karen Lafantaisie

Your out door space is every bit as valuable as indoor space. When you are selling your home don't forget to dress up the back yard. Try to make it as user friendly and beautiful as possible. Clear all the clutter away from all doors leading out to the back yard.

If you have a jungle gym in the back yard remember to rake the sand and make it look fresh and clean. Repair and and repaint the jungle gym to make it look as new as possible. Keep the children's n toys down to a bare minimum. You don't want your back yard space to look junky.

Don't forget the barbecue. You can give your barbecue a fresh coat of paint that you can pick up at your local hardware store.

These days people want to use their back yards as another room for entertaining no matter the size. If you don't have expensive outdoor furniture use what you already have. You can add a throw and pillows to inexpensive chairs to make them feel luxurious. Turn a plastic tub into a beautiful table by throwing a tablecloth on adding a couple of wine glasses and a few potted plants here and there for color You want to create an inviting feeling for home buyers. It's all about the romance. You want home buyers to fall in love with YOUR HOME and your back yard is part of the packag

Creating a back yard space where home buyers can see themselves relaxing and enjoying those hot summer days will add valuable $$$$$ to your pocket.

Most home buyers today are looking for a move in ready property. They really want to walk into a home and visualize themselves living there. With so many homes to choose from on the market buyers need to find a way to make their home stand out. Here are a few things you can do before putting your home on the market to make it more attractive to buyers. 1. Curb appeal is the one thing that will make a buyer stop and admire your home and want to come in for a closer look. So tidy up your yard and get your grass looking great. Clean up the gardens and black top the driveway if needed. 2. Entry-way should have good lighting free of cobwebs, give the front door a fresh coat of paint if needed and add a new welcome mat. 3. Entrance to your home should be free of shoes and handbags and dog leashes and all the other things we drop at the front door. Keep it clean and tidy by putting away all the coats and things you are not using in a storage bin. Lable your bins for an easy find later. Keep your entrance feeling as large as possible. 4. The rest of your home should be de-cluttered and de-personalized. If you have children, put away most of their toys and switch out as needed. Tidy up closets and bedrooms. If you need to repaint or make small repairs now is the time to do that before you have a real estate agent in. Make sure your kitchen counters are free of clutter and small appliances. If you have one or two that look rather nice that would be fine. Keep your counter looking as clean as possible. You want buyers to look at your home not your stuff. 5. Tidy up your back yard by removing old debris and make it a welcome place to sit and relax after a long day at work. These are just a few things for you to think about doing before puting that For Sale sign on the front lawn. If you need help in any of these areas please don't hesitate to contact me.

I went through all the real estate listings today in my area and was shocked to see homes that were not viewer ready but up for sale. How do you educate real estate agents and home owners that we as Home Stagers are their friends. We want to help them make more money by raising the value of the homes they are selling and help them sell faster!

I simply can't understand why home sellers would rather drop the price of their homes thousands of dollars (if their home doesn't sell in X number of days) instead of spending a few hundred to have their homes staged to make thousands of dollars more than they could have in the first place. I visited a home during an open house a few months back. The home was not staged and was over crowded with furniture and too much memorabilia for perspective buyers to see themselves living there. I told the real estate agent the home was lovely and in a great area of town, but it felt too small with such large amounts of furniture and it could use some de-cluttering. She said she would pass the advice on to her clients. I received a phone call from the real estate agent telling me her clients thought they couldn't afford to loose any of their furniture or put anything in storage as they still had to live there. They didn't feel they could afford to have a Home Stager come in and consult with them. Guess what? The home is still on the market two months later and has dropped $30,000. What a costly mistake.

Home Stagers want to help bring the value of your home up to its full potential and put more money in your pocket. Lets work together as real estate professionals and home stagers as a team to bring the best out in homes being sold.

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE FOR FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Three homes on my street went up for sale last week. I have not seen any action at any of the properties so far. In today's market it is simply not enough to put a sign on the front lawn. Not one of these home owners have paid attention to curb appeal. Let's face it you have to get buyers in the front door. That means getting their attention at the curb. Most buyers at least do a drive by before even suggesting to their agent that they want to look inside. I have bought 12 homes in the last 20 years and my heart bought them outside before even walking thru the front door. Home stagers are aware of what curb appeal means in grabbing a buyers attention. It is so important to highlight every aspect of your home during the selling process.

Real estate agents should think of Home Stagers as the best tool they have to use at their disposal. We want to work together with real estate agents for the home owner to get them top dollar as quickly as possible. We can have a home presentation ready from the curb to a fully staged home on the inside in a rrelatively short amount of time. Remember a staged home sells faster than an unstaged home and for more money. Wouldn't it be wonderful for an agent to just have to unlock the door and know that a home is picture perfect before they get there to show a potential buyer.

Let's work together agents and Home Stagers to do what's best for home owners to sell homes faster and for top dollar!