Get Your Home Ready for Its Close-Up Part 2: The Details
- At October 18, 2017
- By catherineschager
- In Tips and Advice
0
So much to do to stage a home for sale! Last week we shared tips on The Big Stuff which covered topics such as curb appeal, cleaning, decluttering and depersonalizing. Now let’s dig into the details.
After you’ve finished cleaning and storing, Theresa “Terry” Anderson of KoenigRubloff offers this advice: “There are some easy tricks to refresh a house, such as putting in new light fixtures, new faucets, paint a few rooms, and take down all wallpaper. I suggest a very minimal amount of furnishings and décor.” (You can email Terry at [email protected] or find her on Facebook by clicking here.)
Remember to check the latest Zillow report for paint colors that are currently selling for significantly higher (or lower) than average in each room and see our pinterest board for examples. Discuss the report with your realtor to determine what is best in your particular area.
Here are some other room-by-room expert tips we’ve collected for you:
Bedrooms
The key in the master bedroom is to stay gender neutral. You want the decor to appeal to everyone. Keep décor minimal but try to create a relaxing atmosphere where people can imagine unwinding. Create a bed people would want to crawl into, all soft and comfortable looking, and a small sitting area for reading or watching TV.
Catherine Schager Designs, Lake Forest Master Bedroom
Bathrooms
Try to restore bathrooms to an unused look. (Nothing says “yuck” like a strangers mystery bathroom mess.) Fix all leaky toilets and dripping faucets. Replace old toilet seats with new ones. Do your best to remove hard water stains that will make potential buyers think of leaks. (Try vinegar.) Deodorize the drains too. Keep counters clear except for a pretty soap dispenser and neutral colored shower curtain and bath mat.
Catherine Schager Designs, Glenview Renovations (left) and Northbrook Master Bath (right)
“Master” Touches
Remember those closets we discussed in Part 1? Storage space sells, especially in the master bedroom. One trick is to clear the master closet out completely, then hang a set of classy wooden hangers. Entice potential buyers to love the master bath by arranging a set of new fluffy white towels in ready-to-use fashion and topped with something pretty. Set the “spa” stage to help them imagine luxuriating in a hot bath or shower.
Family Living Areas
Keep only beautiful furniture on display and keep it neutral. You want potential buyers to imagine their own furniture in the room, not get stuck on your style. You don’t want them feeling like an intruder in YOUR space. Let them imagine it as THEIR space.
Create symmetrical but inviting arrangements that suggest conversations and family time. Arrange a board game or a tea service on the coffee table. Place a book or magazine next to a comfortable chair with a soft throw. Once again, keep it gender neutral and tailored, but oh-so-comfy looking. You don’t want the realtor to have to say “Imagine this…” while describing a scene. Instead, set the room to create those visions wordlessly.
Catherine Schager Designs, Glenview Renovations (left) and Winnetka Lower Level (right)
Kitchen and Dining
You won’t want to invest in major upgrades, but it’s worth it to fix leaky faucets, replace dated ones, and remove hard water stains. Consider painting dated cabinets and updating the hardware. Brighten up a poorly lit kitchen with new light fixtures. Choose the highest wattage bulbs for the fixtures and open up all the curtains and blinds. A light, bright kitchen sells better than a dark, dreary one. Lighter colors on the walls can help reflect the light. Keep countertops clear except two or three carefully chosen decorative items. Keep lots of empty space in the cabinets and drawers, and keep them well organized. Kitchen organization is big lately. Consider a few specialty foods in pretty packaging arranged just so in the pantry. Set the dining room table with carefully chosen, lovely yet neutral items (like a pretty tea set). Leave out a delicious looking and smelling pastry or cake on a pretty tray in the kitchen and have the realtor suggest they sit and have a treat in the space.
Catherine Schager Designs, Northbrook Kitchen
Catherine Schager Designs, Glenview Renovations
Defined Purpose
Make sure you don’t have any confusing “extra” rooms and absolutely no junk rooms. If you have an undefined space, give it a purpose. An office is usually a good bet but keep it neutral and classy. Bookshelves should be mostly empty with only a few neutral items on display. Storage space should invite them peek inside and see it empty, evoking thoughts of their own things they could store in that spot. A private, cozy reading spot nook near a set of beautiful bookshelves is always inviting.
Catherine Schager Designs, Northbrook Office
Good luck! Overall, remember to keep it gender neutral, style neutral, as empty as possible, spotlessly clean, and create carefully chosen scenes to evoke images in each space.
Get Your Home Ready for Its Close-Up Part I: The Big Stuff
- At October 09, 2017
- By catherineschager
- In Tips and Advice
- 0
If you have a home to sell, you’re likely anxious to get a good offer in a quick timeframe. We’ve collected some expert staging tips to help present a home that buyers will fall in love with at first sight.
Scott Rose of Baird & Warner, tells sellers to shine the apple! Scott says, “We are in a price war and a beauty contest. Declutter and make it look like a model. Remember that in most cases a home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it and what a bank is willing to loan (unless it’s all cash!).” (You can email Scott at [email protected], visit his website at ScottRoseHomes.com, or @ScottRoseHomes on Facebook.)
The beauty contest starts with curb appeal. First impressions are CRUCIAL. Many buyers will opt out of doing a walk-through on a house based simply on a poor outside presentation, so start your staging process at the curb. Replace your old mailbox with a pretty new one. Cut the grass, trim the bushes, weed flower beds, and add fresh mulch. Power wash your decks, walks, and patios. Repaint your front door (according to this 2017 Zillow report, homes with navy blue, dark gray, or charcoal front doors sell for more money) and add large, attractive house numbers that can be clearly seen from the street and look welcoming. If you need to paint the siding, consider gray, brown, or greige, as suggested by Zillow. If paint isn’t necessary, wash the siding and the windows until they sparkle. Clean your front porch and add welcoming touches like seasonal flowers in planters and hanging baskets, a pretty doormat, and a new doorbell with attractive sound.
The first step to staging the interior of your home for sale is to clean, clean, clean. Spit shine every single surface, corner, wall, ceiling, and floor. Clean cabinets and drawers, inside and out. Clean the grout, the faucets, and the globes on light fixtures. Clean furniture even though it won’t stay with the home, and clean underneath it too. Consider hiring a professional cleaning service to handle this time-consuming, exhausting chore for you.
Next, de-clutter, de-personalize, and paint. Experts suggest that you rent a storage unit and pack and move a good deal of your belongings before your first showing. Now is the time to get serious about removing every trace of clutter, and absolutely DO NOT shove that clutter into cabinets and closets. Potential buyers will be looking in there! Remove ALL personal photographs, diplomas, memorabilia, and collectibles. Choose only a few, neutral decorative elements. Remember, you want potential buyers to visualize themselves in your home. If they can’t see past your style and your décor, they won’t be able to see themselves in the space. Aim for lived-in but neutral. Have your realtor help you pick a few key pieces of furniture and store the rest. Give all the walls and trim a fresh coat of paint at minimum (and perhaps cabinets too if needed). Refer to the Zillow report and our pinterest board Colors That Sell for suggestions on paint colors for specific rooms.
Next, tackle every closet, cabinet, pantry, bookcase and storage area. Any items you don’t need to store for your next home can be picked up by a junk hauling specialists. There are several. One I like and use is Junk King. Storage is a big selling point so you want to be sure you show your home’s storage to best advantage. Keep a few, carefully chosen items in each storage area in an organized, attractive arrangement. Leave lots of “white space” between items. Consider items like fancy jams and other upscale condiments in pretty packaging to display on shelves.
Even if they are tiny, your pets definitely qualify under “the big stuff” in home prep. You need to remove any hint of any animal from your home. You don’t want potential buyers thinking about all the hidden damage your adorable fur babies might have caused to your home. Remove all furniture and rugs with pet damage, and all trace of pet odors and pet fur (or feathers or scales). When you leave before a viewing, take your pets and all their gear with you. Don’t leave pet dishes, pet beds, or pet toys behind to make potential buyers think of potential problems.
Stay tuned next week for Part 2: The Details, where we will talk about what works (and doesn’t) for each room.
How to Find Your Dream Home
You’ve been dreaming about finding your perfect home for a long time and you’re finally ready. Congrats! Now it’s time to start the search process. If you go into it prepared, you’ll find it less stressful. Here are some tips to help you on your way:
Make Detailed Lists
- Yes, please!
- Absolutely not!
First, make a list of your needs and your wants. (Yes, those are different, so mark each item as to whether it is a WANT or a NEED.) Consider layout, space, style, lot size, neighborhood, and special features (like large windows with a lake view). Scott Rose of Baird & Warner Real Estate told us this: “I always ask buyers what is important to them, i.e. schools, close to work, close to family, community activities, or being close to highways if they go downtown a lot.”
Pro tip: Always consider school districts even if you have no children and no plans to have any. A home in a high-rated school district is likely to sell faster later and more like to increase in property value.
Click here for a more in depth list of questions from Zillow to dig deeper.
Next, make a list of what would make you nuts over time. Be honest. You need to keep those items firmly in mind if you find a house you love that also has items on your “absolutely not” list. Are stairs a deal-breaker? Don’t even look at homes with stairs. Don’t fall in love with a house that has a feature that will ultimately make you unhappy. Same with your budget – don’t torture yourself with beautiful homes you can’t comfortably afford. Don’t even look at homes outside your budget.
Prioritize and Compromise
Prioritize your needs and wants, then prepare to compromise. It’s unlikely you will find a home that meets absolutely all of the items on your list, so go into the search process knowing you will need to make some compromises.
Be sure to consider your most lived-in spaces. If you love to cook, a high-end kitchen should be higher on your priority list. If you spend hours watching movies, the living room will be more important. If you work from home, a fabulous office space will be high on your list.
Outside the Box Viewing
Once you find a home you think could be the one, do some outside-the-box scouting around. Consider what’s next door – but also what could be next door down the road. Really analyze the neighborhood, neighbors, stores, parks, traffic, and changes that might be in the works in the near future. Try this list of questions to consider from Zillow.
View the home at different times of the day. Even if you can’t do another walk-through, it’s worth standing across the street and listening to the noises at night, or making the drive from that home to your office at drive time in the morning. Visit on weekends and during the week. This can cut down on surprises (like super loud neighbors) when it is too late.
Try Houzz
If you haven’t already, sign up for Houzz. You can make ideabooks with images of homes you love from every angle to help your realtor understand your perfect home. Houzz is a wonderful tool to help you organize your needs and wants and to communicate them to the pros.
Happy house hunting!
How to Find a Home You Love
Our special thanks to Stephanie Hofman of Stephanie Hofman Homes for contributing this article to our LOVE YOUR HOME MONTH theme.
It’s February, the month of love…so this blog is all about how to find a home you love, and will love years to come.
♥ Have your financial ducks in a row. Make sure you know what you can and cannot spend. Think about the taxes, moving costs, closing costs and costs of improvements to a new home that will be involved in your purchase. Speak with a reputable lender and get pre-approved before you begin your home search—a pre-approval letter will expedite the process once you find a home you’d like to pursue.
♥ Create a “wish list.” Know what your priorities are and, if you are purchasing a home with a spouse or partner, make sure you are on the same page—or at least in the same book! Define what’s non-negotiable and what you can compromise on.
♥ Work with a Realtor®. As a buyer, it costs you nothing to work with a Realtor®. Nada. It’s free. You get someone to do your homework for you, provide access to homes for sale, negotiate the deal, and basically provide expertise, guidance and education throughout the entire process. For free. But more importantly, the risk of costly mistakes that can be made by not having a professional looking out for you can be high.
♥ Investigate the neighborhoods you are interested in. Spend a weekend afternoon in the area to see who your neighbors are, and ask them questions about the area. Clock the distance from your potential home to important places: schools, shopping, your workplace. Check out the website for your new city and see what kind of services they provide. Are you religious? Maybe you want to see how many churches or synagogues are in the area. Is there vacant land nearby? Find out if it’s zoned for commercial or residential building—you don’t want to find out your new home is smack in the middle of the traffic pattern for a new Costco! Is your new home close to a main road? Listen to the noise volume both outside and inside the home. Finding the right location and neighborhood is essential to finding the right home!
♥ Commit to buying a home. With the crumbling of the housing market in the mid-2000s, we learned one important lesson: our homes are a place to live, laugh, love, raise our families and create memories. Our homes are not meant to be a bank or ATM. Look at this purchase as a long-term one, —don’t buy now unless you plan to stay in that home for at least five years. In addition to likely being the largest asset you will own, your home should be a place that you enjoy waking up in and coming back to every day.
Use these tips for help finding the home you will fall in love with. For more advice on buying a home you’ll love, contact Stephanie at [email protected].
Stephanie Hofman is a residential real estate broker with Coldwell Banker, based in Highland Park, IL. For more information, check out her website or Facebook page.
Predictions for 2014
2014 is shaping up to be an exciting year! Optimism is the air and future is bright for home ownership. Here are some predictions what 2014 holds from 3 professionals in the market:
- Real Estate
- Architecture
- Interior Design
I asked Amy Antonacci, a full-service real estate professional with Baird & Warner, for her predictions on the housing market:
Q: Do you see the housing market continuing to mprove in 2014 or do you expect a leveling off or even a decline?
A: I do see the housing market continuing to improve in 2014. I believe that both buyers and sellers are more realistic than they have been in the past several years and they are more ready to act. People have waited for a long time to move on with their lives and there is more certainty surrounding the housing market than in the past. Although interest rates are projected to rise over the course of the year, they are still at unprecedented lows and there are still “deals” to be had. -Amy
Amy Antonacci
Michael Menn of Michael Menn Ltd. offered his take on the outlook for 2014:
Q: What do you see in home building or remodeling trends in 2014?
A: I am cautiously optimistic about 2014 because of governmental interference with the banking industry, mainly the Dodd/Frank act. That being said, I predict that 2014 will be similar to 2013.
Similar trends with Kitchen and Bathroom renovations being top on the list. This is mainly because the boomer generation is staying in their living environments longer and remodeling those spaces they spend the most time in (Master Bath, Kitchen and Family Room). I also see that outdoor living spaces (hot tubs, outdoor kitchens, decks, patios will also be strong. Another area that will continue on being constantly asked for: three and four season rooms. Color in your home will also be strong. Instead of accent walls you will see color throughout, bright colors – just not strong and bold. White kitchens will remain as the number one kitchen asked for. Lastly, a strong asked for trend that I think will remain in 2014 is curb appeal – people spending money on renovating their street presence. -Michael
Michael Menn
From the interior design perspective, I am excited about 2014. I am finding that people are more optimistic about changing their living environment. I think in many cases, people have been tired of feeling like they cannot move forward and have the homes they love. I am also seeing people be more creative in their use of space and expect that to continue. Gone are the days of formal rooms (for the most part) and people are living and entertaining more casually. I also expect to see more emphasis on the “outdoor rooms”: the decks, outdoor kitchens and patios that help people enjoy the warmer weather. -Cathy
Catherine Schager
