Jennifer Manchester, GRI, ePRO, ASP Charlotte Short Sale Agent, Home Staging

Pricing your Charlotte NC home to sell. I have written many articles about pricing your Charlotte, NC home to sell but a recent listing appointment really hit home on this point.

I recently went on a listing appointment to meet a couple who was referred to me by a dear friend. They were a lovely couple just as nice as could be and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them and spending time to review my listing presentation. The house was immaculate, their furniture was up to date...BUT the house was dated, floral wall paper, outdated bathrooms, outdated kitchen, I could go on and on. They had owned the home for over 45 years, added on over the years (including some things that were very personal and not very marketable), this home was part of the family and there was a high emotional attachment to it by the owner which meant they were completely out of touch with the reality of what this home would be worth in the current Charlotte real estate market.

I spent several hours going through the home with them while they pointed out every detail and then went back to the office to prepare my listing presentation. I knew I was going to have to walk gingerly around the subject of their home's condition and how to price their Charlotte NC home to sell. To them the house was perfect and worth top dollar; to a buyer it would be no more than a dated fixer with good bones at best.

I began my listing presenation as I always do, with a review of market conditions and an explanation of what it takes to sell a home in today's real estate market:

• Absorption rate - how long it will take the current inventory to sell if no other homes come on to the market. Current absorption rate in their area 12 months ie: their is a 12 month supply of homes on the market. Six months supply is a balanced market, less than 6 months supply is a seller's market, more than 6 months supply is a buyer's market. They are in a buyer's market.
• In order for your home to sell quickly you MUST address the two things you have control over - Price and Condition. Pricing your home ahead of the market (at or slightly lower than current comparable sales and actives) gives you the highest probability of selling. Condition, putting your home in the best most cost effective condition gives you an advantage over the competition who does nothing.
• I also included a chart I obtained from my Ninja selling class to hit home this point:

Mint Hill, NC - Brrr, the cold weather is finally here! We have been experiencing an Indian Summer of sorts here in the Carolinas. Don't get me wrong, I love it. The temperature reached almost 70 degrees over the weekend. That said when the cold arrives and our thermometer reads in the 40's for the high and the 20's for the low freezing temperatures can play havoc with the routine of our daily lives. My favorite handyman that I use personally and recommend to everyone I meet was kind enough to send out an email with these helpful hints this morning.

It's that time of year again when:

• If the water in your home is supplied by a well please be reminded of the potential for your water pipes to freeze due to being located above ground at the head of the well (under a dome or inside a well house.
• This week the temperatures are forecasted to be well below freezing for a few nights creating the possibility for water supply lines to freeze and burst.
• As a suggestion, plug a drop cord into the nearest GFCI outlet and place a 75 -100 watt, incandescent light bulb (no fluorescent bulbs) inside the well cover near the PVC supply line to help prevent it from freezing.
• Also,- place the bulb under the well cover ASAP allowing heat to build up inside the cover. Leave the bulb burning over the course of this cold spell and during any future freezing temperatures, plus- occasionally check on the bulb to be sure it's "burning". (A burned out bulb will NOT warm the pipes)
• To eliminate additional potential freezing issues in your home- DISCONNECT all GARDEN HOSES from every outside spigot/faucet during the winter months, even if you have "frost proof spigots/faucets", then cover the spigot/faucet with a styrofoam or similar cover for additional protection.
• When water freezes, it expands greatly. When you leave hoses attached to a spigot/faucet, water WILL freeze in the "neck" of the hose and back up into the spigot/faucet, expanding the water line inside the wall to a point of splitting the pipe- unknown to you until it thaws, revealing a costly mess.
• Also, if you have an irrigation/sprinkler system it's crucial to winterize it for the Winter months by removing the residual water remaining throughout the irrigation lines, otherwise you'll experience numerous issues next Spring when you start watering to green up your thirsty lawns...

Thanks Rodney! for these great and always timely reminders. If you are in need of a great handyman please feel free to contact him, you will not be disappointed.

RentARodney, LLC

Your Professional Handyman

Rodney@RentARodney.com

www.RentARodney.com

(704) 900-3610

(704) 363-4327

Mint Hill, NC - Are you having a fashion emergency?

Well worry no more, Boutique Le'Aunj had their grand opening today November 18, 2011. Mint Hill's newest business is located at 11300-M Lawyers Rd, Mint Hill, NC and is the brainstorm of Angela Scull and Lisa Brantley. Lisa and Angela had been selling their accessories and fashion advice at private parties and in Noda at the theater on the first Wednesday of the month during the "Cometry" series before they decided to open the new store front. Today was their grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony, the turnout was fabulous.

If you are having a fashion emergency, Lisa and Angela have a variety of items to solve your fashion crisis. Their store has a variety on unique and one of a kind:

• Handbags
• Scarves/Shawls
• Hats
• Belts
• Accessories and more

While I was there today for the grand opening, I bought a sweater shawl and necklace for myself and got some Christmas shopping out of the way! Not only is Boutique Le'Aunj a great place to go for all your fashion emergencies, they can come to you too! Boutique Le'Aunj offers wardrobe consultations and will host handbag, jewelry parties, weddings and special events. They are open on Monday's by appointment only and the regular store hours are Tuesday-Saturday 10-6 or you can check them out on-line at www.boutiqueleaunj.com

Congratulations to Angela and Lisa for exercising their entrepreneurial spirit and the best of luck with their new business venture!

If I Stage my Matthews-Mint Hill Home, will you guarantee me it will sell? I get asked that question a lot on listing appointments. The short answer - no I cannot guarantee you if you stage your Matthews-Mint Hill Home that it will sell. The long answer, home staging is just one ingredient in the recipe that makes for a successful transaction of your Matthews home for sale or your Mint Hill home for sale. Home Staging alone does not guarantee a sale.

However, there are some things I can guarantee you. If you stage your Matthews-Mint Hill home and do not price it appropriately, I can almost guarantee you it will not sell. If you do not allow showings when the appointment center calls, I can almost guarantee you it will not sell. If you do not keep the home in showing condition and allow it to be shown while it is a mess, I can almost guarantee you it will not sell. If you do not leave the home when prospective buyers and their agents show up to view the home, I can almost guarantee you it will not sell. If you leave your pets in the home while it is being shown, I can almost guarantee you it will not sell. As I mentioned previously,home staging alone does not guarantee a sale. If you tried staging your home for sale previously but did not do all the other things mentioned, don't blame the home staging!!

Part of my listing presentation is to perform a fact finding mission to feel out the seller's motivation and to see how cooperative they will be if I take the listing. If the seller's have already had their home on the market previously and it failed to sell, I try to determine why the home did not sell. I always bring up home staging in every listing appointment because I believe it works. These prospective sellers who are already skeptical of us dumb agents always want to challenge me on this issue and ask: If I stage my Matthews-Mint Hill home, will you guarantee me it will sell? What I have learned over the years that I have been a listing agent is when a home does not sell, there are usually a combination of reasons why. I mentioned the top 5 reasons a home does not sell in the previous paragraph and they are all equally important. If I had to rank the importance of correct pricing on a scale of 1-10 it would be a 100, home staging would be a 99. Stay tuned for my next article on how to correctly price your Matthews-Mint Hill home for sale.

Photos provided by:

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Charlotte Homestagers Give back to Cabarrus County Habitat for Humanity. As part of StagedHomes.com initiative to give back to the communities our home stagers work in, The Charlotte Chapter of International Accredited Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP)took on the corporate office of Cabarrus County Habitat for Humanity this year as their pet project during Worldwide Staging Service Week.

Every year the chapter participates in the annual Worldwide Staging Service Week (WWSSW) which allows the Charlotte IAHSP® chapter to give back to worthy charities, groups, or individuals through the IAHSP® Foundation. The IAHSP® Foundation schedules this annual event to give back joy, time, dollars and resources to help others in need. It is an honor to serve others through WWSSW® service week and the IAHSP® Foundation throughout the year as well.

It was a rainy Wednesday, but the members of Charlotte IAHSP showed up and took over the Habitat office with the goal of making the space more inviting while showcasing what Habitat is all about. The only rule we had to follow was to use items out of the local Habitat ReStore for our staging project. It was a collective effort from over 20 members in our chapter and we were definitely up to the challenge. After several hours of "shopping" at the ReStore, the members assembled at the Habitat Office and allowed our inner design divas come out.

Since this was a design project we were able to personalize the space and showcase some of the many projects Habitat has been involved in over the years. This goal was to make the office space warm, inviting and show the potential opportunities available to clients that come to Habitat for their services.

The experience was phenomenal and the folks at Habitat were in shock with the results that we were able to produce from their very own Restore. Below are some before and after photos of the Cabarrus County Habitat for Humanity Office along with a heartfelt thank you!

Before and after of the seating area.

The opposite side of the sitting area before and after.

The conference area was a challenge but we were able to fit a table.

This is the entry area by the front door. There was nothing there prior to the project, it turned out to be the perfect spot for this Vignette.

Jennifer Manchester is Public Relations Chair for the Charlotte Chapter of International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP). The Charlotte IAHSP sets the standard for excellence in the Home Staging Industry for the Charlotte Metro area.