6 Ways to Improve Your Home's Value

When you’re getting ready to sell your property, you want to be able to get the best price possible for your home.  However, depending on how long you've lived at your current residence, it may require you to invest some time and money into improvements.

Many sellers may become wary of taking the necessary time to help spruce up their home’s appearance due to the cost associated with upgrades.  Yet, simple improvements to a property can make a big difference and won’t always cost thousands of dollars to accomplish. 

Here are some great ways to increase value and make the most impact:

1. Improve curb appeal:  You can achieve this in various ways.  You can simply fill in empty spaces and add some drought resistant plants or shrubs to your landscaping.  Or some flowers and potted plants near the front entrance can make a great first impression.  Adding a tree for additional shade and patching up a worn out lawn can work miracles to draw buyers in.

2. Space & Cleanliness:  There is nothing worse to a buyer than a cluttered or unclean home.  Take the time to remove unnecessary items from your closets, clean out the garage or carport, remove clutter or toys from the living areas, and make your floors shine!  Your home needs to be staged in such a way that your buyers can visualize themselves living there.  The way that you decorate your walls and ceilings will also affect how your buyers perceive open space.

3. Aim for an earthy appearance:  Many buyers appreciate materials and paint colors that tend to have more of an earthy appeal.  Each room will be different, so be sure to choose wisely.  Also, consider using ceramic tiles or wood flooring instead of carpets or linoleum.  Tiles in both the bathroom and/or kitchen could also make a huge difference.

4. Change outdated items: This can be as simple as replacing some old light and sink fixtures, doors, handles, or even windows.  These items can greatly impact the price of a home and don’t always require huge amounts of investment.  Additionally, maybe a new coat of paint or trim is all you need to fix up an otherwise “old” appearance.

5. Ask an expert:  Whether you need advice on decorating, how to improve energy efficiency, or would like to find some items that could use a little “TLC”, it could be worth a small one time investment to get another opinion.  This is a way to proactively make changes before you even consider listing your home.  And you may be able to even avoid bigger problems that could arise down the road.

6. Bathrooms & kitchen:  Finally, if you are able to make the extra investment, two areas that have the biggest impact on price are your bathrooms and kitchen.  Whether this requires replacing the floors, sinks, tubs, fixtures or appliances, there are many ways that you can astronomically boost your home’s appeal by making improvements to these two key areas.

Hopefully these tips prove to be helpful when the time comes for you to sell your home.  If you would like to receive an expert opinion from an experienced Realtor on how you can command top dollar for your property, be sure to contact me today.  Simply use the information provided below to schedule a free in home consultation today!

Email: rhonda@rhondasrealestate.com

Text or Call me Direct: 405-820-1740

You've heard the saying "You never get a second chance to make a great first impression"?  If you are selling your home, or will be shortly, you need to take that little saying to heart. Let me share with you my top staging mistakes to avoid in hopes that you'll apply what you've read today and be on your way to a successful sale!

Staging Mistake #1:  BAD MLS Photos

Did you know that over 85% of buyers are looking on the Internet first to find a home? First Impressions start here folks! How do your photos look?  I am amazed when working with sellers that have had their home on the market with another Realtor®  that they hadn’t even bothered to take a look at their pictures online, or that their Realtor®  didn’t even show them! I think it didn't even occur to them that this is a critical marketing tool that pulls those buyers in.

I see poor photos all the time. Blurry. Tilted. Dark. Cluttered. Busy. Boring. The worst is only seeing a small portion of the room. Buyer’s don’t care what the sellers BED looks like...what about the room? They want to see everything in the room in one shot.

GREAT PHOTOS are a must! Professional Photography makes all the difference in capturing buyers attention and getting them in the door. Great photos capture ALL of the room, have good color and clarity and show interesting angles of each room. Make sure YOU have at least 15 photos advertising YOUR home on the Internet/MLS.  Buyer's really want to see as much of the home as possible.

Staging Mistake #2:  Disappointing Curb Appeal

When selling your home, don't disappoint your buyer!  When they pull up to the front of your home, they carry with them their hopes and dreams that this home could be the one!  Shouldn't you do whatever you can to impress these buyers so they will want to come in for a closer look?

It's amazing how a freshly cut green lawn, trimmed trees, new mulch, shiny new fixtures, seasonal potted plants, and a fresh paint job on the front door can sing "Welcome Home" to your potential buyers. Doing these basics make all the difference! And don't forget a new “Welcome” mat and doorbell too. Believe it or not, these items get overlooked all the time.

 

Staging Mistake #3:  A Dirty, Cluttered House

 “The way you live in your home and the way you sell your home are two completely different things.”  Sellers can throw up their hands and say, "But I have to still live here!"  so remember...you're house is not YOUR home anymore.  

When you put your home on the market, it became a PRODUCT. In order to sell a product, it has to be packaged beautifully so it sells! Buyers expect to see an immaculate home with no visible signs of dirt, dust or hair.

It's no different when you go on vacation and you've decided to stay at a very nice hotel. You expect that when you walk into your room that the bed is made to perfection, everything is sparkling clean and they've even left you a little something that says "Welcome", right?  What if you walked into the bathroom and you spotted hair in the sink and you couldn't tell if the towels were used or not?  We’d be calling the front desk and demanding a new room!  

Buyers are really no different. Dazzle them with a sparkling clean and clutter free home to buy!  Clear away all your clutter so that the selling features in each room are highlighted and your home becomes the STAR, not the people that currently live there.

Staging Mistake #4:  Making Your Buyers Feel Like A Guest

When we walk into someone else's home and look around, we see their family photos and decor, and it is apparent that this is "their" home. Their personality is in every room and even if you squeezed your eyes shut and tried really hard to imagine living there, you just couldn't do it.  Trying to imagine your stuff over all their stuff is just impossible to do. This is how potential buyers feel when they walk into a home that is full of family photos and taste specfic decor. They immediately feel like a GUEST in your home and this is one mistake you don't want to make!

That’s why it is so important to pack away your family photos and neutralize each room to appeal to a broad range of buyers. This also includes collections, religious items, personal awards and trophies, your family calendar and those fifty million magnets, invitations and "TO DO" lists from the refrigerator.

Don't forget your taste specfic decor as well. You may LOVE your kitchen bright yellow because it goes so well with your sunflower collection but it has got to be neutralized so buyers can SEE your kitchen with its 42" cabinets and corian countertops. They need to be able to visualize themselves cooking and entertaining in there!  

Staging Mistake #5:  Decor That Fails To Connect With Buyers

A homeowner has lived in their home for the past 15 years and the last time it was decorated was when they first moved in 1994. Outdated furniture and dried flower arrangements. Dated decor, empty rooms and random furniture pieces scattered throughout can make any house, no matter how nice the selling features, feel TIRED, DATED and OLD.

It’s amazing what a few key decorative items can do for a room too. You want buyers to have that same reaction...their eyes lighting up as they view the room… becoming more impressed as they tour the home.

One of the biggest misconceptions about staging is that you need tons of new furniture and decorative items to make your house look like a model home.  You can relax now when I tell you that it isn't true.

If you are living in your home while it is on the market, work with what you have, plus maybe a few new items with a minimum investment. That’s all you need. 

Consider working with a Professional Stager. They are experts at working with what you have using their creativity to re-purpose it and sometimes blending it with a few newer items. This gives older furniture and decor a fresh new look and feel. A few key accessories can make all the difference in highlighting a selling feature and breathing new life into a room!   Slipcovers, new pillows that pop color, updated lamps, a rug or some inexpensive window panels might be all that is needed to turn unimpressive decor into a fabulous new room that your buyers will love and connect to!

If your house is vacant or you have empty rooms because you never got around to buying that dining or living room set, you will want to consider options like renting furniture. Most Professional Stagers carry beautiful furnishings you can rent and will work within your budget.

Stage For A Successful Sale
Selling your home and getting it ready can be a pretty overwhelming task. That is stressful in and of itself. Did you know that working with a Professional Home Stager can take that stress away and let you focus on the other important things about your move like finding YOUR dream home?  They can create a staging plan for you that is unique to your property. You can have complete confidence in knowing that you will not be making any major staging mistakes with a Stager on your team while you sell your home!

If you would like a recommendation for staging your home,

please feel free to contact me: rhonda@rhondasrealestate.com.

Seller Showing Tips

You just listed your home for sale...now what? You've sold a home before...you should know how to do this, right? I never want to assume my seller knows what to do to get a home ready for showings because clearly they are attached to the home and its furnishings in some way so I don't want to insult them.

Here are just a few ideas:

1. Lighten up! Some people live in their home where the shades or blinds are always closed. While I realize in this heat it can keep the home cooler, when you have your home on the market, as a Realtor we don't always have time to open and close all your shades, flip on lights, and truly show your home in its best light...no pun intended! If you have enough advance notice of a showing, open things up, flip on the lights, and make it memorable for us!

2. Size up the competition. You are looking at homes now as well because you are moving. What things draw your eye? Go to a few model homes and get ideas of how the placement of furniture makes a difference. How does staging a home and removing all personal items help you see your furniture in this home? That's how we want to present your home to potential buyers. Now go home and spruce your home up!

3. Define the space. If the room is a dining room, it should be staged as a dining room. Renting or borrowing a table and chairs may just make the sale! Not everyone will use a secondary bedroom as a workout room with mirrors and padding so purchase an air mattress and fix it up to be seen as a bedroom.

4. Storage. Clearly a lot of us move because we have run out of space or have too much space. If you have accumulated too much stuff and have it setting on top of the fridge or dryer, it screams to the buyer that there isn't enough storage in this home. It doesn't matter that it's convenient to have the cereal box on the fridge, it just means that you don't have room for things.

5. Add simple curb appeal. Inexpensive plants can go along way to add color and make someone want to see what else you have that is fabulous. You may think that it's money you shouldn't have to spend, but it may just be the simple ticket to a sale! Every landscaping detail proves that you care inside as well as outside!

Landscaping Your Home

I love trees, shrubs, flowers, color, nature, rocks, benches, bird baths...yes, and even grass! I've always loved color but I don't know when the gardening thing hit me. The homes I've owned have all had a blank canvas for me to design. They have been sold with a much improved landscape, but the home I'm in now is probably the one I'm most proud of. I say that now because I am still hard at work designing it.

My daughter teases me..."Mom, did you draw this one out too?" Yes I did! I sit out on my patio drawing, dreaming, designing, visioning, and reading about different plants and flowers. I have binders I refer to when I'm wanting to know what to plant, how to take care of bugs or diseases, and when to transplant.

There are three times I can think of that my creative mind is at work:

1. I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. That, my friends, is this morning. Not about landscaping originally...but about a Top 10 list. If I could write in the dark I wouldn't forget these things when I get up!
2. I think of things to do, people to see or talk to, emails to send, things I need, you name it...when I'm driving. Unfortunately, I can't write as fast as I can type, and I shouldn't be writing then, but I do it and hope I can read it and it makes sense. It's called a legal pad with scribbles. I'm wondering if I should invest in a micro-recorder!
3. The last, but not least, is when I'm out watering my flowerbeds. As soon as I put down the sprayer, the thought is gone. But trust me...I've taken paper out with me knowing the moment may strike.

So where are you in landscaping your home? By definition, home landscaping, means arranging or modifying the features of the grounds around a home to improve the property from the standpoint of aesthetic ideas and/or practical usage.

If your property is about to be listed, you need to think in terms of "curb appeal". You are essentially landscaping for other people's tastes -- namely, the tastes of potential home buyers.

A spiffy home landscaping design increases real estate value. The average figure yielded by studies over the years is a range of from 7% to 15%. Let's just use the 15% number as an example, even though that figure is on the high end. Putting that percentage increase into perspective: for real estate valued in the $200,000 - $225,000 range (before considering its home landscaping), an effective home landscaping design could add $30,000 to its value. How often do you get to make a $30,000 decision?

Below are just a few tips for home landscaping ideas:

• Observe what other people are doing with their home landscaping designs. I get tons of ideas when I'm showing or listing property. I have always loved real estate and looking at homes. You can still find me driving neighborhoods just for the fun of it. 
• Magazines, books, television and the Web all provide an abundance of information on what kinds of home landscaping designs are currently "selling." Knowledge is power. That knowledge could lead to more return on your investment!
• Consult with a professional in the landscape design field.
• If you don't want to pay for a landscape designer's advice, at least try to minic some ideas from your local nursery. Ask people, we all love sharing what we have done or what we know!
• Real estate agents see the reactions of potential buyers to home landscaping day in and day out; consult with them on trends or how to improve what you have.

Homebuyers are seeking low maintenance landscapes, the most striking design with a focal point, or accent, and year-round visual interest. If you have that, you will see your home sell quicker than those homes that have little or no landscaping. I've seen it time and again. The home with landscaping will more than likely sell quicker than the home right next door with nothing, but priced closed to the same.

I'd love to hear about your landscape designs, what's worked, what's not, how it improved your property!