Does Your House For Sale Stand Out?

I had a client ask me today if they were better off to use an interior photo as their lead photo so they stand out from the crowd.

You can look at it 2 ways:

1 - You standout and are different than how everyone else looks

2 - You standout and are different than how everyone else looks

Depending on your stance those are 2 very different statements. 

Yes it's important for your house to standout from the other houses for sale. You need to be better than your competition. The trick is to know that this is not done by different or cute "marketing tricks".  This is done by bringing in a stager and making your home the best it can be, pricing it where the market says it should be; then taking AMAZING pictures and getting them on to a platform where buyers are searching.

Let the purple cow be the quality, not some gimmick.

How Do You Price A Home For Sale?

Is there an easy way to price your home for sale?

One of the biggest stumbling blocks a home seller can run across is getting the right information to price their home properly for the market. Who do you believe? Are real estate agents the best people for pricing advice? Are you able to make a sound decision when pricing your home, or are you biased?

There are two major things that are going to influence the market value of your home.  What has happened in the market and what is happening in the market.  Sure the fact that you have a nice kitchen and your bathroom is Belgian Taupe will impact the mind of the buyer but it won't majorly impact the value.  It will make it more salable, that is what home staging is all about, but will it make your home worth $20,000-$30,000 more than the same model 3 doors down?

The value of a house is mainly determined by the market.  What houses have sold for and what they are selling for (or not selling for) now.  If you have had 3 homes in your neighbourhood that have sold at a lower than anticipated price, you will have a hard time asking top dollar.  There is reason why neighbours get angry when a couple that splits up lists the house low just to get it sold.

So how do you determine what houses have sold for in your market?  Well you could call a local agent to come in and give you a "free market evaluation" but I don't recommend asking them for their "opinion on value". If you are just calling them for that, with no intention of listing with them, you might as well get the info off your MPAC account and save them an evening away from their family.  PropertyGuys.com suggests using a service like what we are able to offer through our partners. An estimated value report or a full licensed appraisal from a 3rd party service are unbiased and will provide you with the info of what has happened in the market.

Take this info and mix it with watching 5-6 houses within  a kilometer of your house that are within $10,000 of what you feel your home is worth and you will have all the info you need to be successful.  The only thing you will have left to get over is the stubborn, bull headed, house proud owner of your home.

M

What is the Key to Selling a House?

It's not so much a key as it is a shape. A diamond is a home seller's best friend

I have talked about the Home Selling Trifecta in the past. Product, Price, Exposure are key when you are selling your house. The magic happens when you use them correctly.

First let's understand what you have to do in preperation to get your home listed for sale (the top half of the diamond).

• Product - You can use your extensive knowledge borrowed from HGTV about de-cluttering and de-personalizing to get the home ready. Clean it top to bottom and fix anything that you know is broken. If you are not an avid HGTV fan you should get the advice of a professional stager and get things just right.
• Price - Get yourself some comparable sold listings and use them to know what the market has been doing over the last 6 months. You should also look to see what is on the market now in the range you are thinking of listing at and compare how your home stacks up. With PropertyGuys.com the option is also there to bring in a professional appraiser to give you a range in which your home should sell.
• Exposure - Look at your budget, weigh out the options and make sure you have what you need to get your home in front of prospective buyers. A listing with plenty of photos and virtual tours on PropertyGuys.com so buyers know what your home looks like, a nice big round sign for your lawn so the neighbours are all aware, and a listing on Realtor.ca to maximize your online presence. Other things include ads in the local paper, Facebook and Google ads, and open house signs if you are planning on doing any open houses.

Once you are listed you need to work your way in reverse through these steps to evaluate their effectiveness (bottom half of the diamond). Each one feeds into the other working like a funnel bringing you down to the one person who will write the cheque for your house. You must go in this order because if you change your price or tweak your product with limited exposure you will be costing yourself some of your hard earned equity. So how do you evaluate it? Depending on your schedule for selling we usually recommend allowing 4-6 weeks prior to making decisions. Of course if you have a short time frame to sell we do recommend being more aggressive in your evaluation.

• Exposure - Using the PropertyGuys.com visitor report you will see if your exposure is being effective. A single detached home in the Waterloo Wellington area will typically see a spike of around 75-125 viewings per day for the first few days. After that it should settle in to somewhere between 25-45 average viewings per day. If this is the case then you can skip to the next level of the diamond. If you lacking in exposure it means you need to look at putting it in front of more potential buyers. Did you do a mere posting on Realtor.ca? Did you add print ads in the local paper? What about the Facebook and Google ads (this is a fairly new offering so we can always add it in to your existing listing).
• Price - Since we are at the next level we are confident people are viewing the property. The issues is there is no follow through. Your online traffic is NOT turning into foot traffic. When people are looking at your listing and making a conscious decision not to call you, it speaks to one thing. Your price doesn't match your product. Exposure gets the buyers looking, the price gets them in the house! Did you get the appraisal? If so how are you priced in comparison? What are those other properties in your range doing? Have they adjusted their price? You will covert online traffic into foot traffic with more aggressive pricing.
• Product - We have all heard that a house sells it's self. This is true. It also prevents a sale if the house is not ready. The little things add up and tell the potential buyer the story of your home. Once you have the buyer in the home, if you have staged it properly the buyer will be rushing to get the offer in. If you are doing lots of showings and no one is talking about offers or asking when you are looking at for a closing date then your house is not wowing them. Did you paint the baseboards and trim? This always freshens things up. What about a back splash in the kitchen? Easy to do, adds value and fairly low cost. Did you give your home the "white glove test"? It is never too late to have our stager come in and give you the advice needed to push your home over the top!

Diamonds, not just for girls anymore.


M

How clean should your house be when you are selling it?

There is only one way to tell.

For the past 5 years we have been working with an amazing home stager based out of New Dundee. Lynda Schmidt is the real deal when it comes to getting a home ready to sell. One of the keys she always points to is the little details. No matter how ready you think your home is I guarantee you Lynda can put your home over the top with a few hours at your home.

One of the big keys she always points out is "clean, clean, clean". By clean I don't mean give the carpet a once over with the Dirt Devil while the wife is out and tell her how hard you have been working. In order to have buyers falling in love with your home they have to know how much you cared for it while you lived there. If they see dusty base boards, cobwebs in the corners of the vaulted ceilings, or that off colour spot in the "stainless" kitchen sink you may just show them you were more worried about your Dirt Devil than anything else. So you had best get the rubber gloves and the cleaning supplies out.

If you are like me and you would rather do anything than grab the paper towel. If that's the case I suggest hiring a local cleaning company to give it a once over after you have finished up working through Lynda's suggestion list so we can ensure the best possible photos. You want your home to show perfect both online and during your open houses.

Now get going on those baseboards so you can be confident it is ready for buyers.


M

Antique or Trash?

I guess even ol' Saint Nick needs to be sure!

Just like a home, an antique is only worth what a buyer will pay for it. In my travels I have heard the "oh that's an antique" as I looked at what I thought to be a junky old piece of furniture. The question I have is why are you keeping it? Most times it is a family heirloom of some sort and the guilt of parting with it might just out way the pittance.

Fact is when you are looking at selling your home it pays to ensure your house "matches". If you have an antique mahogany side table, an art deco dresser, an Ikea bed and a chandelier for a light the flow in your room may not work. Buyers will be too distraught over the jumble of styles they won't be able to picture their room. That will cost you money in the end! Don't be afraid to ask for help. A professional stager can effectively allow you to mesh your styles and better your flow, most times using what you already have in the house.

The other issue is just having too much stuff. Often times we take pieces of furniture that were our parents' or grandparents' because we need to hold on to something to remember them. Here is an idea. Make a scrapbook including pictures of the items (both now and from the past in their original settings) to remember them by. This allows us to hold on to the memories but not the items which are just cluttering our already cluttered lives!

Now what to do with the item(s)? I would suggest contacting a local antiques dealer and have them give you an idea of value. At that point they may decide to purchase at a fair price or even allow you to put it up for sale on consignment in their store. Renting a truck and borrowing a friend to lug everything down to the store/market may end up as a huge disappointment as most people don't get the "Antiques Roadshow Surprise" they are hoping for. A couple of ideas. If you have a fairly big "collection" of items most dealers will do a site visit to asses what you have. The other option is using the power of the internet. Green Spot Antiques in Cambridge ON has taken the old world to the 21st century. To quote Vince the owner "like having your own antiques pro at home". You can connect with Vince via Twitter, Facebook and even talk via phone or video with him on skype.

Now about the mahogany table....


M

Sometimes You Just Know...

Is there a higher power involved in your decision?

Have you ever walked in the door of a home and just knew? What was it that did it? Floors, colours, windows, backyard or maybe the master bedroom.

Have you considered this as a seller?

Have you focused on the key features of your home?

When a buyer pulls up out front what do they see? Not just at your house but in your neighborhood. Are the lawns kept? Is there always cars parked on the road? Can you see the park from your driveway?

They come up the walkway. Knock, knock, knock. You open your door and what do they see? Is there a predominant smell?

What makes your house stand out? Will it help you sell?

This guy knows how to sell it. I mean seriously this is the best 8:04 house tour EVER!


M

The Art Of Home

Staging and decorating is more than just painting.

A good stager will be able to walk into your home and present a guided tour for a prospective buyer. Anyone can tell you an orange living room with purple shag carpet is not an asset or that taupes and neutrals work best while using accessories for colour enhancement.

Warm inviting colours along with textures and materials like wood and suede will envelope you into the comfort of a room. As a juxtaposition steel and sharp angles are cold and modern and can work as a contrast.

I have been chatting with a client that is a few weeks away from listing a house they are flipping. They were not sure if they should furnish the home when they were ready. To me it was an obvious answer. Walking into an empty house is stark and takes thousands of your price, I've seen it first hand.

The home needs to tell a story. Who are you planning on selling to? What is their story? Paint their picture with the brush of luxury. Stainless steel appliances, wood floors, micro suede all speak to a higher level of living.

If you are not sure on what to do or you think that red walls and green carpet is sweet, call a professional stager.


M

Are You Eating Ham or Turkey?

I know what his vote is.

Easter is upon us. Family, food, chocolate and hopefully the end of winter like weather.

Like so many people this holiday we have family visiting us. If you are thinking of selling your home in the next little while take full advantage of these extra eyes (and backs). When a visitor arrives at your door, sweet potato pie in hand, ask them to imagine they were looking at buying your house. Don't let them in until they agree. They need to be judgmental and harsh. This usually is no problem for most relatives.

Have each and every person give you their 3 favorite and 3 least favorite aspects of your home. Having these additional eyes and opinions will prepare you for the buyer onslaught. Since they were nice enough to tell you they didn't like the layout of your living room, put them to work to move furniture. Maybe even send them home with an end table that you just don't need.

Give in the spirit of Easter!

To get you ready for your furniture moving here is a little something to get your blood flowing.


M

The Perfect Grilled Cheese

PERFECTION (Through my eyes)!

The other day I was making myself a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. I work hard on my grilled cheese. Butter right to the edge. Just the right amount of time to pre-heat the pan. Precise timing on each side for a golden brown colour and gooey cheese.



I was so impressed with my sandwich making ability I could not help but take a photo with my Blackberry and send on to my Facebook page. This sandwich was a thing of beauty and needed to be let loose on the world.

The response shocked me. My perfect sandwich was being critiqued. People questioned the symmetry of the bread and the browning, the type of cheese, with or without onions and relish. One comment even suggested seeing a gnome if you looked long enough.

I have big enough shoulders to take this criticism. This sandwich was perfect to me, maybe not everyone else. That is when I realized it. Do you see what I see? That's just it. If everyone has a different perception of what they look for in a grilled cheese sandwich imagine what they would think of my house?

Each and every person has different wants, likes, needs and will see your house through the glasses that they wear. You are in no position to judge whether they should like it, maybe they WANT onions on their sandwich! This is where a Home Staging Professional comes in to the mix. Call them the Iron Chefs of real estate. They can take a plain jane house and whip it into a culinary masterpiece with a few secret ingredients.



Feel free to comment on how you like your grilled cheese. Are you a "classic" lover or more of a "gourmet" aficionado.