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Attract buyers with all of their senses!

1/8/2014

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When we were young, we learned about our 5 senses and how they played an important role in everyday life.  Marketing companies have done their research and years ago started to use this to their advantage.  When you are in the grocery store and smell the fried chicken scent they have blowing through the fans, what are you hungry for?  You guessed it, fried chicken! 

Same things go for selling your home! I have always been intrigued by this school of thought and feel very strongly about using this to your advantage when your home is on the market.  Here is a list of my suggestions and keep an eye out for future posts that digs a little deeper into each one!

Sight- Well, this one is the most obvious and important one!  Your home needs to be appealing to the eye from the outside in.  A fresh cleaning, decluttering and neutral colors are a great way to get the ball rolling.

Smell- This sense is my favorite!  Warning- I will talk about smells more than anyone wants to read about it!  Buyers will notice scents (good or bad) right as then enter through the front door and if there is anything unpleasant, the turn off is something that can not be undone. 
If your home is freshly cleaned, you are already ahead of the game.  If there is a foul scent that is not corrected by a good cleaning, find the source of the scent and correct it.  Period. 

Touch-  Do you ever notice when you are shopping how you touch everything- from the firmness of fruit at the grocery store, the softness of a towel at a department store, the silkiness of a scarf at a clothing store?  Buyers do that, too, when they tour a home!  The normal touchable surfaces (kitchen and bathroom counters, floors and more) make sense to keep clean and free of dirt, crumbs and stickiness.  Buyers very well could touch a hand towel in your kitchen, maybe a blanket you have on a sofa, so make sure those are soft and clean too! 
 
Hearing- I always love walking into a listing that has some sort of gentle music playing, it always makes me feel welcome!  Jazz, classical, something in these genres work well and keep the sound low.  It is especially important if you have a surround sound system that is included in the sale, highlighting it in this fashion might be just the ticket to getting your home sold!
 


Taste- I know, I know- taste in a home sale?  Really?  Yes, taste!  Homes that had some kind of treat out- cookies or candy (or even something more creative), have always stood out in buyers' mind when we show homes.  One home even had chilled water bottles available on a sweltering summer day w/ a note telling buyers to help themselves to one.  It's a small, but nice gesture and tells a buyer that they want you to be comfortable in their home.





Long post, but filled with some of my favorite information.  With so many homes on the market at any given time, these easy tips will make your home stand out from the rest and will get you one step closer to a sold sign in your yard!




Happy Selling!

-Annie


 







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Can buyers visualize themselves in your home?

1/3/2014

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This post is about one thing and one thing only- depersonalizing your home of personal items while it is on the market.

Depersonalizing is a phrase that is thrown around in real estate these days.  It is a pretty vague concept and can be used to describe numerous things- neutralizing paint colors and furniture, removing religious and cultural
decor and taking down items specific to the seller and their family.  Today I am talking about the latter, but will go over the other topics in future blog posts.

Last year I had a shoot in a semi-vacant home (owners had moved to their new home and staged the old home with some of their extra furniture) and they forgot a few things- all of their photos and were resistant to take them down.  I am talking about photos on every thing that was standing still, at least 100 frames filled with all the photos that could fit.  As the photographer, I was overwhelmed.  I am sure when prospective buyers came, through they had the same (or worse) reaction.  Even with the right price, pro photos and a great agent, the house took months to sell.   

Too much personalization can be a negative in a few ways-

The most obvious issue is buyers see your face all over during their showing and could have a hard time picturing themselves in the home.  Some buyers will leave the house with the feeling that this is "John and Jane's home" and not the buyer's new home.

Another factor to take into account is all of those personal items can be very distracting.  We, as humans, are a very nosey bunch.  When buyers are supposed to look at the ins and outs of the home, they are looking at all of the pictures and
memorabilia.  They are busy creating stories in their heads about all of the photos that they are looking at, rather than noticing the recently finished wood floors and designer wall colors.  When they leave the home, some buyers may be able to recount where the sellers went on vacation but not have a clue about the type of appliances or flooring.

I suggest removing all but 2-3 photos from view, it will give buyers a clean slate to help them visualize your home as their next home. 

Happy Selling!

-Annie
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New Year's Resolution- Sell that house!

12/26/2013

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Christmas is over,
New Year's is near,
If you are thinking about listing your home in 2014,
You better listen here!

 
It is NEVER too soon to start prepping your home for sale, even if you are just casually looking to make a move.  We have a phrase in real estate- "looking at homes without a mortgage preapproval is like shopping without money".  Doesn't get you very far does it?  Same thing goes for looking for a new home when your current home needs some love before it goes on the market.
 
If you are even feeling lukewarm about selling your home in 2014, now is the time to get ready!  What if your dream home comes on the market?  Perfect location, perfect price, perfect layout, perfect size, etc., but your current home is not even close to sale ready.  The perfect home does not come along every day and if your current home is not ready, you can kiss the thought of that dream home good bye!

Here are some of my tips-

Declutter!!!-  I can't say it enough, this is always the 1st step for prepping to sell your home!  Between donating and throwing out unwanted things or moving things to a storage unit, the stuff has to get out of the house.  Less clutter=home showing better and appearing larger. It's just that simple!
 
Painting! Now I am not talking about a whole house paint job (which is always preferred, but might not be in the budget).  I am talking about paint touch up and taking care of the rooms that might not have the most neutral paint color.  You know that bright pink bedroom that your daughter HAD to have?  Maybe you can talk her into having it repainted to a more neutral color.
 
Repairing deferred maintenance items!  That loud noise the exhaust fan makes when you hit the switch, the way you have to jiggle the key just right to make the door unlock, the kitchen faucet with the slow drip, I could go on and on...these are all things that you have probably learned to live with over the years, but it might be a turn off to a prospective buyer.  They can think "if the seller couldn't fix something so simple, what else is there that hasn't been taken care of?" 
 
Updating items in the home!  I could talk for days on this topic, but there are some low cost ways to brighten, lighten and modernize your home without emptying your wallet.  Some quick ideas are- change out cabinet knobs and drawer pulls in kitchen and bathrooms, replace older kitchen and bath faucets, update light fixtures and ceiling fans and even change out old or damaged flooring, if that is in the budget.  
 

Now, this is just a simple list of a few items to put you in a great starting position, but when you are ready to put the sign in the yard, check out my list for making your home photo (and market) ready!

-Annie


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To Decorate or Not To Decorate, That is the Question.

12/15/2013

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Hello there!  Welcome!

I am going to start this whole blogging thing on a festive note- Decorating your home for the Holidays while it's listed for sale.  There are different schools of thought, but here is my professional opinion-practice minimalism.  Can you decorate for the Holidays…absolutely, but there are a few common sense rules! 

-No decorations for professional photos, if at all possible!  No one wants to see a home still listed in March with a Christmas tree in a photo- that is the telltale sign of how long a home has been on the market.  Not a good thing!  Now, the house very well could sell before the Holiday season is over or new interior photos can be taken when the decorations come down, but doesn’t it make sense to get it right the first time?  I think so!

-Once the home is photographed and you do decorate, keep it classy.  If you are usually a decorator that could go up against Clark Griswold’s lighting masterpieces, scale it back.  A wreath on the door, a tree (or two) in the home and some simple lights would be perfect!  While decorations can give a home a cozy and festive feeling, too many decorations can be distracting to some buyers.  (See photo above, ouch!)

 -Finally, take the decorations down in a timely fashion.  By timely fashion, I am talking about no later than a few days into January!  This is a must!

Now please don’t think I am a Grinch during the Holiday Season, I love decorations as much as the next gal!  BUT- the last thing any seller wants to do is to turn off a prospective buyer because of decorations that are only up for a few weeks!

Happy selling!!!

-Annie





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    Mother, Wife, Realtor, Photographer and Home Stager- my dream life!  I have been a photographer all of my life and a real estate agent for the last 14+ years and 4 years ago I decided to marry my two loves and that is how Annie M Design was born.

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