How To Home Stage Like a Pro

(courtesy of American Home Shield)

How to Home Stage Like a Pro

Household clutter, outdated décor and unpleasant odors are just a few homebuyer turnoffs. When home staging is done right, it reduces a home’s flaws and maximize its features. Read on for expert tips to make your clients’ homes buyer-friendly and primed to sell.

Declutter. There’s a reason this is the most important rule of home staging: It makes the rooms look bigger, creates a sense of calm and order, and helps potential buyers envision the home filled with their own belongings. Banishing clutter means getting rid of both the big things (awkward pieces of furniture) and small things (clothes, toys).

Remember, viewers will be opening every door and touring your entire house, so don’t just move the clutter into the garage or a spare bedroom. If your clients can’t part with these items but don’t have the extra space for them, they could rent a storage unit short term.

Fill an empty house. Of course, a vacant house can be a disadvantage too. Many national furniture rental companies, such as Cort and Rent-A-Center, offer several rental options that range from furnishing an entire home to just a room. Homeowners might be reluctant to take on another monthly payment, but if it means their house will move quicker, they might reconsider. An added plus is that most companies don’t require contracts. Most also deliver and set up the furniture.

Think small. Staging a home doesn’t have to be an expensive project. Small changes go a long way. Have clients consider these easy upgrades to give rooms a refreshed look:

• Switch out old lampshades with modern ones
• Get rid of dark drapes and install simple wood blinds—they’ll let in more light
• Add a fresh coat of paint in a neutral color
• Replace old or dated light fixtures, light switch plates, and outlet covers
• Buy new decorative pillow covers—or sew them yourself
• Hang new artwork
• Buy new ceiling fans—or spray paint the housing and/or replace the blades of the current ones

And don’t forget the little repairs. Running toilets, pipe leaks and door squeaks should be fixed before buyers see the home. Chipped or smudged paint should be touched up.

Clean thoroughly. The details matter. Dust the blinds and furniture; clean the counters, sinks and windows; sweep and mop the floors; remove ceiling fan cobwebs. When every inch of the house is spotless, buyers will take notice. If your clients don’t have the time or energy to embark on a complete house cleaning, they can hire a professional cleaning service, such as Merry Maids.*

Don’t overthink it. You don’t have to be particularly creative to add special touches to a room. Put out large bowls of colorful fruit like oranges, apples and bananas. Arrange hardcover books on coffee tables and cookbooks on the kitchen counter. Fill baskets with decorative towels, scented soaps and moisturizers, and place them in the bathrooms.

Take a tip from the pros and keep decorative objects restricted to groups of one, three, or five. The idea is that items arranged in odd numbers are more pleasing and memorable than pairings of even numbers. Within each grouping, create a hierarchy of different heights, textures or shapes. HGTV.com’s accessories section has photo galleries of art, lamps, pillows and other items to help with decorating ideas and information.

Be scent-conscious. Your clients might love the smell of sandalwood or vanilla, but don’t assume potential buyers have the same preferences. The house should smell fresh—not like air freshener. The key is not to add aroma, but to get rid of offensive or stale odors.

How do you do this? Tackle the source(s). This may mean cleaning out the fridge, taking out the trash, doing the laundry, cleaning the garbage disposal, or changing the kitty litter. Opening windows and vents can help. If the basement smells musty, run a dehumidifier—just make sure to remove it before the showing, since a dehumidifier in the basement can signal water damage to some buyers. Dry-cleaning kits like Dryel can get rid of laundry odors. At $9.95, Citrus Magic Solid Air Freshener is an inexpensive yet effective method for eliminating food and general household smells.

Call a professional. Your client may prefer to have a professional handle home staging. A directory of Accredited Staging Professionals® can be found at StagedHomes.com. Friends and colleagues might also have recommendations based on home stagers they’ve worked with.

*Merry Maids, like American Home Shield, is a ServiceMaster brand.

Helping Project UpLift

As you start to clean out your closet and move clothes around for the new seasons, please take a minute to pull & save any items that you aren't wearing but that could be beneficial to someone else. Please see the letter below from Re/Max State Line agent Paula White. She will be collecting items for Project UpLift for the homeless of Kansas City.

We all appreciate your help!

Agents and office staff,

This year I am getting my notice out a little earlier in the year, since I know most of you will be doing some fall cleaning of closets.

Please remember the homeless and bring any casual clothing, shoes, boots, (especially tennis shoes), toiletry items, dog & cat food,

toilet paper, blankets, (no pillows) , used candles, books (novels), rain gear, underwear, plastic tarps, tents, playing cards, matches and canned foods.

I will be collecting for this big drive through the end of the year. You can drop items off to the office or my house whichever works for you.

Thank you so much for your past contributions.

Paula C. White

Remax State Line

10200 State Line Rd.

Leawood, Ks 66206

816 809 3601 cell

www.paulacwhite.com

Hashtags - Not Hashbrowns

Hashtags – Not Hashbrowns

August 18, 2011 by chrisdrayer
Filed under Kansas City, Marketing, Social Media

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Country Gravy, fried eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. Now I’m starving…. but what does this have to do with and what the heck is a hashtag for? More importantly – does it have anything to do with Real Estate in Kansas City?

Absolutely. The term and use of the hashtag is imperative for realtors who want to get involved in their local community and get the most out of twitter.

The term is only a few years old and is associated with Twitter – so don’t feel bad if you don’t fully get it.

When preceding a word, The Pound or Number sign “#” combined with the word is refereed to as a hashtag. Early adopters of twitter wanted a way to lump together like minded people and conversations and created the easy to use hashtag. For example, The cholesterol packed plate I mentioned above would be summed up with the hashtag #breakfast….. or perhaps #healthfood. The twitter language has a hefty dose of sarcasm and irony when hashtags are concerned. Also – notice there is no space between health & food – #’s only work when combined without a space.

BBQ hashtags & Hashtag Bingo

Hashtags can help you organize and connect with like minded potential buyers or sellers and allow you to interact. If you are a local BBQ fan, perhaps its your niche or identity – then you would want to connect with other locals that crave the Q. (Why am I so food focused?)

In twitter (or in my case Hoot Suite) I searched for #KCBBQ and got the results to the left. At any moment there are conversations going on about what you are interested in on twitter. People are social – and people who post to twitter frequently crave feedback and interaction (& in this case, smokey sauce covered ribs).

There is a WRONG way to use hashtags, and it is lovingly called Hashtag Bingo or Hashtag overkill. Today, the best practice and conventional wisdom and says 0-2 max per tweet. Its #irritating to #read a #hashtag on #every #word of a #sentence. (note example on left)

How can you use hashtags more effectively today? The # for the Real Estate Barcamp Kansas City is#REBCKC Its nice and short and is easily typed on a mobile device rather than the events whole name. If you have a question about #REBCKC, just use the hastag and ask the question on twitter – that way anyone following the hashtag can answer the question for you. The day of our event Sept 29th 2011, people will post photos, comments and feedback to the hashtag. In hootsuite you can even save them as columns of content for easy reference.

Now that that is straightened out, Please pass the Hashtags.

Hey – you can also opt to follow @REBCKC on Twitter for event info and or Come to Real Estate Bar Camp KC to chat IRL about what works!

Restaurant Week - Kansas City Power & Light District

Have you been wanting to try some of the restaurants in the Power & Light District but haven't made it down there yet?? Well, District Restaurant Week August 22-28 is a great way to experience more than 20 of the restaurants downtown Kansas city has to offer! Enjoy a two-course lunch for just $10, or a three-course dinner starting at $25. Receive a complimentary gift card with your Restaurant Week purchase ($5 for lunch, $10 for dinner).

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Home

This is a great article by Tara-Nicholle Nelson a broker in San Francisco, CA

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Home

In most parts of the country, the housing market is good (or great!) for buyers right

now - interest rates are bizarrely low, lots of inventory means lots to choose from, and the cost of renting has increased in a lot of markets. But just because the market’s good doesn’t mean it’s the right time for everyone to buy. The decision whether to buy a home is a very personal one; you need to carefully examine your own situation to determine whether it’s right for you.

So, what are the questions you need to answer in deciding whether you’re ready to buy? Here are some of the big ones:

1. Do I have enough money for a down payment?
And how much, exactly, is “enough?” Today’s minimum down payment requirements range from 3.5 percent on an FHA loan to 10 or even 20 percent for conventional loans. That means coming up with anywhere from $7,000 to $40,000 on a typical $200,000 house. While there are still programs that can give you a down payment assist (see last week’s post, 5 Insider Secrets for Coming Up With Cash for Down Payment), much of the heavy lifting here will need to come from you - in the form of saving up your hard earned cash. And keep in mind there are also closing costs you’ll probably have to pay in cash, which can run as high as 3-4% of your total purchase price.

Talk with a real estate pro and a mortgage broker in your areas to start wrapping your head around how much “cash to close” (i.e., down payment + closing costs) will run, approximately, on a local property that would meet your needs. Can your savings cover this? If not, where will you get the money - what’s your plan for coming up with it? Putting down as much as you can a) makes you more attractive to lenders, so you might qualify you for better loan terms and b) gives you additional purchasing power, either decreasing your monthly mortgage payment or increasing your purchase price limit for a home.

2. Can I handle the not-so-glamorous aspects of homeownership?
If you can’t even fathom the prospect of having a home maintenance crisis without having a landlord to call to fix it, you might want to reconsider homeownership - or at the very least, buy a lower maintenance condo or townhome in great condition, and make sure you get a home warranty! As a home owner, after all, you essentially are your own landlord. Pipe bursts in the middle of the night? Guess who’ll be up fixing it or calling (and paying) the plumber? (Hint: you.)

There are also some less-than-glamorous bills you’ll have to deal with in your new role as a homeowner that you never laid eyes on as a renter: property taxes and hazard insurance, to name two. When you go from renter to owner, you also need to account for the cost of appliances and maintaining the property’s roof, windows, and landscaping, among other things.

3. How long do I intend to stay in the house?
If you think you might move out of the area next year, then you really shouldn’t be thinking about buying a house (unless of course, you want to play landlord and rent it out after you leave - a prospect which requires its own risk/rewards analysis). For your home purchase to pencil out as a good deal, financially, you’ll shouldn’t buy unless you’re comfortable staying in the house at least 5-7 years - even longer, if you’re buying a home in a foreclosure hot spot or an area with a sluggish job market.. This gives you some time to build up equity and make up for the costs of buying, selling and moving.

4. Are my job and finances stable?
Maybe you just went through a major career change and are in the process of working your way back up from the top. Or maybe you work in a field that has been hit really hard by layoffs and cutbacks. The worst case scenario is to find yourself in a spot with mortgage payment you have no way to make, when you could have avoided that by seeing the writing on the wall. If you feel like there’s a real chance you could lose your job or income tomorrow, you may want to hold off on buying a house - that has the added bonus of giving you the geographic freedom to move, if needed, to get a new job.

Is there really such a thing as 100 percent job security in today’s economy? Probably not. But the best practice is to be confident that your finances could handle a temporary loss of income and still make your mortgage payments, before you buy. One way to do this is to have enough money in the bank to cover 4-6 months’ worth of living expenses, calculating them to include your mortgage payment - before you deem yourself ready to buy. That way, even if you lose your job with no warning at all, you’ll at least have a reasonable window of time to find a new one without digging yourself into a hole - or worse, losing your home altogether.

5. What are my real reasons for buying?
Buying a home is a long-term commitment that will have massive impacts on your lifestyle, your family and your finances. In other words, don’t do it unless you’re really sure you want to and are ready for the lifestyle change - don’t let someone else talk you into it. Worthy reasons renters with homeowning readiness give for their decision to buy include some or all of the following:

• You want to build equity instead of paying a landlord. Fact is, if you get a fixed rate mortgage and make the payments for the full term of the loan, you'll eventually pay it off. That's not possible when you're renting.
• You want a place to call your own, where you can paint a wall purple, add a pottery spinning studio or build your dogs an obstacle course (oops - that's my reason for homeownership!), because it's your prerogative.
• You want the tax advantages of homeownership.
• You want a stable place you and your family can live for as long as you'd like.

Ask yourself these questions, and be honest with your answers. If you really want to buy, but your answers to these questions today don’t weigh in that direction, it doesn’t mean you’ll never own a home. It’s usually just a matter of strategically timing your purchase out a year or two when your savings, your career and your lifestyle are in alignment with the implications of ownership - consider working closely with a real estate broker and a mortgage professional to get an action plan in place and start working that plan.

Cleaning Your Home in No Time At All

(Courtesy of American Home Shield)

Cleaning Your Home in No Time At All

The experts at Merry Maids offer time saving cleaning tips

A well-organized house is an easy-to-care-for house. The experts at Merry Maids know this from experience and can offer some time saving tips that will help you organize and clean your home in no time flat.

• De-junk your home. Managing clutter takes too much time. Eliminate anything from your home that you are not currently using and donate unwanted items to charity. You will feel better about yourself and the appearance of your home.
• Remove temptation. If you pile clutter on a specific table, get rid of that table. That way, you are more likely to put things where they belong. Eliminate the areas where clutter builds.
• Get a mat. Use only one entry door into your home. Place an Astroturf mat outside the entry to your home. Also, place a sturdy nylon mat inside the house. This will eliminate an incredible amount of dust and dirt within your household, as well cut down on your cleaning time in general.
• Establish command central. Determine a place, usually in the kitchen, for the day’s mail, calendar, car keys, school papers, grocery lists, etc. This eliminates the chance for clutter throughout the house and cuts down on dirt buildup.
• Use the clock. Give cleaning solutions time to work. Spray the light fixtures and mirrors in the bathroom and let the cleaner work while you scrub the tub with an all- purpose cleaner, such as Murphyâ Oil Soap. Then come back to the fixtures and mirrors.
• Defy dust. Change furnace filters and replace vacuum bags regularly. Do not miss vents when you dust.

10 Easy Upgrades to Add Style & Value to Your Home

(Courtesy of American Home Shield)

10 Easy Upgrades to Add Style & Value to Your Home

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference in the value and appeal of your home. Whether you’re trying to sell your home of just spruce up the place, here are 10 easy ways to get started.

1. Update hardware on cabinets and drawers
2. Replace towels and rugs in the bathroom(s)
3. Add overhead lighting or wall sconces to brighten rooms
4. Declutter small spaces and closets with DIY storage kits
5. Wash or power wash the exterior of your home (especially windows)
6. Add area rugs to throw in a hint of color
7. Hang a mirror in small rooms to give the illusion of more space
8. A fresh coat of paint on walls and trim brighten any room
9. Try a fresh new color on your front door for character
10. Mow and mulch your lawn even in the cooler months

Make a plan. Set a budget. Get started!