Without realizing it, this is the message that clutter communicates to the buyer:

• There is inadequate storage space in this house
• This house is too small
• This house is not well maintained

Clutter eats equity.

25% of our population is allergic to pets, while others just plain don’t like them. Some people are afraid of dogs.

Do not leave your pets in the house during a showing. Instead you might want to:

• Take them for a walk
• Take them for a play date
• Take them for a visit to family or friends
• Make a fenced in pet play area

Your buyers will not feel inhibited and will take more time to enjoy your house.

The second biggest mistake that people make when putting their home on the market is thinking that is ok as it is, because it was ok for us.  Why should we fix up our house for someone else to enjoy?

• Move in condition & staged – expect top dollar
• It’s ok the way it is – discounted at the discretion of the buyer
• Fixer upper – as is sale – expect a low ball offer

It’s ok to list your house the way it is, but be realistic and don’t expect top dollar and it will definitely sit on the market longer.

If you want to get top dollar, you definitely must fix items that need fixing and stage.

Staging is merchandising your property as a product.  When you are trying to sell your house, it is a product, just like any other product and you are in competition with all the other products like yours. When you buy the property it is a house.  When you make the property your own, it is a home.  Home sweet home.

One of the most often seen seller traps is over improvement of the property for the neighborhood.  Some examples of over improving are:

• room additions
• gutting rooms like a kitchen and putting in granite counter tops instead of laminate in an inexpensive neighborhood.
• installing hardwood floors when the neighbors all have laminate.
• putting in a pool and pool house when there are no other pools in your area.
• bricking a house in an all vinyl neighborhood
• reroofing with architectural shingles when everyone else has regular asphalt

It is true that the better a home looks the more it will sell for, but in some cases like the above, it is just not cost effective.  If you do make expensive additions to your home, be prepared to stay there for a few years.

Home Staging is a system that prepares your house for sale by accentuating your home’s advantages and reducing its negatives to generate the highest possible return.

We don’t want you to spend money. But rather we ask you to make an investment of your time, energy and dollars for the highest rate of return in the sale of your home.