Jo Potvin-Home Staging Cincinnati - Design To Market

Many sellers would think we are crazy to suggest that they start working to prepare their home for sale when spring is still months away and they haven't even finished the Thanksgiving leftovers. Those of us that work in the real estate industry know all too well the pitfalls of this kind of thinking. This is actually the perfect time to dive in if you are planning to sell your home in the "spring market." Let's look at the numbers:

The Super Bowl is on February 6th this year which means that the real shopping for new homes will start to pick up on the following weekend (February 12th.) There are 14 weekends between now and that date. Taking out a few for the upcoming holidays leaves most homesellers a maximum of 20 or so productive weekend days to really work on their homes.

How did 3 months become 20 days? It is the reality of our busy lives and it is the reason that sellers should start the process now!

What is the best way to dive in?

1. Create a list of Realtors that you would like to interview (or if you already have a Realtor picked...skip this step!)
2. Call the Realtors on your list and either set up interviews or contact your specific Realtor to meet and set up a game plan for the selling of your home.
3. Discuss the amount of work your Realtor sees you will need to complete to get your home "market ready."
4. Discuss with your Realtor the idea of scheduling a Home Staging Consultation with a professional stager who can work with you to create a comprehensive list of the work that needs to be completed.
5. Establish a calendar that allows a realistic plan to complete the To-do's and that leaves you breathing room if time gets away from you.
6. Talk to your stager to identify those tasks that they can take care of for you.

STAGED...OR

VACANT?

A Realtor client of Design To Market took the time to call me this afternoon and share a comment made to him by the buyer of a home he had listed. The buyer pulled him aside at the closing to share that he felt the home had been staged very well.

You might wonder why I have taken the time to make this into a blog post but I felt this was a telling insight into the buyer experience. Obviously this buyer did not feel tricked and he definitely liked the home enough to purchase it. Often sellers worry that their home will looked staged and that it will be a turn off to prospective buyers. As you can see by this quote, this is probably not the case.

Tastefully adding attractive furnishings to a vacant home or filling in open spaces in an owner-occupied home can be the final step that is the essential ingredient to selling a home.

Bright and Airy Rules!

For those of you that have been following this series on the evolution of the Design To Market warehouse, I am happy to offer the 4th installment in the series. The first three are provided below:

Tips On Selecting The Correct Warehouse for Your Staging Business

Take A Peek At Our Warehouse

Take A Second Look At Our Warehouse

This is our 5th warehouse in 7 years. With each move I have promised myself and the design team that we will NOT need to move again. In truth, we continue to grow and with growth comes the need to meet the needs of the diverse population of homes that we stage.

While I menitoned in my previous warehouse blog that budget is a critical consideration in selecting a space, it is also critical to realize that inefficient and poorly designed warehouse space can hit the bottom line in painful but less obvious ways. If your warehouse is cramped you risk:

1. Damaging items that might be crammed too tightly into small spaces
2. Misplacing costly items that "disappear"
3. Adding inefficiency to the staging process as you are both removing items and returning them to the warehouse

On October 17th, 2010 the Wyoming Historical Society is proud to host the bi-annual house tour of 8 historic Wyoming homes showcasing architectural styles from early-19th to mid-20th century.

Design To Market is proud to be involved with this event. To register visit Wyoming House Tour or go to The Wyoming Civic Center at 1 Worthington Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45215 the day of the event beginning at 11 AM.

I just learned a great tip from a landscaper that might come in handy with vacant homes or those where the homeowner does not like to stay on top of watering their lawn. With the dry final days of summer, lawns and flowers can dry up in a day and the impact on curb appeal can be devastating. You can hook the sprinkler up to hit any beds or critical areas at the front of the home where dryness will hurt curb appeal. You can purchase these timers from Amazon for as little as $21. This worked very well for a client that worried about the amount of water needed to grow grass seed in a newly landscaped front yard. It worked perfectly and within 2 weeks the grass seemed to be taking root.

Design To Market has been staging homes in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2004. For more information about our Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky home staging services please call us at 513-265-0952 or visit our website atwww.designtomarketllc.com .