Barker and Hedges Real Estate Blog

It is hard enough to sell a home in the current real estate market.  There are special considerations which much undertaken when it comes to selling a vacant home in particular, though.  The idea a home is sitting vacant is almost an immediate turn-off for potential buyers.  Vacant houses are in the news a lot today, with reports of vandalism, thefts, and deferred maintenance.  Additionally, a home that looks comfortable when it is furnished could look bare and flawed to potential home buyers when it’s empty.  Not to worry, selling a vacant home isn’t impossible.  If you absolutely have to leave a home vacant before you sell it, try to follow these tips:

• First impressions are more important than ever. Vacant or not, a home for sale must absolutely have curb appeal.  Ensure that the exterior of the home and its surrounding grounds are being well kept.
• If your house is on the market in fall, be sure whoever is tending to the yard also keeps the leaves cleaned up. Likewise, if it’s winter and you live in a snowy area, be sure driveways and entrances are cleared for people coming to take a tour of the home.
• Improve landscaping before you leave. Plant some new shrubs, lay down some fresh ground cover, or brighten it up with some colorful annuals.
• Paint or fix up the front entryway.  Once the potential buyers have crossed the lawn or sidewalk to make it to the front door, you don’t want the entrance of the home to scare them off.
• Touch up the paint in every room on any walls that have been scuffed. You will probably mark up the walls just moving the furniture out! You may even want to repaint some rooms entirely if they are painted too brightly, as these colors look best when there are furnishings or wall decorations to fill the space.
• Once everything is out of the home, get all of the carpeting professionally cleaned. If the home has hardwood, make them shine!  Without furnishings and other items to distract the eye, every stain and mark on the floor will stick out like a sore thumb.
• Clean every crevice of your house thoroughly, including windows, tile grout, and fireplaces.  It is hard to hide dirt or grime in an empty room.
• If it is possible, leave some furnishings in the house. Empty rooms appear smaller than they actually are.  It will give prospective buyers a sense of size and proportion. Additionally, having a place to sit down encourages them to sit and converse about the features of the home.
• Protect your vacant house from break-ins. Invest in timers for lights both inside and outside the home that turn on automatically when it gets dark and turn off at sunrise. Also, cancel your newspaper subscription and forward your mail: A pile of newspapers is a sure sign to a thief that no one has been home for a while.
• If you have a security alarm, put it to use.  Just make sure you give the entrance code to your Realtor.
• Review the provisions of your homeowners insurance. Many companies have a cap on how long coverage will last while the property is vacant.

Though some buyers don’t like the idea of looking at a vacant home, other buyers like the that the house is empty, already waiting for them to move in.  Additionally, without furniture to clutter up the space, potential owners can see precisely what they’re getting when the sale is finalized.  Using these techniques, selling a vacant home can be made much easier.

I like brining these strange-but-true real estate related stories.  They usually show the more creative aspects of marketing a home.  Not all the time, of course, but most of the time.  This one is no exception!

I don’t need to tell anyone that there is an excess of homes on the market in most areas.  At the same time, with the economy as it is and credit markets tight, fewer buyers are looking for homes.  With the shortage of real estate buyers, more people are choosing to explore another method of moving out and moving on: house swaps.

Many people considering swapping homes have to sell because of a job change or because they need more space. The average person isn’t interested in renting out their unwanted home and becoming landlords.  When there are few options and the home doesn’t seem to be selling, a house swap is their last attempt at offloading the home and in some cases even avoiding foreclosure.

With hundreds of thousands of homes for sale being advertised on traditional real estate listing services, house swapping is a tiny niche of the market, but it is showing signs of growth. The free classified advertisement website, Craigslist, added a “Housing Swap” category about two years ago due to user demand. So far, it logged 11,000 listings nationwide in June and the company said numbers have doubled from last year.

Homeowners post a description of the property they’re trying to sell and of the type of home they’re seeking. When there’s a successful match, the owners negotiate to buy each other’s homes. The sale and purchase of the two properties is typically done at the same time, so no one is left paying two mortgages.

The houses are rarely of equal value. Both parties will get their home appraised and agree on a price. If one is worth more than the other, the buyer of that house has to make up the difference.

There are drawbacks, however. When decide on a house swap, you you’re dealing with a smaller pool of buyers than you would if you listed your property on the traditional Multiple Listing Service, which is fed with listings from Realtors.  But if you’re considering a house swap, you may have already been pursuing those avenues with no luck, in which case it couldn’t hurt to try. Just make sure that you have a Realtor at your side to make sure everything is on the up and up.  And once again, if you like the house enough you want to buy it, make the sale contingent on the home passing a professional inspection.

Adding art requires more consideration than picking between a nail or a screw.  

Proportion and placement of home accents are just as important as choosing the style.  Improper placement of an art piece will cause focal point confusion; furthermore, choosing decor that is out-of-scale with the space will leave buyers questioning the quality of the home.  Take a look at the examples below:

 Many amatuer decorators are under the impression that art work needs to be hung at eye-level; the problem with that theory is that what is eye-level for you isn’t necessarily eye-level for the buyer.

In the photo to the left, the art pieces (hung at eye-level) leave too much space between the pieces and the furniture.  The phenomenon is called “floating art syndrome,” and this room suffered from a double case with breakouts on both walls.

 The perscription for this “illness” is to reduce and lower.  The photo below shows how the artwork has been condensed to the focal point of the room and lowered to create a more intimate atmophere.  (Dr. KFM has cured the patient, and this house is now sold!)

 The next example (to the right) shows a bedroom with art work that is too small for the space.  Ignoring all the other obvious flaws displayed in the picture, this relatively small art piece is dwarfed by the king-sized bed.   If you thought the corrective measure would be to add a larger art piece, you would be right and wrong.

By adding a larger art piece, the room will start to look unbalanced (topic to be addressed on another post).  The method of correction would be to choose a piece or series of pieces that would add length but does not overwhelm the wall.

Rememer the “intimate” feeling created by lowering the art in the living room (pictured above).  This intimate setting should be refected in the master bedroom as well.  The photo below shows several small framed pieces placed side-by-side to create a horizontal display that is as grand as the bed itself but is not over-powering.

The improper placement of home decor and art pieces may seem like an unlikely culprit that hinders the sale of your home, but it is a “quiet killer” that leaves a bad impression on buyers.  So whether you are preparing your house for sale or are just updating it for your own pleasure, style, size, and placement of art should be considered before picking up your hammer.

The examples above show how good intentions at home staging backfired due to lack of knowledge.  After consulting with KFM Staging & Design, these sellers were shown the proper staging techniques that gave their house memorable appeal.  Your largest financial investment deserves a professional evaluation!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions that Sell” in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding communities.  For more home staging tips or to schedule an in-home or online consultation, visit our website at www.kfmstaging.com.

Last week, I wrote a lot of content to help first time home buyers prepare to buy their first home.  I provided information about “hidden costs” of owning your own home, budgeting tips for first time home buyers, and information on how people with bad credit can still purchase a home.  But sellers are important, too.  More to the point, what if you’re a first time home seller?  With inexperience and a sluggish real estate market making headlines nationwide, I could understand why selling a home for the first time could seem daunting. Here are some tips especially for those who may be trying to sell a home for the first time.

1. It Can Be Done. Some 5.25 million existing homes were sold in 2001. 5.65 million existing home were sold even in 2007, the fifth highest year on record, though that was 12.8% short of the 6.48 million sold in 2006.  Even in this down market, other owners have sold their homes and you can, too!
2. Don’t Go It Alone.  Though you knew it was important to have representation when you bought the house, it’s especially important to have a Realtor looking out for your best interests when you sell a home.  After all, it is your equity. And don’t just choose your cousin or best friend from high school, who happen to be Realtors, sell your house.  For your home sale to truly be successful, you must have a strong negotiator in your corner to help you get the both the best price and terms. This takes some research and interviewing multiple real estate agents until you find the right one for you.
3. Times Have Changed. If it has been a while since you purchase your home, know that today’s real estate market is a radically different place. Potential home buyers are very informed through use of the Internet, ask for seller disclosure forms, get professional home inspections, and are often represented by buyer agents. Because buyers are better prepared than they may have been in the past, it may take some extra preparation and marketing practices to attract just the right buyer.
4. Polished to a Shine. One thing which hasn’t changed is “First impressions are everything.”  That applies to what a home looks like inside and out.  Giving a good impression from street-level in the real estate world is known as “curb appeal.”  If your house is attractive to people from the outside, it makes it more likely that people will want to take a look inside.  But that also means that the house has to make a good first impression once people step in the door. Completely clean a home inside and out before putting it on the market.  This could also include doing minor home improvements like interior and exterior painting and other cosmetic enhancements.
5. Everything in Working Order. That doesn’t mean that cosmetic improvements are all that you’ll need.  When most people decide to purchase a house, they expect everything to work and be in fair condition. If there are problems with the house, when a potential home buyer misses it, the professional home inspector they hire probably won’t. Mend anything which may need repairs now, before the home is on the market.  That way, you can choose who fill fix it and how much you will spend on it, not the potential buyer.
6. Less is More. When you present your home to potential buyers, you want to help them imagine themselves living there. It’s hard to do this when the house is filled with very personal item.  You know what houses look like in magazines?  Yes, this is something to aspire to.  Remove as many personal items as you can and try to reduce the amount of furniture you have in each room. When deciding what types of decorations to leave, remember that simple is better.
7. Know Your Market. Real estate is highly local. Your Realtor, real estate agent, or broker can explain current market trends in your specific community, including what’s selling, what isn’t selling, and why. This information is important in order for you to get the best possible price and terms when you sell your home.
8. Know the Competition. Yes, in a way, selling a home is a competition right now.  Let’s face it, it’s a buyers market.  Buyers are taking their time, picking and choosing just the right home.  Research other properties in the area which are up for sale, and therefore competing for buyer attention. You can ask your Realtor about what it will take to be competitive in your specific market.  They should also be able to tell you if your property has an edge over others which may be nearby.
9. Know the Timing.  Location and competition are one thing, timing is a whole different topic altogether.  When interest rates are low like they are now, it’s great to be a seller. But when the credit market is being crunched like it is right home, well, homes still sell.  The goal is to be realistic and sell your home for as much as market conditions will allow. That could mean waiting until a better time to sell in drastic cases.
10. Understand The Plan. Marketing a home to potential buyers takes much, much more than putting a sign in the yard, some pictures on the internet, and an ad in the paper. A successful Realtor will use a variety of methods to attract prospective home buyers. Your Realtor will discuss with you what the specific strategy is going to be for your particular home.

It is important to remember that selling a first home is an emotional process.  You will have attachments to the property, because it is your first home.  It’s exciting to move on to bigger and better houses once you’ve outgrown your current property, though.  Remember the reasons your selling and it should be much easier to find the motivation to sell your first home.

The transition from summer to fall signifies more than just back to school and football.  Individuals who are selling their house should use the changing of the seasons to re-evaluate the showing condition of their home.

Home Staging Tips for Fall:

• Curb Appeal:  Don’t be too eager to winterize the lawn mower.  Even in cool weather, regular yard care should be exercised; a lush, manicured yard translates into a well-cared for home.  Be sure to cut back dead or dying perenials and replace with fall blooms such as mums.  Fallen leaves, sticks, and other yard debris should be gathered and moved to a compositing collection site.
• Fall Decorations:  Both indoors and out, keep your fall decorations to a tasteful minimum.  Setting out too many (or too large) yard displays will not only decrease the visual size of your yard, but it will distract the buyers from what they really should be focusing on… your home.  Instead of setting up your impromptu grave yard for the kiddies, use neutral fall decor (such as pumpkins and small hay bales) that appeals to the adult buyer.  (see photo below)

• Seasonal Scents:  Nothing conjures up warm memories of family better than the sweet, spicy scents of fall.  However, using artificial sprays may irritate some buyers; and lighting scented candles for showings can be a fire hazard.  Natural scents such as freshly baked spice cookies or simmering apple cider adds a fresh aroma without overpowering the buyer.

Making the effort to update your listing during the change of seasons will ensure that your home remains fresh and therefore attracts a greater number of buyers.

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions that Sell” in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding communities.  For more home staging tips visit our website at www.kfmstaging.com.

Home Staging Physics: Clutter attracts clutter.

Unorganized papers on your desk… Your children’s toys pushed into the corner… Overflowing magazines and newspapers on the kitchen table… What is the common thread in all these scenarios? Once one of these piles have been establish, it multiplies overnight! (Hence the home staging physics lesson for today.)

When papers, toys, or magazines do not have a proper storage place, it turns into clutter. If you are selling your home, the piles of “un-stored” items (aka clutter) needs to be removed.

The example below shows a master bedroom that is being used as a storage space.  In this state, buyers will not see this room as a restful retreat.

After a staging consulation by KFM Staging & Design, the exercise equipment, children’s clothing, and magazines were removed, and neutral accessories were added.  The result is a clean and peaceful space that is sure to attract buyers!

Removing clutter is one of the most effective techniques of home staging!  Although these items may be precious to you, it will not help you sell your home.  Pack away your excess belongings to get them out of the way and ready to move to your new home!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions That Sell” for homeowners and Realtors across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. For more information on home staging visit our website: www.kfmstaging.com.

“How you live in your home and how you sell your house is two different things.” In staging circles, this sentence is uttered to clients daily. However, it is widely under-appreciated by those who have not experienced staging in their own homes.

While living in your house, function usually precedes form. Translation: even though it may not look pretty, it works for our family. When selling, it just needs to look pretty. Take a look at the example below:

In this photo, the dining room is being used as a storage space.

For the family, this area was not being used on a daily basis, so it was convenient for them to place their unneeded items on the table.

In this condition, buyers could not imagine eating a peaceful meal or entertaining in this room.

Knowing that changes needed to be made, the family had an in-home staging consultation to prioritize the assignments.

After removing the storage items, place settings were added with a floral arrangement for drama.

Now, buyers can imagine entertaining in this room, hosting family holidays, and having a candle light dinner for two.

Instead of showing clutter, the table setting tells a story of elegance while coordinating the color scheme with the rest of the home.

The best part of staging this room was the minimal costs involved. Most items were used from the homeowners’ China cabinet! The biggest investment the homeowners made was with their time and effort.

De-cluttering may be the least glamorous part of home staging, but it proves to be the most effective tool in helping your house sell quickly! The time invested in preparing your house for sale before it is listed will most likely reduce the time your house will remain on the market.

Don’t think of removing your extra stuff as a chore, but instead, think of it as packing early!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions That Sell” for homeowners and Realtors across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. KFM specializes in home staging consultations and vacant stagings. For more information on home staging visit our website: www.kfmstaging.com.

Attention Sellers: What does hair gel and room decor have in common? The answer: A little goes a long way!

When selling your house, rooms should appear uncluttered and stylish. If a room has too much decorations or stuff of any kind, buyers will miss seeing the room itself. Take a look at the example below:

In this photo, the overwhelming decorations are distracting to the room.

The wide variety of colors, patterns, and textures make this area feel smaller than it should.

Too many pieces of art work ornate the walls barely leaving any visual wall space.

The vanity is covered with daily products thus decreasing its visual size. While the floor is hardly visible amongst the rugs, shelves, and other miscellaneous items.

In this condition, buyers will remember a room that is chaotic and small instead of appreciating the full bath tub and large vanity.

After an in-home staging consultation by KFM Staging & Design, the home owner was given a plan to create a spacious bathroom that will appeal to buyers.

The color palette was kept neutral to create the illusion of more space. A small amount of color was added with the artwork for visual interest.

The artwork was limited to the focal point of the bathroom - in this case, the wall space above the towel bar. It is important to see clean wall space when selling your house.

Extra items on the floor, including the rugs, trash bins, and shelves have been removed to show the maximum amount of floor space. The more floor space that is visible, the larger the room appears.

The final transformation to this area was exchanging the dated shower curtain for a cloth curtain that is streamline. Just like window treatments in a bedroom, the shower curtain will set the style of the bathroom.  Through staging, this bathroom was instantly updated!

When it comes to de-cluttering, a little goes a long way, but a lot goes even further!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions That Sell” for homeowners and Realtors across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. KFM specializes in home staging consultations and vacant stagings. For more information on home staging visit our website: www.kfmstaging.com.

Small details in a house can make a HUGE difference in how the house is perceived by buyers. If your house is in pretty good shape but you still want a more polished look, consider replacing the outdated light fixtures, faucets, and window treatments.

Take a look at the example below:

The room in the photo shown above has out-dated light fixture and old-style window treatments. Even though the hardwood floors were in excellent condition and the large windows have an amazing view to the back yard, the house felt like it was stuck in the 1980’s.

After an in-home staging consultation, the home owners changed the light fixture and updated the window treatments. The result was an immediate leap from the ’80’s into the 21st Century! See below:

Updating a few key elements allowed buyers to appreciate the features of the home. The elegant window treatments now frames the amazing view, while the new light fixture emphasizes the current style of the home.

Although these changes seem insignificant, it clearly made a big impact in updating the style of the home!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions That Sell” for homeowners and Realtors across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. KFM specializes in home staging consultations and vacant stagings. For more information on home staging visit our website: www.kfmstaging.com.

One of the goals to preparing a house for sale is to highlight the features in your home, such as a fireplace, granite counter tops, bay windows, or a jet tub. Placing decor by these areas can help draw the eye so buyers will remember the features.

Home owners do not need to run to the nearest home decor store and spend hundreds of dollars to make their home look great; they can shop for decor in their very own house. I don’t mean online shopping, either. Using accessories from other rooms in a new and interesting way can give focal points the emphasis that it needs.

This photo to the left shows a jet tub with no accessories. Although nice, there is nothing memorable about this area. The lack of decor leaves this area feeling cold and uninviting.

Buyers who may view several house in one day may not remember anything special about this master bathroom.

This photo to the right displays a pedestal and vase with flowers taken from the living room. This decorative feature helps to emphasize the elegance of this space. The height of the arrangement brings drama into this master bathroom. Rolled towels on the opposite corner softens the room while bringing a spa-like feel.

The total cost of decorating this space was $0.00!

So whether you are selling your home or just want a new look for your space, using items from around your home can help you achieve an updated look without spending a lot of money!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions That Sell” for homeowners and Realtors across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. KFM specializes in home staging consultations and vacant stagings. For more information on home staging visit our website: www.kfmstaging.com.