Do you remember the first time you shopped for or purchased a home? If so, think back to that moment. What did you first notice? Do you remember certain aspects of the home’s appearance, or perhaps some unique landscape feature? Was it the bright color of the freshly-painted door or the glossy sheen from the clean windows?

The concept of ‘curb appeal’ – that is, how your home appears when viewing from the curb – is an important one, especially when selling your home. 

Give A Strong First Impression

The first impression that your home gives is one that will last. If your paint is fading or chipped, your siding is damaged, your roof is in disrepair or your gutters are hanging loose, what do you expect a potential buyer to think? It’s safe to assume that if you can’t be bothered to pull the weeds in the garden or rake up the leaves that there may be other maintenance issues lurking.

Remember, your goal is to sell your home as quickly as possible and for the best price. If your house looks like it’s in perfect shape from the outside, potential buyers will want to explore further.

Appeal To The Drive-By Buyers

You may not be aware, but many potential home buyers won’t bother connecting with your real estate agent or showing up to your open house events. Instead, they’ll drive by to get a feel for how the house and property look from the outside. Some might peer into your backyard or take a quick look around the lot as well. It’s critical that your home appears in peak condition at all times during the sales process. If your curb appeal declines, you may end up losing out on a potential sale.

Set Your Home Apart From The Neighbors

Contrast is another reason why focusing on your home’s curb appeal is important. Potential home buyers will be comparing your house with others on the same street and across the neighborhood. If your house is the best looking one on the block, it’s more likely to sell for a high price than if it’s the runt of the litter.

When you’re ready to list your home for sale, our professional real estate team will be happy to share some more curb appeal tips. Give us a call at your convenience – we look forward to connecting with you.

Staging is one of the most important aspects of any home sale. The more attractive your home is to potential buyers, the faster you can finalize the sale and move on. With that in mind, let’s explore four home staging ideas that won’t cost a fortune but are sure to impress your buyers.

#1: Clean The Place Until It Shines

The first and most obvious option is not going to cost much more than your time. Your home needs to be absolutely, positively spotless. The floors should be so clean that you would have no issue with eating off of them. The walls should be clean and free of marks. Windows and mirrors buffed to a sparkling shine. If there’s dirt to be found, rest assured that potential buyers will see it!

#2: Buy New Slip Covers And Sheet Sets

If your furniture is starting to look a little dated, you can spruce it up by investing in new slipcovers. These can be color matched to the rest of the room’s palette so that your furniture fits in. It is also a great idea to ensure that you have new-looking, matching sheet sets on all of the beds. The bedrooms don’t need to look like hotel rooms, but they do need to look good.

#3: Invest In Better Lighting For Important Rooms

When was the last time you replaced the bulbs in your fixtures and lamps? If you are still using dull older incandescent bulbs, it’s time to invest in newer LED or compact fluorescent lighting. It is best to try to match the color temperature of the bulbs to the rest of the room so that the room’s color and ‘feel’ don’t clash with the lighting. If this is a bit above your head, consider having a lighting expert come in to help light the important, high-traffic areas.

#4: Use Plants To Add A Bit Of Warmth And Life

Finally, if your home is lacking a bit of plant life, it might be time to take a quick trip to the local nursery. Adding one or two plants to your common areas adds a touch of life and even helps to keep the air fresh. If you prefer a pop of color, you can always add a flowering plant that’s currently in bloom.

Spending a few hours and a few dollars on staging is an investment that will pay off immensely when you sell your home. If you are thinking about listing your home for sale, or for more staging tips, contact our real estate team. We are happy to share our experience and help get your home sold quickly at a great price.

If you’re planning on selling your home, you’ve probably already started to consider how you’re going to stage it. Staging is one of the most important parts of the selling process. The way you present your home is key to leaving a positive impression on a potential buyer. Let’s explore a few ways that you can stage smaller outdoor spaces to make them feel like they’re much more than they are.

Go With Smaller Furniture Options

If you’re trying to stage a small patio, deck or yard area, you’ll want to stick with smaller furnishings. Yes, that means packing up the enormous hammock or chaise lounge that you love to lazy around on. Remember, perspective is going to matter as potential buyers have never seen your outdoor spaces before. So any large furniture sitting in a small space is going to appear to be that much bigger.

One great idea is to use furniture that you can see through, as it will give the illusion that the area around it is much larger. Consider options like open-backed or Adirondack chairs which let light pass through.

Use Glass To Create A Spacious Illusion

Keeping visibility in mind, the second trick you’ll want to leverage is to use as much glass as possible. Glass-top tables and other transparent items which let light through are an excellent way to highlight a small space. And don’t forget – keep any glass spotlessly clean! The last thing you want is to be showing off a pile of greasy fingerprints.

Take Your Plants Vertical

Another excellent tactic for making the most of smaller spaces is to grow any plants vertically. If you have the room for it, a plant wall can really shine as it adds a pop of green and other colors to the area. If not, just stick with slender plants that grow straight up. Try to avoid plants that tend to spread out wide as they grow. If they look like they’re taking up a lot of space, any potential buyers touring through will have the impression that your outdoor areas are smaller than they are.

There you have it – three easy tips for staging your small, intimate outdoor spaces. When you’re ready to list and sell your home, contact your local real estate professionals.

Every open house involves so much cleanup and de-cluttering that it’s often easy to forget about the first thing your guest will see when they arrive; the exterior! Instead of foregoing the first impression, here are some tips for fixing up your yard and all of its vegetation so you can make a positive impression on potential homebuyers.

Get Out The Pruning Shears

There are few things that will wreck the overall look of your home like an overgrown shrub or an unruly patch of bushes, so instead of letting nature take its course, do some scaling back. While you’ll want to make sure you retain the natural look of the shrubs and bushes in your yard, make sure to focus on any overgrown areas or branches sticking out so your property will look well maintained and respectable.

Mow The Lawn

It may seem like common sense to get out the lawnmower and the edger for some basic lawn maintenance, but since it’s a rather sizeable task it can catch many people off guard. There’s no way around it so make sure you pick a good time weather-wise to cut the grass right before your open house. You’ll also want to edge around your sidewalks and driveway for a picture-perfect look that will enhance the impression your home makes.

Plant Some Perennials

A tidy yard and pruned trees will certainly improve the look of your home on the outside, but picking out a few flowers and cleaning up your flower beds can make it look even more inviting. While gardening can take up more than a little time, planting a few flowers or purchasing a few pots can go a long way towards adding that extra touch.

Keep It Clutter Free

Like anything to do with an open house, it’s all well and good to have a bunch of great design features and details, but if there’s clutter, potential buyers won’t see anything! If you’ll be putting your home up for sale soon, ensure your yard is as clean as it can be with gardening tools placed in the shed and any toys packed away for later use.

It takes a lot to prepare your home for an open house, but ensure you don’t forget about your yard because it’s one of the first things your visitors will see! If you’re getting prepared to put your home on the market, contact your real estate professionals for more information.

There are plenty of things that you’ll need to shape up when you embark on selling your home, whether it’s painting the house or the minor fix-ups, but it’s easy to forget about some items that will be readily apparent to homebuyers. If you’re preparing to put your home on the market and are wondering what you shouldn’t miss, here are a few reasons why replacing your front door should be at the top of the list.

It’s The First Thing Buyers Will Notice

While the yard and the exterior of your home may be the most noticeable things to a potential homebuyer when they visit your home, the door will be one of the most imposing things they come across. Because this will be the access point for your home, the quality and stability of your door will create the first impression, good or bad. If you happen to have a flimsy or poorly designed door that is aging, it may be time to invest in something more substantial that will create a positive impression.

A Sense Of Safety

An aesthetically appealing door may be pretty important when it comes to making an instant impression, but a solid door will be key in providing potential buyers with an idea of safety and stability. One of the most important things for homebuyers when it comes to purchasing a home is the sense of security it provides, and a sturdy door will go a long way towards making your community and the potential new dwelling feel like a welcome abode.

Increases Your Home’s Value

There are plenty of small renovations you can take on that will bump up the value of your home, but replacing an unsound door is important because most homeowners won’t to make this upgrade right away. While it may seem like buying a door will be a significant splurge, there are actually many great options for a relatively economical price. It’s just important to find something that won’t break the bank and will fit in with your renovation budget.

When it comes times to sell your home, there are many renovations that can instantly bump up its value. However, many people forget that the door provides one of the first impressions and a sense of security and comfort. If you’re currently preparing to put your home on the market, contact one of our real estate professionals for more information.

Arranging an open house is one of the most important parts of selling your home, but there can be a lot of tricks involved in staging it so you’ll get the right offers. While the kitchen and the living room may be a bit more straightforward, here are some tips for staging your bedroom that will be sure to get buyers interested in making an offer on your home.

Brighten The Bedding

It’s one thing to have makeshift bedding when you only have your family to impress, but when it comes to having an open house, you’ll need to be prepared to make a statement. Instead of a mish-mash of colors and styles, ensure that you have one style and one look you’re going for, and ensure that it’s not cluttered with too many pillows and colors. You’ll also want to make sure the colors you choose match the rest of the décor in your room so the viewer isn’t distracted by the sight.

Minimize The Clutter

Few things will swallow the space in your bedroom like a lot of clutter, so it’s important to clear out any extras from your room before you have any viewers. While it’s a given that you’ll want to get rid of extra papers and anything additional that’s obstructing the eye, it’s also important to clear out any oversized pieces of furniture. It’s possible that you have a chaise lounge you’re in love with, but if it swallows the room, you may want to re-consider it when staging time comes.

Don’t Forget About The Walls

There are few things that will illuminate a room like a good piece of art, so ensure that your favorite space isn’t entirely empty when it comes the time to stage your home. While you won’t want to have something that’s too dramatic or colorful, ensure that it’s something that matches the color and style of your room and will help to illuminate the elements that make it ideal. It’s also important to choose the right size of print so that it doesn’t completely overwhelm your space.

There are a lot of small details that go into staging a home properly, but you can be sure to show your bedroom effectively by keeping it clutter free and making it match. If you’re currently getting prepared to put your home up for sale, contact your trusted real estate professional for more information.

With all of the busyness of the winter months and most people settling in for the season, it can be hard to achieve a successful home sale at the end of the year. Fortunately, if you simply can’t wait to put your home on the market, here are some staging tips that will engage potential buyers so you won’t have to wait much longer for an offer.

Add Accents To Your Neutrals

It’s often the case that a home with neutral colors will show better because potential buyers can envision themselves in it, but there are ways to dress up neutral tones that will add spark. Instead of leaving your place too ho-hum, try punching up the color palette with a few bright pieces that will catch the eye. Whether you add a throw, some pillows, a vase or a vivid painting, this can be a simple way to create a lasting impression.

Let The Light In

The winter months can be a more difficult time to let natural light in, but few things will have a more positive impact on how your home shows than the lighting. A warm, homey space that is lit in a way that maximizes your home’s best features will be sure to make potential home buyers interested. In addition, good lighting will work to minimize any flaws that might be more visible in a less flattering light.

Don’t Forget About The Senses

It’s easy to get so involved in cleaning and de-cluttering your home that you forget about creating ambiance, but engaging the senses can have a very positive impact on potential home buyers. Instead of leaving this aspect to chance, you may want to bake something to create a pleasant scent or play music so that people viewing your home will stick around a little longer. Potential home buyers may not be aware of it, but engaging the senses can have an unconscious effect on the impression your home leaves.

The winter months are not always the best time to put your home on the market, but it may just mean that you’ll need to put in a little more effort to make the sale. By engaging the senses and adding color to a neutral palette, you may just snag an ideal offer. If you’re currently preparing to put your home on the market, contact your local real estate professional for more information.

Curb appeal, or how your home looks from the street, is an essential part of preparing to sell your house. It’s also where comparison with your neighbors’ homes is inescapable which poses a problem if you’re both on the market. Read on for five ways to boost your own curb appeal.

Open Up: Garage Doors With Impact

In most homes, the external facade is taken up largely by the garage door which means it’s a big influence on how people see your home. Embrace that. Style your garage door to suit your home, touch up the paint or trim, or even do a full overhaul with a brand-new door.

Balance Out: The Appeal Of Symmetry

Not only is a symmetrical design visually appealing, it’s also quick and easy to do. If your home doesn’t allow for large symmetrical designs because of its structure — if it has a garage on one side, for example — focus in on specific elements. Consider the front door, maybe, where fixtures are easier and cheaper to update.

Sit Back: Inviting Outdoor Seating

A great way to attract buyers is to think like them and what search-weary buyer doesn’t enjoy a moment to relax? Arrange an aesthetically pleasing seating area outside your home. It will become a welcoming space that can offer buyers the chance to sit down and dream about owning your home. A clear and attractive walkway is also very inviting, so be sure to spruce yours up or install a whole new one to, literally, lead buyers to your door.

Admire The Art: Accent With Outdoor Pieces

Put a little of your home’s personality out front to attract the interest of like-minded buyers. Weather-resistant art pieces are a great way to accent your lawn or entrance. Consider the welcoming sound of wind chimes, or a sculpture or two. Even birdbaths can provide simple but effective artistic highlights.

Look Critically: Get Outside Eyes

When you’re close to your home, it can be hard to view it as a buyer would in other words, critically. This is an essential step, though, in creating effective curb appeal. So, consider getting another person involved. Someone who can look at your home objectively and provide a clear assessment of your home’s strengths and weaknesses.

Speaking of outside eyes, don’t forget about your local real estate agent. Turn to us with questions, or for advice, at any time after all, we know what works in your neighborhood!