1. Get rid of clutter. Throw out or file stacks of newspapers and magazines. Pack away most of your small decorative items. Store out-of-season clothing to make closets seem roomier. Clean out the garage.

2. Wash your windows and screens to let more light into the interior.

3. Keep everything extra clean. Wash fingerprints from light switch plates. Mop and wax floors. Clean the stove and refrigerator. A clean house makes a better first impression and convinces buyers that the home has been well cared for.

4. Get rid of smells. Clean carpeting and drapes to eliminate cooking odors, smoke, and pet smells. Open the windows.

5. Put higher wattage bulbs in light sockets to make rooms seem brighter, especially basements and other dark rooms. Replace any burnt-out bulbs.

6. Make minor repairs that can create a bad impression. Small problems, such as sticky doors, torn screens, cracked caulking, or a dripping faucet, may seem trivial, but they’ll give buyers the impression that the house isn’t well maintained.

7. Tidy your yard. Cut the grass, rake the leaves, trim the bushes, and edge the walks. Put a pot or two of bright flowers near the entryway.

8. Patch holes in your driveway and reapply sealant, if applicable.

9. Clean your gutters.

10. Polish your front doorknob and door numbers.

Reprinted from REALTOR Magazine Online by permission of the National Association of Realtors, Copyriht 2005, All rights reserved.

0 comments. This is an old post. The comments are currently closed. Click here to send me a comment via email.

by Eric Bryan, BryanSuarez Property Presentation

A little interior design, some decorating, marketing, real estate, and set design all rolled in to one.  Imagine wearing all those hats!  A properly trained real estate stager does just that.  So, where does it all fit in?

 To stage real estate properly, the designer must have a good understanding of spatial considerations, color, architectural and furnishing styles, the real estate market, and organization concepts to name a few.  In addition to these very technical understandings is the ability to use these techniques to create environments that speak to a wide range of buyers.  As with the advertising industry, stagers, realtors, and sellers have a product to market as well.  In the advertising industry, prior to the public seeing an ad, hours of planning and concept consideration have been done.  When we purchase something due to an ad that appealed to us, we are purchasing the result of research about us, the product, the products’ competition, and market trends.  Also, hours of design time have been spent to create a look that stands out among the crowd of competition, and makes an impression on its target market.

 It is no different with real estate staging.  Once a property is put on the market, it becomes a product of that market.  As a product, research must be done.  Who is/are the competition?  Who is the target market? What does the target market want in a property? What does this property have that the others don’t?  What is this property missing that the others have?  What do I like about this property?  What would make me purchase this property?  These are some questions that a real estate stager would ask themselves within the first few minutes of visiting the property.  Imagine the work that goes into the actual staging of the property.

 The goal, then, is to create an environment that attracts buyers.  It is as simple as that.  Not to create an environment that attracts the owner, realtor, or stager alone, but one that appeals to the largest number of buyers.  This can only be done through research, careful planning, creative ideas, and hard work.

 Staging real estate means to enhance a property’s best features, increasing the perceived space, convincing prospective buyers that this is their home and it is ready for them to move in! Staging is obviously more than just the placing furniture, accessories, or lighting to beautify the space.  This is marketing a product to gain a faster and more profitable sale.

http://bryansuarez.wordpress.com 

0 comments. This is an old post. The comments are currently closed. Click here to send me a comment via email.