors.

Repairs and upgrades

Most buyers like to test light switches, water pressure, and kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Be prepared for this and test that all light switches and bulbs are working properly. Do the same with faucets and water knobs.

Suggestion No1: If some switches are stained or cracked, replace them. This is an inexpensive upgrade worth spending on. Do the same for water faucets and make sure that hot and cold knobs are placed in the correct position.

Suggestion No2: In the event of lack of water pressure, try cleaning shower heads and water faucets with chemical products specific for such purpose. Please read instructions carefully, some chemicals may be strong and harmful for your health if proper method of employment is not used.  A good cleaning may just do the trick!

Avoid expensive upgrades and unnecessary repairs, unless there is a material problem that requires immediate attention. Although some cosmetic work may be required, be careful not to over improve your property.

Good Luck!!!

What is Home Staging?

Home staging is the act of preparing a private residence prior to going up for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to sell a home quickly, and for the most money possible by making a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers. Staging focuses on improving a property to make it appeal to the largest number of buyers by transforming it into a welcoming, appealing, and attractive product for sale. Many people believe that staging raises the value of a property by way of reducing the home’s flaws, depersonalizing, decluttering, cleaning, and landscaping. For vacant homes, staging furniture is used to create a living space the buyer can “see” themselves living in. Properly executed staging leads the eye to attractive features while minimizing flaws.[1]

Staging has been a powerful tool I’ve used for many years in the industry. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that staging was adopted by other professionals in the interior design industry. In fact, today there are companies that are solely dedicated to providing staging services.

I firmly believe that staging may help reduce the time a property stays in the market prior to getting sold.

Once you hire a real estate professional to sell your house, he/she should be able to provide tips and assistance when it comes to staging. So keep in mind that it is greatly advantageous to hire a realtor with staging experience.

For all do-it-yourselfers out there this might even turn out to be a fun project that will lead to a great result, but if you decide to do it yourself, have your realtor walk around the house once you have completed the work and get his/her opinion. The reason why your realtor’s feedback is of great importance is because she/he will not be attached to personal items around the house that you did not want to remove, nor will she/he know of your history with a specific piece of furniture that should have been removed and you kept for sentimental reasons.

According to www.StagedHomes.com, a leader in home staging services, statistics show an average of a 3% minimum increase in final sales price on homes that had been staged, versus those who had not. On a $300,000 home, that’s a $9,000 increase-and well worth the home staging fees.[2]

I would like to invite you to look at the next video of a recent 20/20 broadcast on House Staging. This is a perfect example of what you need to do with important tips to keep in mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TykoFulayAc&feature=related

[2] http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/wiki/home_staging_pricing.asp

START NOW
If that’s not reason enough to consider going green, consider this:  There are ways to improve your business’ green factor that can save you money as well.  You may have already heard all about these, but the time to implement them is now!

‘IDLE’ TIME
One huge factor is computers.  You can set yours to power down after 15 minutes of idle use.  According to TIME, this will cut the energy usage by 70%.

DOWN THE DRAIN
Another huge factor: water waste with flushing toilets. Newer toilets use half the water.  An easy fix:  You can use less water by putting a brick (or two, or anything that will take up space but not dissolve or rust) in your tank (at home too).

PLUG UP THE HOLES
Seal all gaps around doors and windows. Add a storm door or self-closing mechanism to reduce the loss of cold air. And, take a hard look at your insulation. Consider adding additional cellulose insulation to your existing installation to decrease your cooling bills.

XERISCAPE
We already know about water shortages here in South Florida, but if you have landscaping that needs regular mowing and maintenance, consider saving the cost of mowing and watering with plants that don’t require so much maintenance (but still look good in the process).  If you cannot change your landscaping, be careful with watering and waste. Invest in a timer for your sprinklers and keep watering to a minimum.  Make sure the sprinklers aren’t watering the sidewalk.

SEEING THE LIGHT
As your old incadescent lightbulbs burn out, replace them with CFLs (compact florescent lights, you’ve seen them: the spiral ones). While CFLs cost more, they last ten times as long for savings of about $50 comparatively over the life of the bulb (according to ABC News).

GETTING SERIOUS
Start at the top!  The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non profit organization that certifies sustainable businesses, homes, hospitals, schools, and neighborhoods through its LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™—a way of giving credits (points) in 4 levels:  Certified, Gold, Silver, and Platinum.  If you are considering new construction, check out the advantages of going green. Commonfire.org is a great, easy-to-read site offering all the answers.

Wynwood is home to one of the largest Puerto Rican enclaves in Miami. Wynwood is also referred to as “Little San Juan“, and commonly known as “El Barrio“.^[2] Puerto Rican-owned restaurants, shops, markets and other businesses align the streets of Wynwood. Puerto Rican culture and social activity is centered in Wynwood. In recent years, many Puerto Ricans have been moving to more affluent areas of Miami such as Kendall and Coral Gables due to socioeconomic success in the past years. The Wynwood Puerto Rican population is dwindling and being replaced by Central Americans, especially people from Honduras. Gentrification is also taking place in Wynwood and many expensive condominiums are being built, replacing the mom and pop shops, as well as homes.