Jen Bowman - Real Estate Agent in Decatur, GA serving metro Atlanta

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA- Part 6 in the Series - Lighting - Part 6 of the series Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA covers lighting which is a really important aspect of a home.

Natural Light

• Trim the bushes around windows to let in as much natural light as possible.
• If using blinds, 2" blinds let in more light than mini blinds.
• If there are windows that you don't open, remove the screens and put them in storage.
• Wash the windows inside and out.
  

Exterior Lights

• Uplights at the base of trees add elegance to a home. They also provide lighting for extra security.
• Be sure that exterior lights have working bulbs.
• Clean the glass on the fixtures. If the fixtures are looking faded either replace them or take them down, use some spray paint to freshen them and reinstall them.
• Use solar lighting or low voltage lighting along paths or along flower beds.
  

Interior Lights

• LED Lights under cabinets in the kitchen are easy to install and add a lot to the looks of the kitchen
• Above the kitchen cabinets, you can add white Christmas lights or rope lights for a soft glow above the cabinets. (Be sure to hide the light strand so that it's not visible from below.) We use an X-10 remote control system to turn them on and off.
• Replace any and all burned out light bulbs even in the garage.
• Make sure that visible Vanity light bulbs in the bathroom all match.
• Add table lamps to create softer light than overhead lights which can create harsh lighting.
• Add uplights to large potted plants. They are available at Lowes and Home Depot for around $20.
• If you have a plant ledge, add soft lights to add visual interest.
  

When your Decatur GA home is for sale and being shown, turn on all the lights, even in closets so that potential home buyers aren't looking for switches. Lights create a "homier" atmosphere. If the home is being shown in the evening, be sure to put on the exterior lights, especially at the front door. Like the motel commercial says "We'll leave the Light on for You!"

Stay tuned for the next post in this series of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur, GA.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in or around Decatur, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice. Search Decatur GA homes for Sale

See Part 1 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA - Kitchens

See Part 2 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA- Garage

See Part 3 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decautur GA- Curb Appeal

See Part 4 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA- Floors and Walls

See Part 5 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA- De-Personalizing

Looking for an easy $20 credit on your Georgia Power bill? GA Power has a program called Power Credit. It's a program designed to control the amount of power used by your home's air conditioner. GA Power installs a switch on the outside of your home that is connected to your air conditioner. When the demand for electricity peaks in the summer (weekdays between noon and 7 p.m.), they send a signal to the switch to reduce the length of time your air conditioner runs. The change to your home's temperature is minimal and there's no cost. Sign up and get a $20 credit. You'll even get an additional credit every time the service is used. I've had this for at least 6 years and I've never noticed any difference in my AC.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in or around Decatur, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice. Search Decatur GA homes for Sale

Getting your Home Ready to Sell your home in Decatur GA- Part 5 in a series. This post covers de-personalizing.

When you are selling your home, you want to de-personalize it. What does that mean? It means take your personality out of your home. Living in our homes is much different than when we are selling our homes.

*Remove the family photos from the walls. - We love our families and we enjoy their photos, But...they are a huge distraction for home buyers looking at your home. Do you want them stopping to look at your photos or stopping to look at the amazing floor plan you have?

*Remove things that show your political viewpoints - I have seen home buyers go into homes and create an opinion based on someone else's political views. What if they are a member of "X" political party and you are a member of "Y" political party? You may have alienated a buyer because they may think subconsciously that they wouldn't "fit in", in the neighborhood.

*Remove things that are of a religious nature. It's for the same reasons as the political viewpoints. You can keep your faith without turning off a homebuyer of a different faith.

*Remove the magnets, your social calendar and the children's artwork from the refrigerator. Home buyers will actuallystop to read your social commitments and see if they can figure out who lives in the house.

*Remove things that can offend. I was selling a home for a single guy once and he had posters of scantily clad women hanging up. I let him know that while he enjoyed it, he sure would turn off some buyers.

*Reduce clutter- Your personal collection of vacation memorabilia, porcelain dolls, ceramic cats may be fabulous to you, but don't let it detract from the great details of your home.

I remember when my parents came to visit and we were selling our Decatur GA home, to move up the street to another Decatur home. I had taken down all of my personal photos and anything that identified me. My mom asked "Where are all your photos?" I told her that I had de-personalized my home. That way, no matter who came to look at it, they could picture themselves living there instead of wondering who lived there.

When selling your home, you want to try to appeal to everyone. That's the point of de-personalizing your home. Stay tuned for the next post in this series of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell.

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If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in or around Decatur, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice. Search Decatur GA homes for Sale

See Part 1 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA - Kitchens

See Part 2 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA- Garage

See Part 3 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decautur GA- Curb Appeal

See Part 4 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA- Floors and Walls

Pulte Homes and Centex Merge - The following is an excerpt of an email I just received from Pulte Homes:

"...We are taking this opportunity to let you know that on Tuesday, August 18, the merger between Pulte Homes and Centex was completed. This merger has brought together two industry leaders with a combined 100+ years of experience and long-standing reputations for construction quality. With the merger completed, our company now includes many of the top brands in the industry -- Pulte Homes, Centex, Del Webb and DiVosta Homes -- offering a wide range of choices for you and your clients. ..." end of quote

Pulte is building the Overlook at Clairmont on Clairmont Rd in Decatur, GA next the to V.A. Hospital. The Overlook at Clairmont is a townhome community that is selling fast, even in this market. I was there a few weeks ago and am very impressed with their quality construction and attention to detail. They are brick townhomes with 2 car garages currently listed at $280K.

Centex Homes built Ivey Crest Townhomes in Tucker, GAnext to the Wal-Mart Shopping Center. They are 1 car garage homes with 3 and 4 bedrooms. They were built around 2005 and resales usually sell around $175K. (I'll have a new listing there again in March 2010, when the current tenants' lease is up for one of my clients.)

Del Webb is well known for their master planned Active Adult neighborhoods, for ages 55+. Sun City Peachtree is just south of Atlanta GA.

I'm not familiar with DiVosta homes because they don't build homes in GA. They are primarily a home builder in FL.

I think the merger of these quality home builders is a good thing. I've worked on site in new construction home sales at several different communities and am very familiar with the process and what to look for as a home buyer.

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in or around Atlanta, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice. Search Atlanta GA homes for Sale

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA - Part 4 of this series talks about the Floors and Walls.

To begin with, don't do anything expensive, such as remodeling. If possible, use savings to pay for any repairs and improvements - don't go charging up credit cards or obtaining new loans. Remember that part of selling your Decatur GA home is also preparing to buy your next home. You do not want to do anything that will affect your credit scores or hurt your ability to qualify for your next mortgage.

Ceilings, Walls and Painting

•· Check all the ceilings for water stains, whether the leak is caused by plumbing or a faulty roof or the condensate line from an AC unit. Find the leak and repair it and make sure a proper job is done. This is critical. I have seen real estate contracts fall apart because of something simple that a seller should have done that places doubt in a home buyers head.

•· If a water stain is left after something you have already repaired, do the cosmetic work necessary to improve the desirability of your home. That means painting. A stain blocker primer like Kilz will have to be used before the paint; otherwise the stain will usually just come back through the paint.

•· You may have to paint anyway, especially if dirt has accumulated in spots or you have an outdated color scheme. Painting makes a home look fresh and new on the inside and never fails to impress.

•· Painting can be your best investment when selling your home. It is not very expensive and often you can do it yourself. Do not choose colors based on your own preferences, but based on what would appeal to the widest possible number of buyers. You should almost always choose an off-white or beige color because white helps your rooms appear bright and spacious. Behr has a paint that's called Navajo White which is a great color choice. Yes, some people may consider it boring, but everyone can live with it, at least for a little while.

•· If your walls are in good condition you may not have to paint. Try a damp wash cloth with soap and water to gently wipe smudges off the wall. You can also try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser but I only like to use that on walls that don't have flat paint on them. Its fine for trim, but it seems to scuff the flat paint.

•· If you are going to try to just do touch ups on your walls do not use your paint full strength. You may not realize it, but the paint that's already on your walls has faded. If you try to just do touch ups, it will be noticeable. Put some paint in a disposable cup. Add water, at least 3 parts paint, 1 part water or ½ and ½ if your wall paint has been there longer. Yes, the paint will be thinner, but it won't stand out as a section on the wall that was touched up. Don't use a paint brush. A small paint sponge is smoother and won't leave the brush streaks. They are available at craft stores like Michaels for less than a dollar.

•· If you haven't already, remove the wallpaper border and wallpaper. Wallpaper and borders tend to be pretty personal in taste. While you may love it, chances are good that it won't appeal to the next person. Your little slugger's baseball room may be the home buyer's little ballerina's room or home office. Appeal to everyone and make those rooms neutral.

•· Take a good look at your interior doors and trim. If they are scuffed and dirty paint them. Doors and trim often seem to be overlooked when cleaning a house. Once again, a damp rag or washcloth with a little dish soap and water works great for wiping down the doors and trim on a regular basis.

Floors

•· Unless your carpet appears old and worn, or its definitely an outdated style or color, you probably should do nothing more than clean it. You can hire a carpet cleaning company or rent a carpet cleaner at your local hardware store. Last time I looked, they had them for rent at Lowes and Homes Depot. If you do choose to replace it, do so with something inexpensive in a neutral color.

•· Repair or replace broken floor tiles, but do not spend a lot of money on anything. Remember, you are not fixing up the place for yourself. You want to move. Your goal is simply to have good impressions upon those who want to purchase your property. Floor and Décor Outlet on the access road off of I-85 near Clairmont Rd in Atlanta has great prices on flooring. The address is 1690 Northeast Expwy NE, Atlanta, GA.

•· Hardwood floors - They need to be clean and shiny. Johnson's Min-wax is a good wax for doing old hardwood floors. We did it in an old house we renovated and it brought those floors back to life. If your hardwoods are newer, you may not need to do anything but vacuum. If they need a complete overhaul, I like a company called Floorworks in Norcross, GA. They do an amazing job refinishing hardwoods with little to no dust.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in or around Decatur, GA contact local expert and Realtor Jen Bowman, Broker Associate & e-PRO with Success Realty at 404-456-5024.

View more of the Georgia Real Estate Voice. Search Decatur GA homes for Sale

See Part 1 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA - Kitchens

See Part 2 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decatur GA- Garage

See Part 3 of Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Decautur GA- Curb Appeal