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House To Go / House Staging

September 6, 2007 on 12:29 pm | In Houses To Go General | Well,  I did not realize it but, what I have been doing for a little more than a year now is what everyone calls home staging.  I guess I take it to the full extent.  The reason I say this as I started at the outside and work my way in.

You see, you can set up everything inside just fine, but if the outside is a clutter and not tidy yard or house,  well just forget about it.  Now,  I am in WI and people here are not like other parts,  people here are big time conservatives when it come to spending money.  I had two large clients last year that needed complete house staging.  I just called it Rehab consulting and did not get the new coined phrase “House Staging”.  I was able to help sell a clients house in seven days.  Now,  sometimes this is not always the case.  My rates well lets just say inexpensive is a understatement.  I just read a article where the house stagers are charging a commission on what the house sells for. 

I did not do that.  I did not charge any consulting fees if they hired us to do the up grades that were needed to the house. Yes, I only charged what the going rates for the area were, for the improvements done.  So,  in the end I staged the whole house for free.  Silly me.   Now, this whole craze of house staging is going on and I once again have been left behind.

We have doing are normal home improvement and hydro-seeding this year instead.  If some of you don’t know hydro-seeding is, is the newer way lawns are put in.  Most people in Wisconsin don’t even know what it is.  People down south have seen the trucks with tanks spraying green slurry for a bunch of years already.

People here get talked into straw/seed applications all the time and pay big money for it.  I just don’t get it.  Remember,  house staging starts outside and then goes in.  I don’t care what anyone else is saying.  If a buyers car does not ever slow down to look because the outside is so bad,  they never make it inside.

Well,  here I have been calling my tips to help sell your home,  should have been “how to stage your home for sale.”

Now, if people would just start seeing my blog,  I could really help some people out.  The house staging tip of the day is,  walk out take some pics of your house and see what you think.  Then ask others,  tell them you want their likes or dislikes and to be honest.

Or just send them to me and let me tell you.  I am just a home improvement specailist and lucky for all, I also like to write.

House Staging Second Edition

September 16, 2007 on 1:14 am | In Houses To Go General |

Ok,  We were at the front of your  house getting a picture from the curb.  We need to see these pictures in order to see what needs to be done.  You must start at the out side, you will hear me say this all the time.  If you get someone who tells you it is all about how the inside looks,  get rid of them now.

We will cover this now,  think about it.  When you go looking or when driving in a area you like you look at the houses that stand out.  This can be for good and bad.  The really bad houses you are never going to want to see inside are you?The really nice house with lots of curb of appeal you may even slow down and look at a house thats not even for sale.  So,  I think with this said, you can see why you must start on the outside.

The yard should have a good looking lawn.  I am not talking about a country club golf course or anything, but should look nice.  When you know your house is going up for sale in advance it pays to have some weed and feed applications done.  You can even do it yourself as they have bottles that connect to your hose.  Trim the edges around walk ways and sidewalks.  This gives a clean well kept look.

The trees should be trimmed of all dead and over hanging branches.  If the lot is to full you may even need a professional to open up your tree tops to get more sun light into the yard and house.  The next is your bushes, they also need to be removed if dead, sounds funny, you should see how many houses are for sale with dead brown bushes right up against the house.  Trim back and shape,  do not allow to overhang sidewalks. 

I have written about these above steps before, but they are so important when staging curb appeal they can not be repeated enough.  Side walks most be clean and uncluttered. Power wash them if they are dirty.  Again sounds funny it not.  People look at all these things.  We just take it for granted.  Don’t have 15-20 planters of flowers all over the steps.  First of all they are a tripping hazard and second they will make a mess with dead leaves and such.  Which is more cleaning you will have to do.

The front door of the house should be in very good shape.  All screens and glass should be fucntioning and look good.  The paint on the doors should be in good shape also, leaning towards a new style look.  If they need paint,  paint them, if they need replacement, replace them.  Even if you don’t buy the high end doors and storm doors it is better to replace then look bad.    

I will keep updating this same article.  The theme will stay the same and will have more tips added.   I do repeat things over again to remind clients to do what we talked about and in case new people are just reading this edition.  I will keep writing as my home improvement clients are always asking for more. 

Always remember, safety first

House Staging 3rd Edition

September 20, 2007 on 1:22 am | In Houses To Go General |

Well,  hope all have had enough time to try the few things I suggested.  We left everyone in their kitchens and looking around.  The counters need to be cleared off.  Only keep a few items on the counter.  This will give the appearance of more space and open the area up.  People want to see where their coffee maker is going to go.  Make sure the area is very clean and open,  not having the breakfast plates with egg stuck all over is not a great selling option.  Now,  if your was being viewed at mid morning the smell of fresh coffee and bacon could be very appealing to a person.

Don’t have a personal collect of Elvis plates covering 80% of the wall space.  Get these all down and packed away.  Which leads me to nail holes.  Make sure the room is free of holes and has a fresh coat of paint.  Neutral colors only, you can live without your plum crazy custom kitchen color for at least a little while. You need to have every item in its place and the place clean and new looking.  This is a very popular room for most people so they look at it harder then others.  I am not saying you need to go out and buy all new cabinets and counter tops as you would have to spend more money then needed.  You also cannot have cabinets falling off the walls either.  They most be clean and functional.  Make sure the faucet is not leaking or broken in any way.  Same goes for any drain leaks or broken or poor running garbage disposals. These are very important items.  If the counter tops are so bad have someone come in a just replace the counter with a inexpensive new one.  Make sure all lights are working and no bulbs need to be replaced.

These above items are not done so many times.  People just think there not important or over look things since they have lived with the counter top corners half broken off for 5 years any way.  So, you can see where I am coming from on these items.

The items above are a few more things to move on in the right direction.  Keep going,  you will get it done if you just keep doing it in smaller sections.

Remember, safety first.