Holiday Decorating When Selling Home

The holidays are fast approaching. Often home sellers are unsure of how to decorate the house for the holidays while having their house on the market. Below are few tips on how to have the spirit of the season without undoing all the stagingthat has gone into preparing the house to sell.

• "Less is more" is the motto that one needs to follow while preparing a house to sell and the same applies to holiday decor. It may feel like you're being a scrooge by not displaying every item that you have or that the kids have made over the past 18 years, but are you willing to risk losing a potential buyer because they couldn't see past the holiday decorations?

• First impressions begin at the curb. Don't cover the architectural details. Wrapping the house in lights and using plastic and inflated yard ornaments can distract from the architectural details that a buyer needs to see. A simple wreath on the door, in keeping with the personality of the house (not the owners) is all that is needed.

• Tone down the size of the tree. In place of a large tree that can take up valuable real estate in a room, try a 4 foot table top version. You may decide that you like it better. Instead of using colored bulbs, opt for clear or white bulbs for your tree.

• Keep gifts under the tree to a minimum and use coordinating wrapping paper to give a cohesive look. Or hide the gifts under the beds or in a closet.

• The fireplace is a huge selling feature and does not need to be hidden with holiday decor. A simple wreath and poinsettias flanking the fireplace are all that is needed. If the kids want Santa to find their stockings, place one at the foot of each of their beds or wait until Christmas eve to place them on the mantle.

• Greeting cards can easily become clutter. Instead of displaying the greeting cards on the mantle or sideboard , etc. place them in a bowl or basket in your family room to enjoy while relaxing in the evening.

• If you absolutely have to display all your decorative items, remove an equal amount of "off season" accessories to keep the clutter to a minimum.

• If it's your turn to host the holiday party this year, see if it is possible to host holiday celebrations at a restaurant, banquet hall, or trade years with another family member this year to minimize the amount of punch bowls, serving platters, and other kitchen items that cannot be stored away. If your family gives you any trouble about this, then tell them you will need to move in with them while your house is on the market and I'll guarantee that they will be open to any alternative idea that you come up with.

For more information about Staging and Marketing a home...

www.southern-staging.com

770-251-0608 home/office

"How am I going to get rid of all this stuff?"

This is the question that I most often hear when I meet with home staging clients and help them prepare their house to be in showing condition. Unless you are a minimalist, and most of us are not, we accumulate furniture, accessories, grandma's old antique clock, and children's out grown items. You name it, I've seen it in someone's, garage, closet or basement.

We hate to get rid of these possessions, but we don't use them any longer, and you hate to just throw them out. A yard sale is not an option due to time, energy or enthusiasm and you really hate to donate some thing's, when you know that you may be able to sell these things and put a little bit of "green" in your pocket.

One solution to this particular problem is to contact a consignment shop. Located in Historical Newnan, GA, next to Scott's Bookstore, you will find one of the most charming shops on the square. Owner Janet Elliott Cantrell will make it easy and take the take the drudgery out of selling your unneeded items in her shop, Encore Decor.

I sat down with Janet to ask her a few questions about how all of this works;

Who is your buyer or seller? My seller is someone needing to downsize or either they are remodeling or moving. The buyers are usually new home buyers, newlyweds, anyone furnishing 2nd homes at the beach, lake or mountains.

What are your best selling items? The best selling items, without question are the accessories and home decor. We sell a great many items as gifts for birthdays and weddings. Furniture usually involves return visits for measurements, etc. We offer gift registry for brides and also keep individual gift cards for our regular customer to include in the gift.

Where do you find your merchandise? 90% of our merchandise comes from consignors. I can either go see what they want to sell or they bring items to me at the shop. The shop was full when we first opened with consigner items. People would stop in when they were walking buy and ask what we were doing and they started bringing their treasures in for us to sell.

How does it work? commissions? etc. If someone has enough to warrant a personal visit to their home, I'll go and choose the higher quality items or they can bring things to the shop. It's helpful if the seller knows how much they want to net off of a piece. If I think that I can bring it back and sell it, we offer a 50/50 split between us and the consigner.

Give us a good example of comparing consignment shop purchases to regular retail. With consignment shop purchase you'll find unique items not found at retail stores, or the prices will be greatly reduced from anywhere to 1/3 to 1/2 of retail. And with consignment shop items, there's always a story behind every piece. In Newnan, people will make purchase on items just because it used to belong to someone special that they knew in the community.

How is this different than say, a flea market or yard sale? The main difference is the setting of the store, the way everything is displayed in an appealing manner, we're located in Historic Downtown Newnan and a lot of my customers are walking around our beautiful town and stop in to see us .....I wouldn't get near the traffic that I do if I were on Bullsboro or a busy road somewhere.

What are you looking for when you take on a consignment piece? Unique items that can either be updated with a fresh coat of paint or stain, one-of-a- kind pieces that you won't find in retail stores. We also have great local artist work in the shop. We are the exclusive shop in Newnan that offer one artist unique pencil renderings of Historical Newnan or Atlanta landmarks.

So the next time you either want to unload unwanted furniture or find that special piece at a fraction of what something would cost new, go see Janet at Encore Decor.

To see how you can furnish an entire room using consignment furniture and accessories, be sure to visit the:

Decorators Show House

November 20th

74 Jackson Street

Newnan, Ga 30263



Is It Expensive To Have Your House Staged?

(Welcome Community Continued)

This is a question that I'm often asked when I tell someone about my work. The answer is... No....Home Staging doesn't have to be expensive. Below is a great example of staging a room to create an emotional connection for a buyer at a very low cost for the seller.

This charming ranch style home, located in the Welcome Community has been updated through-out the years. A few years before, the owner updated the bath with new light fixtures, vanity, toilet , spa tub/shower and new tile. In the before photo, the best features of the room were not highlighted.

By "shopping" the owners belongings and finding items that complement the character of the house (not the owner) we were able to create a warm inviting spa feeling in this bathroom. With the exception of the white shower curtain and silk flowers, this room was staged at no-cost to the seller. Look at what a difference it makes to the feel of the room, by adding just the right accessories to make a buyer linger longer in the space and imagine it being their bathroom.

RECENT STAGING JOB IN THE WELCOME COMMUNITY
PART 1

This was one of the most enjoyable jobs that I've had in a while.  This house belongs to friends of mine, that I've known most of my life.  I drive by this house everyday and it's located in a great country setting with acreage, beautiful landscaping, barns and pasture.  There is a great community spirit in this area and when the home owners called to have me come stage it, there was no hesitation on my part.  They love antiques and have a great deal of collections and most of them are on display, as you can see in this before photo.  Although having their belongings surround them makes this house their home,  these smart homeowners knew that this style of decor would not appeal to everyone and knew that changes needed to be made. 

Large rooms such as this, can be intimidating for a buyer to imagine how to decorate and arrange furniture. Once most of the furniture and extra accessories were removed, we set this room up with different sections.  As you can see in the after photo, there is a entertainment area, a game table area and a reading nook, that would make a great place for a piano or music area.  It's a family room in the truest since.  Family members can all be in the same room, participating in different activities and still be together. 



Reading Nook





Do  you recognize any of the furniture in the after photo? (Hint: 4 chairs)

Stay tuned for my next blog on other rooms in this beautiful country house.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...My Latest Project

In an effort to be "green", I decided to give these old director chairs a new life. I've had them about 8 or more years and they have had any where from red to black replacement canvas seats & backs.

After giving them a good sanding, and 2 coats of black paint, they are ready for another set of replacement canvas seats.  Ordered them online from Lowe's (only $3.73 each) and picked them up from the store the next day.  I could have picked them up the same day, but it's a long way from my house.

Finished product with green canvas seats.  They look awesome.  These were so inexpensive, I ordered some tan ones too.  Only spent $31.93 for the 2 sets of replacement seats and about $3/can for paint (spray paint). WHO SAYS IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN?                                                   

Stay tuned to see where they will show up next! 

The Benefits Of Home Staging

Did you know that a home buyer will make a decision on a house within the first 10 seconds. In the blink of an eye, they will decide "This is the one" or "Let's move on to the next one".

There are so many houses on the market these days that not only must the house be attractive, cleaned and in excellent repair, it should be seductive. Buyers purchase houses based on emotions. Their buying a dream....a lifestyle. Most buyers can't see past a sellers personal items or decor style. Helping a buyer out by setting the stage can impact how they will feel in the home... an atmosphere is created that makes them want to linger longer in the space and imagine themselves living there.

Home staging is the process of making a home "buyer ready" so that it will appeal to the largest amount of buyers. It's not interior decorating but rather a process of de-cluttering, de-personalizing, utilizing a home sellers furnishings and accessories to highlight the best features of a room. It's about creating emotional connection between the buyer and the property.

Professionally staged homes:

• Help increase showings - most buyer traffic will come through a home within the first two weeks it's on the market than any other time period. This will be a sellers best audience and having the property ready to show and properly priced is key.

• Houses that have been professionally staged sell faster and for closer to asking price - according to surveyed Realtors, Home Staging is the second most valuable home improvement project to a seller when it comes to selling a home by return on investment.

• Doesn't cost a dime - according to the 2009 Home Gain Report, home staging has 586% return on investment. ($300 cost = $1780 price increase)

• Helps reduce a property’s time on the market - according to the National Association of Realtors the longer a property sits on the market the lower the sales price will be.

• A well staged home suggest a home that has been cared for and most buyers will pay more for a move-in ready house. Condition of the property will directly affect a buyers offer on a house.


Still unsure about the benefits of home staging? Call us a call and find out more. Having your house professionally staged can mean the difference between a house sitting on the market or selling faster and for top dollar.

Nan Johnston - Professional Home Staging Consultant

Southern Staging & Redesign

www.southern-staging.com

770-251-0608 home/office.

10 Ways To Make A Buyer Hate Your House!

Did you know that a home buyer will make a decision on a house within the first 10 seconds?

Whether your house is on the market for sale or not, you'll want to avoid these problems:

1. Odors

Number one on the no-no list...house odors. If you have pets or smoke, your house may smell and you won't even notice it. Ask a friend or someone that will be brutally honest with you to give your house the ole sniff test. Don't get defensive when they tell you the truth. You do want to sell your house, right?

Often buyers with allergies will react to air fresheners. Use them carefully. My advice is to use the Biocide Systems Room Shocker to help eradicate odors. Cleaning or replacing carpet may also be necessary.

2 . Eager Pets
Some people are frightened or irritated by dogs that are greeting them at the car or door. I speak from experience. My two are always "happy" to greet someone. Although they are harmless, new guest sometimes won't get out of the car until we can get them under control. Of course they are "little angels" and obey all commands until we have quest, but when someone arrives, they lose their hearing. What's that all about?

If it's possible, remove pets from the house during a showing. If that's not possible, contain them in a crate for their own safety and out of respect for the potential buyers. Placing pets in a room or garage and then asking buyers not to open the door to that area is a bad idea. Would you buy a house you can't inspect?

3. Yucky Bathrooms
It's amazing to me how sellers don't see the grime in their own bathrooms. It's an instant turn off, so scrub them, paint them, buy a new shower curtain, rugs and towels. Make them shine. You either want to sell your home or not. This extra work is a must.

4. Dark Rooms
Do anything that you can to brighten up your space. Increase the bulb wattage in your lamps/light fixtures, remove dark heavy window treatments, repaint with lighter colors, clean the ceiling fixture globes, trim any landscaping that blocks natural light coming in from the windows. Also, clean the windows inside and out to let in as much natural light possible.
5. Wallpaper
Wallpaper, no matter how beautiful to you, is very taste specific and most buyers (even if they like wallpaper) will rarely like what you've chosen. Since your goal is to appeal to the largest pool of buyers, then removing it and replacing with paint is in your favor. Yes, it's a lot of work, but buyers know that and will deduct "points" in considering your house or even worse, may go to the next house that is move in ready. (This applies to borders as well)

6. Damp Basements
Damp basements have odors. It's a huge red flag to a buyer and they will automatically think that the foundation leaks! Be sure to check that any underground drains are not clogged, that the rain gutters are working and that the downspouts are diverting the rainwater away from the house. Most of the time the dampness will be due to one of these problems.

7. Bugs
Get rid of them! Knock down the spider webs, exterminate for roaches, ants, etc. It's that simple.

8. Bad Curb Appeal
You never have a second chance to make a great first impression. Heard that before? Well, it's the truth! If you want to sell your house, you have to get the buyer through the door. If your yard is unkempt or you have peeling paint, they might refuse to even get out of the car.

9. Full Gutters (with plants growing in them)
Really? Do I even have to explain this one? Remember the drainage problems in # 6? If you have plants in your gutters, a buyer will wonder what else you haven't maintained. Clean the gutters!

10. Sellers That Stay For Showings
Yes, your house is special. You've put a lot of special features in to it and want to be sure that the buyer knows all the fine points of your house. Leave the house when it's being shown. A buyer needs to be comfortable opening your closets and cabinets. They need to be able to linger in the space long enough to imagine themselves living there. If your hanging around, they will feel uncomfortable making comments and feel rushed to leave. Not a good selling tactic.

If your selling by owner, give them some space and don't hover around.

In Summary
Most of these issues can be corrected without a great expense. Before your house gains the reputation as the house with the loud wallpaper or the house that smells, these problems need to be solved. You want agents to show your house. There are a lot of houses out there for them to sell and you want yours on the buyers list, right?

Give us a call for a home staging consultation. It's very affordable and you can DIY the work yourself or hire us to help you out.
Contact us at http://www.southern-staging.com/
770-251-0608 home/office
770-301-4786 cell