F.S.B.O or Realtor?

Monday, May 24, 2010

Today our Realtor called us to say that the condo we rehabbed to flip was shown over the weekend and that a woman is in love with our little condo.

But we all know that love comes with complications.

The problem is she has to sell her own home first. Her home is in a nearby town that doesn’t have much to recommend it, so I am not counting on her infatuation turning into an offer anytime soon.

It’s encouraging, but that’s all.

Being on the scene to answer questions and to point out all the amenities from a personal point of view is one of the reasons people decide to sell their homes direct, without a broker.

While some sellers consider selling a property themselves will save them money, I think that vision is short-sighted. I think the advantages to working with a licensed Realtor outnumber that one advantage, and I'm not convinced that a F.S.B.O seller will actually net more cash when he sells. The way I see it, a Realtor:
  • Knows the local real estate market and can easily research accurate, comparable properties to establish a fair and realistic asking price.
  • Is in touch with trends and what current buyers expect, so she can suggest ways to improve your property.
  • Acts as a buffer between you and the buyer so the transaction is less personal and more professional.
  • Provides a measure of security because she’s already collected some information about the buyer (no strangers knocking at your door or calling asking for a tour).
  • Works with the buyer to assist with financing, home inspections, and the legalities of the transaction.
  • Saves you time by working with qualified buyers.
  • Has the skills and capital to advertise your property to the target market and to a worldwide market.
  • Adds credibility that makes buyers feel more comfortable. You have a professional representative instead of being just Joe Blow selling his house.
  • Buyers trust the Realtor as a third party, and feel they are being represented.
  • It's common for a Realtor to already have a list of clients she is working with, buyers who are ready to make an offer on the home that matches their wish list. 
  • Knows how to negotiate so that both buyer and seller are happy with the selling price and all the other conditions of the sale -- contingencies, deposits, timing, and other details. 
Do I sound like a mouthpiece for the National Association of Realtors? I don’t have any ties or affiliations with any real estate company. The reason I have high regard for Realtors is that I have worked with some excellent ones. Finding a good real estate agent is a topic for another blog post.

Also, Mr. Lucky and I once tried to sell a house F.S.B.O. After three months of showing the property to assorted “buyers,” we turned it over to a Realtor who had it sold in a week.

What we came to understand was that serious and qualified buyers work with a Realtor instead of shopping F.S.B.O. listings in hopes of getting a steal (no broker to pay!), or owner financing, or other special considerations.

Even though the Internet makes it possible to research comparable properties, I still would not encourage people to price and advertise their own home for sale when you can be guided through what can become a complicated process that has ramifications for years to come. If you're ready to sell, real estate pros are there to help. 

Stage Your Dining Area with a Mix of Furniture

Monday, May 17, 2010

You want your dining room to look beautiful when buyers come looking.

But you're sensing that you aren't ready yet. You're sensing your furniture isn't new enough, or trendy enough, or luxurious enough. Or that you just don't have enough furniture or the right table or chairs. Maybe you're staging an empty house on a budget.

Maybe you're staging a dining room where your informal family room has been.

Experience has taught me that most people already own everything they need for staging.

Instead of investing in an expensive set of dining room furniture, you can usually rearrange what you have to make your home flow and show well!

If you have to add pieces, they can usually be discovered just waiting for you at secondhand or at big box stores. And these are often the furnishings that tend to have some personality. They often reflect the kind of quality that you would not ordinarily splurge on.

Today's new decorating rules mean that furniture pieces don't have to match.

That one rule can save you lots of money because orphaned chairs and one-of-a-kind seats are common in thrift stores and garage sales. 

In the Emily Henderson photo above, different styles of seating make this dining area informal and interesting. They don't match, but they have enough in common to look harmonious as a grouping.

I see two different kinds of chairs, both with the same
visual weight and proportions, painted two different colors.
It's not formal, it's fun, because most homes aren't formal
and most people don't live formally anymore. Photo: Decoist

A variety of chairs are unified by white paint and light distressing,
adding a vintage feel to this dining area. The slipcovers made
for the two end chairs were made from the same fabric as
the new seat covers. Photo: Coastal Living  

Benches, whether cushioned,
upholstered, built-in,
or not, are a common seating solution.
The style shown here are an
easy DIY project. Photo: Dercoist  

Style your dining room 

Don't be afraid to mix things up, as long as there are some unifying colors or patterns.

Take inspiration from the images here and adapt them to your own home's style, your budget, and the local market.

Many of today's home buyers are Millennials who don't want to live with grandma's decorating guidelines. They write their own playbook.

So, have fun with your decorating and combine furniture that makes you and your wallet happy. Chances are it will please house hunters as well.

Download my eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and For Top Dollar for more decorating and staging advice! Why go it alone, when I can hold your hand until your home sells?

DIY Frugal Pillow Talk

Monday, May 10, 2010

Most of us have a running love affair with pillows. It's no mystery why. They're fun. And oh, so handy.

Pillows add a touch of luxury, color, and texture to any room. Perfect for home staging!

On beds, benches, chairs, or couches, they help coordinate a room that might, just might, have been put together on a budget from assorted furniture finds.

But, have you looked at what one can spend on even run-of-the-mill department store pillows?  Twenty-five dollars buys you a ho-hum one, and the ones you really want cost over a hundred. Dollars!

DIY high end 

The ideal staging pillows will help create the comfortable look any buyer responds to. 

Pillows do that by coordinating or matching the other colors in the room, not necessarily by providing a "pop of color" which can actually detract from the room's best qualities.

Making your own decorator pillows is one of the simplest and quickest sewing projects. 

Even if you have no sewing skills, pillows for staging can be put together with fusible webbing (Stitch Witchery) or glue (either hot glue from a gun, or white paper glue). Here's a list of possible wallet-friendly pillow fabrics to get you in the groove:
  • Towels or scarves from the dollar store
  • Recycled blankets, draperies, sweaters, or skirts from the second-hand store
  • Felt, upholstery samples, or drapery remnants from the fabric store
Take note, all no-sew fans: A pillow can be as simple as two fabric squares glued around the edges.

Pillows for staging should be large. No smaller than 16 x 16 inches is best. Lumbar pillows, decorative bolster pillows, or vintage ones like a needlepoint from another era can be smaller.

These pillows pull all the colors of the room together.

DIY pillow f ringe
A fuzzy fringe like this is easy 
to glue on a pillow. 

Pro secret

What will make your pillows special is what's known as dressmaker details, those trims that add the look of quality and...well, money.

The difference between a plain pillow and one that has piping around the edge is striking.

Sewing piping and other trims like tassels, braiding, rick rack, fringes, and ruffles into the seam of your pillows can be taxing because you'll be sewing through multiple thicknesses.

I have a secret formula for adding trims.

I just hand stitch or glue them on after the pillow is assembled and stuffed.

I've used rope, cording, braid, felt fringe, and ribbon. Remember that white school glues like Elmer's are water-soluble, and hot glue will melt in the dryer. I have not had much success with washing and drying so-called washable fabric glues. But are you likely to wash these pillow covers? These are pillows for staging, not heirloom projects.

I made these two matching pillows from white towels
and stitched on the rope trim after I stuffed them.  

My eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and For Top Dollar, has directions for making no-sew and other simple pillows

You can fill your pillows with polyester batting (Fiberloft), available at Walmart for about $4. Or you could open up one of your sleeping pillows that has lost its oomph, fluff up the batting, and stuff your new pillows.

Braiding from a fabric store puts the finishing
decorator touch on a simple, DIY pillow. 
I have even used paper that I put through our shredder to stuff pillows. It's free and it works. These pillows are just props, not designed to become heirlooms, but they will still last for a few years!

Your own DIY pillows will add pizazz to your staged home. That's house fluffing. Get more insider secrets and tips to make your home look its absolute best! Download my eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and for Top Dollar. Start your staging today! 

Two top photos: Providence Ltd Design

Pruning: Insider Secrets to Getting Shubbery in Shape

Thursday, May 06, 2010
Househunters will judge the interior of your home by its exterior.

Your home will be compared, consciously or not, to neighboring homes and other properties buyers have visited. 

Things like overgrown shrubs, dead branches, and vines that crawl behind shutters or under decks and porches, or  -- these are not the signs of a well-maintained home.  

Here's how to make your home more attractive to buyers with simple pruning methods.

When pruning is necessary

A front door should be obvious at first glance. The path to it should be wide, inviting, and unobstructed.

Also, foundation plantings need to be shorter than the front windows.

You don't want weeds, vines and other invasives climbing through hedges or other shrubberies. You don't want dead branches or fallen limbs visible anywhere. 

If your shrubs are leggy, sprawling, shapeless, or crowding out more desirable plants, they need smart pruning. 

First, dress for success

The first step is to get your wardrobe right, not to make a fashion statement, but to protect you from scratches, bugs, snakes, poison ivy, nasty weather, and other unpleasantries.

My Black and Decker electric trimmer makes quick and  
easy work of keeping shrubbery in control.

Long sleeves are a must, no matter what the temperature.

I am always amazed when I see people mowing the lawn in flip-flops, weeding flower beds on their knees in shorts, and pruning prickly evergreens in halter tops.

Get your vitamin D later, and cover up for pruning. Wear a hat if you have hair that can get in the way.

I’m also suggesting long pants with a back pocket. More on why the pocket in a moment. Jeans are ideal.

Don’t forget your closed-toe, lace-up shoes, and socks. If ticks are a problem in your area, tuck pants into socks or wear boots.

I always don some kind of eyewear, the bigger the better, because even innocent-looking branches and vines can surprise you by springing back in your face. I suppose safety goggles would be best, but let’s not get crazy. Your old pair of wrap-around shades should work fine.

Gloves. Okay, I have a glove fetish. Ask my husband how a display of gardening gloves in any store stops me in my tracks. “Well,” I always explain as I gingerly toss a cute polka-dot pair into our shopping cart, “they wear out!”

Equip yourself

Even homes with small yards need regular yard
maintenance. Maybe more so than large yards.
Next, the right equipment. Hand pruners, called by-pass pruners, will take care of single branches up to one inch across. Keep the pruners handy in your back pocket. Pruning sheers will trim up little-leaved shrubbery like privets and boxwoods. 

And never set them on the ground, because, trust me, you will lose them under vegetation or mulch. Ask me how I know.

Long-handled loppers deal with anything larger, up to about three inches. 

Any homeowner, especially one with a home to sell, who has any leafy landscaping, should own these basic tools. You folks with cactus, rock, and sand landscapes can go back to bed.

If you anticipate more hedge trimming in your future, consider something like what I have, the cordless hedge timer pictured here, weighing in at just 7.8 pounds. I bought it at Sears for about $60 and never looked back.

I just came from spending four hours pruning the front and back yards at one of my investment properties.

I am not selling my house, but I want to keep my tenants happy, and I had not done any serious yard work there in two years, the kinds of things you can’t expect tenants to do.

Best tips I know

As I pruned today, I thought of you, my reader. Here are my tips for getting this work done with the least amount of effort.

When shrubbery is groomed, it gives people the message that
the people who live here take good care of their entire property. 
Decide if you want a particular shrub to have its natural shape or a more manicured look. If your open house is tomorrow, just cut enough to make it tidy.

To attack vines, try finding the lowest point, like where it comes out of the ground, and cut there.  Then, a good tug might be all you need to reel it in. Pruning from the top down creates more work for yourself.

Prune foundation shrubs so there are at least two feet between them and the house. The siding on a house needs room to breathe. In fire-prone areas, keep vegetation even further away.

Throw trimmings into an open area as you work, or onto a tarp behind you. Without a tarp, you can rake or sweep them up when the pruning is done.

If your house is not going to be listed for sale in the immediate future, be bold with your pruning.  Cutting back overgrown shrubs causes them to put out new growth. But different plants respond differently to being cut back, so identify the plant and research how pruning affects it. A good place for this kind of information is your local County Extension Service, Master Gardening Program, or gardening center.

This kind of yard work can have you working up a sweat. If it's cold out, dress in layers; if it's hot out, remember to stay hydrated.

Get rid of the prunings. Don’t make a brush pile or leave large bags of debris for homebuyers to see. You don’t want to give the impression that owning your home involves work.

Finally, check yourself for ticks when you are all done working.

Get the look, get the book

The home you are staging to sell deserves to look good from every angle, inside and out. Start with curb appeal, and don't be hesitant about pruning for a tidy appearance. Pruning makes the difference. Let's call pruning what it is -- exterior decluttering!

My eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and For Top Dollar, tells you how to stage your own home, inside and out. The easy and economical way. And it includes one entire chapter on staging your home's exterior.




Pressure Wash for Better Curb Appeal

Monday, May 03, 2010

A home on the market has to sparkle.  An easy – and even fun – way to bring a home’s exterior to life is to pressure wash it.  

Siding, foundation, patio, walkways, driveways, stairs, decks, porch, they all benefit from this kind of fast and thorough cleaning.

When I’m pressure washing I feel like I am holding a magic wand in my hands. 

The 2700 pounds of pressure a power washer puts behind a stream of water blasts away grime, stains, mildew, bubblegum, bird poop, you name it. Gone. 

Today I spent an hour and a half washing the vinyl siding on the two-bedroom investment property we own and rent to the world’s nicest couple.  It’s a powerful feeling to see dirt disappear with hardly any effort.  Just point and squeeze the handle of the washer’s gun. 

The formula

For the first pass I use a solution of half bleach, half water, to kill mildew.  Then I switch to straight water and a smaller tip that delivers much more pressure.   Mildew grows on dirt, so removing dirt is key to keeping mildew at bay.         

We bought our Graco washer because we use it often to prep house exteriors prior to painting them. We also use it to clean any surfaces that are hard enough to withstand the pressure.

If you are staging a home to sell, and some of these areas need cleaning, pressure washing might be the way to go. But please don’t think you have to spend hundreds of dollars.  Just rent one for the day. The cost might be $50, possibly less for half a day.

Whatever renting a pressure washer costs, it’ll be well worth every penny. It's preferable to buying a rinky-dink, low-pressure "homeowner" version that will waste your time and not do that great a job.  The machine we bought cost about $700, to give you an idea of what something that delivers results costs. 

Use a pressure washer if you want to make your home the one that sparkles the most when buyers take a tour of houses for sale. And be sure to download my homestaging eBooks to you knock the ball out of the park when you stage your home for sale! 

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