Get Your Home Ready To Sell 

Selling your home is all about marketing, and part of marketing your home is orchestrating the “WOW” factor when your prospective buyer sees your home for the first time. What surprises many home sellers is that the impression prospective buyers have of their home is often not the same as their own. The homeowner thought they had great “WOW” factor going on, yet prospective buyers did not respond accordingly. No offers, poor comments, agents avoiding the home altogether, are all signs that the home just did not have any “WOW” factor. 

To make certain that your home will be very easy on the eyes of your prospective buyers, ALWAYS get the help of a professional to do the job. You must have a second set of trained eyes examining the condition of your home, inside and out. The fact is, we all see our homes every day, but after a while we do not “see” them any more. We become blind to the things that we see every day. When preparing your home for sale, without an outside, trained professional, it is not likely that you will achieve the results you need in order to get the most for your home.
 

The Importance of Curb Appeal! 

The first thing your buyer to be will see upon arriving on the scene is the exterior of the front of your home. This is what we call “curb appeal”, a very important part of the staging of your home.  

Just recently we were called out to list a very expensive home that had been on the market for a very long time with out an offer. There was no other reason we could tell that the home did not sell other than poor condition, starting with the poor curb appeal. It always comes down to location, price and condition. 

Curb Appeal is an example of the kind of thing often overlooked by the average homeowner. How often have I made an appointment on a home where I’m sure that the seller has anxiously anticipated our arrival, cleaned up the house, interrupted his day by vacating his home all in preparation for our arrival, only to hear my client dislike the appearance of the home from the street and refuse to get out of the car and go in! Believe me that happens! 

How often do we get out in front of our house and give it a good critical look? Many of us just bypass the front door and enter our homes from the garage or the back. So we hardly ever even enter our homes from the front door. So let’s take a good look at some questions you must ask yourself if you do not have a professional examine your home:
 

• Is the color appropriate? Or were we just trying to prove a point to our neighbor or the home owners association?
• Is the trim in need of painting or repair?
• Are the color scheme, window awnings, front door, and window mullions dated?
• Look at where the wood meets the driveway. Is it rotted or showing signs of age or water damage?
• Are the gutters in place or are some pulling away from the fascia?
• Are some of the screens missing or in need of repair?
• Have we ever power washed the driveway or the sidewalk?
• Are our shrubs overgrown? Do they occlude the walkway or the windows? Are those sticky Sago palms overgrown or too close to the walkways?
• Are there mud daubers nests inside the entryway?
• Is the door in good shape? Is the paint or the varnish in good shape? If you have a brass kick plate is it polished? What about the door handle? Is the screen/ storm door clean or in good repair?
• Is your front porch cleaned off or is it full of throw away papers and debris from yard work?
• Are the flower beds full of weeds? Papers and foreign objects? When was the last time you put mulch down? Do you have bare spots in your yard? Do you have weeds in your lawn?
• Are the entry lights clean and functional?
• Do you have ant beds in your yard?
• Are there too many cutesy objects in the yard and on the door?
• Is there trash in the gutters in front of your home or your neighbor’s home?
• Are your garbage cans out of sight?
• Are there cracks in the brick or in the corners of the windows which could indicate settling or slab problems? Another problem indicator is the corners of the house where the roof meets the walls of the house. Is the trim square or is there a gap that could indicate slab problems?
• Is you mail box in good repair?
• Are your trees over grown or in need of trimming? Are the trees too close to your home? (Closer than 10-15 feet)
• Is there evidence of termites with their tell tail trails or ants close to the foundations?
• Is the elevation of your home dated? 

This sounds like a long list but most of it is taken in on a moments glance. Why does one house sell and the other sit? Often due to these simple, often overlooked, curb appeal issues. 

Expert Advice on How to Build Curb Appeal 

The Marketing of your home begins at the curb when the buyer drives up. Curb Appeal encompasses so much but it is all taken in at a glance! How often do we drive through a neighborhood and think “My, what a pretty house!” It makes you breathe deeply and instantly relax. 

A yard that is neat, cheery and well maintained is a pleasure to look at. Keep in mind that you do not have to spend a lot of money to have a nice looking yard. 

Take a good look at your yard from across the street. Is it well balanced? Symmetry makes people feel comfortable. Shrubs need to be pruned or replaced if they are over grown, occlude the windows, entry doors, walkways or the drive way. Beds need to be well maintained without weeds and a new sprinkling of mulch will set it off well. 

Color in the flower beds in the form of annual flowers brings life to the yard. But it looks ridiculous to have them lined up like soldiers! Plant in mass. Sometimes several large pots look much better and adds another layer as well as directing your eye upwards. They can be terra cotta or fancier if you like as long as they coordinate. Have them over flowing with flowers and different trailing plants as well. Be sure and keep them well watered. Does anything look worse that dead plants? Just note too that plants in pots are not considered permanent and can be taken with you. 

Place some pots by the front door as well for that really warm welcoming feeling. That "awe factor" is much like a welcoming embrace. Leave off the cutesy stuff of flags, and country art. Country is too stylized and not every one likes it. 

Make sure that the front door and porch are swept regularly and that the welcome mat does not accumulate water that will be tracked in to your home. The door knob or latch needs to open easily. There is really nothing like not being able to gain access to a home once you are there with a client! Look up and see that the entry is free of mud daubers. They can set up nests quickly that look unsightly and can scare potential buyers if they are buzzing around. The front door should be in good repair and re-varnished or re-painted as necessary. The summer sun can be merciless and can ruin a front door. 

The home should be painted if necessary in complementary colors. The front door often painted a complimentary color seems to beckon people. 

Bottom Line: 

I call it "Awe Factor". You build in enough "awe factor" and the buyer will be half sold before they even enter the home. The importance of Curb Appeal can never be underestimated. It will add thousands of dollars to the transaction and is money in your pocket. 

Sherry Burns has been successfully staging homes for over 10 years. Articles have been written about her in The Houston Chronicle, Fort Bend Life Style Magazine, Ft Bend Focus Magazine, and The Real Estate Executive Magazine. Sherry is prepared to assist you in making sure your home exterior has that “Awe Factor” when you list with us. 

Staging Your Home for Sale 

Once you have enticed them into your home because of your perfect curb appeal, now you need to continue that “Awe Factor” feeling in your buyers right on into the interior of your home. 

For the same reason you should have a professional examine the exterior of your home, you want a pro making your home ready to sell on the inside. You need the extra set of trained eyes for the same reason; you eventually overlook items that you see every day. It’s nothing personal, just human nature! Getting your home ready to sell on the inside is called staging. 

Having a professional stage your home for sale is one of the newest and most positive economic decisions you will make when you want to place your home on the market for sale. 

Staging is the very best proven way to get top dollar for your home as you prepare it for sale.
Homes that are staged sell faster and for more money. 

Staging sets the scene throughout the house to create immediate buyer interest in your property.
This creates an environment where your home sells for the highest possible price in today’s market and can be a significant factor in selling for higher profits and in a shorter amount of time. 

A staging professional has the ability to look past the way you live to see how your home can place its best foot forward. Remember, how you live in a home is not necessarily how you market a home. People in today’s market are a very sophisticated lot. They are use to looking at shelter magazines, and model homes for ideas. That is what your home should look like when it goes on the market…but few people can achieve it on their own. 

Many people go through great expense on things that do not make a significant difference or they focus on the wrong things. How often have we been called out to a home where the owner’s have proudly showed us their new vinyl flooring only for us to think how much better (and how much more money they would put in their pockets) it would have been if they had only known to spend that money on the right kind of tile.  

Average increase in price
The average increase in price Staged vs. a Non-Staged home is 6.9%. In a $575,000 home that is a $38,000+ difference! 

Average Time on the Market Staged vs. Non-Staged home
22 Days for a non-staged home vs. 11 Days for a staged home!
2004-2005- Staged Homes survey of 2000 homes 

Sherry Burns with The Don Burns Team has over 10 years of staging experience. Unlike some of the “New professionals” there is no extra fee for this service or for the rental on the paintings, plants and other decorator items brought into your home to place its best foot forward. 

The Don Burns Team also provides professional trade contractors to assist you with getting your home in shape to go on the market. 

For the typical costs vs. home improvement investments and the average return or for more information on Staging call The Don Burns Team. We make it easy for you!