By Monica Murphy President Preferred Staging,...

Preferred Staging, LLC the art of home preparation | maximize on your investment

Sell Your Home In Any Market!

A Simple Guide for Preparing Your House

For Sale

By

Monica Murphy President

Preferred Staging, LLC

In Partnership With:

Josue “Josh” Ruiz

Preferred Staging, LLC / 703.851.2690 / www.preferredstaging.com / Accredited & Insured

Josue “Josh” Ruiz | 703.975.0021 | [email protected] | RealtorForVirginia.com

Facebook: JosueDRuizRealtor703

Preparing Your Home: Common Knowledge is Only Part of It Common knowledge has it that staging your home prior to putting it on the market is a wise

investment. What is less understood by home sellers is what staging entails for the current real

estate environment. Unless you understand buyers’ requirements today, your home will take

longer to sell and may sell for less than its potential. This means thousands – or tens of

thousands of dollars – lost!

So, what is different today than even just 5 years ago? First, the competition is intense and

buyers are VERY selective. Second, with the dramatic increase in the cost of homes over the

last decade, the vast majority of buyers are two-income families. These buyers do not have the

leisure to repaint, have new carpeting installed, or remove wallpaper. They want their new home

to be in move-in condition, and they either have sufficient options on the market to find what

they are looking for, or they are willing to wait and continue looking.

The good news is that it is never too late to begin. Even if your home is already on the market,

you can make simple changes that will dramatically improve your home’s market potential. If

you have more time, then more can be done. No matter what your situation, this guide will help

you identify where to start and what to do.

Here’s the Evidence

Before we begin the home preparation discussion, let’s take a look at some evidence:

*Properly preparing a home for sale can provide a 586% return on investment HomeGain

*Prepared homes sell 4 times faster Kiplinger

*When a home is prepared, it spends 50% less time on the market Quicken

*Home preparation results in a faster sale USA Today

*Few shoppers get beyond their first impression Money

*Prospective home buyers form an opinion about your home in 15 seconds MSN

Approach the Process from the Buyer’s Perspective

Let’s pretend that you are in the market to buy a home (you may very well be if you’re selling

your current house). You visited two houses on the same street. The homes were exactly

identical in terms of price, finish materials, view, etc.

One home had personal collections displayed in several rooms, one of the bedrooms was painted

bright pink, and there was so much furniture in the family room it was hard to find someplace to

stand back and take in the whole room. The other home was free of personal items, had neutral

paint colors on the walls, and just enough furniture to get a feel for the room’s size without being

overwhelmed.




Preparing the Home for Sale - Some “Universal Truths”

Preparing your home for sale may be the best money you spend this year! It does not cost much

to place special touches in a house prior to sale and the returns can be significant. A properly

prepared home will show better than similarly situated homes in the area, increasing the chances

for a fast sale at full asking price.

Preparing a house for sale – or staging it - is the process of presenting your home in its best

possible condition for buyers. It is not decorating, and especially not decorating for yourself.

This is a very important distinction to make. Save all of your decorating ideas and personal color

choices for your new home. When you’re selling your house, the overall presentation needs to

appeal to the broadest pool of buyers. The house has to be first and foremost clean, decluttered,

and neutral, while at the same time offering a welcoming and cozy feeling. Keep in mind that

there are distinct differences between how you live in a home and how it must show when it’s

listed for sale.

The house also needs to be “depersonalized”. This is one of the hardest concepts for home

sellers to grasp, as their personal touches are what make the house their home. Many sellers are

reluctant to remove these personal touches as they may start to feel their house is “empty” and

not welcoming anymore. But remember what I said before – the house that you’re selling really

isn’t your “home” anymore – it’s a product that needs to be marketed to the largest pool of

potential buyers, and that your new home is waiting for you elsewhere. By depersonalizing your

house, you’re helping to create an atmosphere where a buyer can feel they can easily move in to

the house.

It’s a tricky balance to achieve. Either there’s too much in the house where the owners’

personality dominates, or too much has been removed from the house and it now lacks charm

and character. If you’re not sure what can stay and what should go, it may be best to set up an

appointment for a walk through consultation and let one of our professional stagers help guide

you through the process.

In the meantime, there are some “universal truths” that my team and I tell every homeowner

when we do conduct a consultation. A lot of these are very basic common sense:

1. Put away anything that is personal, political or religious. This includes photographs of

family, especially children, anything that can be considered political propaganda, and

religious statues, icons and pictures. Just like in polite company you don’t talk about

politics or religion, you don’t want these things openly displayed in your house. Your

house must appeal to all potential buyers.

2. Personal items are not limited to photographs. Make sure your home office is clear of

any mail or important documents that may contain personal or financial information,

including your name and those of family members. This also includes diplomas, awards

and certificates, or those deer antlers in the basement.




I often come across children’s names on their bedroom walls as a part of the décor, and as

cute and well done as it may be, I strongly encourage the home owner to remove their

child’s name from the wall. I view it as a matter of protecting the child’s identity.

Remember that each bedroom will be photographed and posted on the Internet.

3. Keep in mind that buyers will open every drawer and door that is connected to the house,

such as kitchen cupboards and bathroom vanities, but they will not go through your

personal furniture, like chests or nightstands. If you have any sort of prescription drugs

in the house, these should be stored in your personal furniture. Most people keep these

items in the kitchen or bathroom, but they really need to be moved. You don’t want

people knowing not only your name, but personal information such as your medication.

4. Any object or collection that is highly valuable, either sentimental or monetary, should be

stored in personal furniture, as described above, carefully packed and safely stored in a

storage area in the house, or removed from the home and stored in a rented storage unit,

or even a safe deposit box if that is a reasonable option. An example would be expensive

or sentimental jewelry, family heirlooms, or any other sort of valuable item(s).

How to Use this Guide

If your home is currently on the market and appropriately priced but not generating interest, or if

you are thinking of selling your home in the future, this guide can make the difference.

Our Home Preparation Guide is written with three distinct types of home owners in mind:

1. Those who are planning on selling their home in the future, say 4 to 6 months or more.

2. Home owners who are preparing their homes to be listed within 1 to 2 months.

3. Sellers just weeks away from listing their home or with a home currently on the market.

Depending on where you are in the selling process will dictate where it would be best to start

reading the guide, and from there you can work backwards. For example, if you’re planning on

listing your house in 2 months, start with reading that section, and if there is time you can then

go back to the section for those who are 4 to 6 months out and perhaps tackle those suggestions.

You are encouraged to read all of the sections and recommendations, as many recommendations

carry over from one category to the other.

So let’s get started!

4 to 6 Months Before Listing Your Home

If you have decided to sell your home and have four months or more, you need an action plan.

Many would assume that because they have time, they do not need to start right away. Our

advice to you is to start immediately and do a little every week to prepare for your sale. After

all, this will be one of the biggest financial transactions of your life. Small things now may

generate significant returns later.




Curb Appeal: Curb appeal is a potential buyer’s first impression when they drive up to your

home. The curb appeal of the home can say one of two things: “Come on in, you will like what

you see!” – OR – “Well, I may need a little work…” We definitely want the “Come on in!”

reaction.

Start your project by removing all extra items around the yard and driveway like garbage cans

and children’s toys and store them in the garage. Clean up and organize wood piles and other

working areas around the house. Next, take a good look at the house itself and check the roof,

gutters, downspouts, trim, shutters, windows and siding. If anything is weathered, loose or in

disrepair, or has chipping or peeling paint, now is the time to fix and/or paint it. Do the same for

patios, decks and porches and other exterior structures.

Now take a good look at the yard and garden. Start by taming any unruly trees or shrubs. If you

have overgrown plants or trees, they will block buyers’ view of your home. There is an old

adage in real estate: “If you can’t see it, you can’t sell it!” With months to go, prune or remove

plants that are blocking the view from the street or are covering windows or the walkway.

Pruning or removing plants now provides ample opportunity for the pruned plants to recover and

new plantings to settle into the landscape. Keep the garden weeded and put down fresh mulch or

wood chips.

Add plantings to the front of the house to build focus on your front door if you have a centered

entrance, or to visually balance the front of the house if your entrance is off to a side. You do

not have time to wait for the plants to mature, so buy mature plants now and plant them as close

together as practical. Tiered plantings (lower to higher) create a dramatic effect as they draw the

eye up the lawn and onto the house.

Seed the lawn and water liberally, and keep the lawn mowed and edged. Nothing shows off a

home like a lush green lawn.

Yes, this really is the same house! “If you can’t see it, you can’t sell it!”




After all of the above has been done, then you must focus on the front door of the house. This is

really where the house will say “Welcome! Come on in!” The door should be clean and painted

if necessary, hinges oiled, door handle polished. Make sure all outdoor light fixtures are clean

and in working order, and replace burned out light bulbs. A new and neutral welcome mat at the

door, along with a pot or two of colorful flowers will impress buyers before they even enter the

house.

Inside the Home: The first priority is to finish any lingering projects. Don’t start any new

construction projects if you are the type that takes a while to complete them. The one exception

here is if you know there is something that might block the sale of your home, like a basement

moisture problem or leaky faucets – get those done. This is not the time to learn new skills, so

bring in the professionals if necessary.

Buyers today want lots of light in their home, and a brighter house looks bigger and can actually

look “happier”. Start by looking at your window treatments. Do they block most of the light?

Have they been up for more than 10 years? You may want to consider replacing or even

removing them. Don’t go for anything elaborate. Simple and neutral is the order of the day.

Inexpensive treatments are widely available, and make sure they allow maximum light into the

home. When we are staging vacant properties, we rarely if ever put up window treatments for

the same reason we are suggesting that you consider replacing or removing the ones in your

house: window treatments are often a personal choice and are more often than not chosen to

compliment the interior decoration of the house. The chance that a buyer will fall in love with

your custom window treatments and that they will match the buyers’ furniture is very slim. By

removing them, you’ll allow more light to come into the house, and you’ll also be surprised at

how much bigger the room will look without them.

Now let’s consider paint and wall coverings. A fresh coat of paint is one of the least expensive

ways to improve the marketability of your home. According to HomeGain.com, painting your

interior walls can bring as much as a 250% return on investment. It’s like money in a can!

However, the biggest mistake homeowners make when they are preparing their home for sale is

to put a fresh coat of whatever color was currently there. Maybe the paint color is fine, but you

need to objectively ask yourself: Is the paint on the wall what 90% of potential buyers would

like? Or did we select this color because it really felt like the right personal decision? It is hard

to be objective about this, as paint is not only very personal, but it grows on you over time and

blends into the background. Take a look at some home design magazines and try to find your

colors in the photos. If you can’t, you’d better find a new color.




Paint colors that appeal to personal tastes need to be changed to colors that are neutral.

Again, the key here is neutral, but a neutral paint color doesn’t mean white. There are dozens of

paint colors on the market now that are considered “neutral”, in that they’ll compliment virtually

any décor and color of furnishings. Most of these colors would be considered earth tone colors.

Be wary of the current “trendy” colors or “the new color of the year”, which you want to avoid.

There are colors that are what we call “on trend”, meaning that they are currently popular but

tend to gravitate towards neutral so that they appeal to a broader population and have a longer

life span. Earth tone and on trend colors are what you want to consider for selling your house.

If you need assistance in choosing the right paint color, give us a call and schedule a color

consultation. We’ll also offer one or two paint color options during our walk through

consultations.

Wallpaper will almost certainly need to be removed or painted over. Wallpaper is always a

very personal decision and it is highly unlikely, no matter how nice, that someone else will have

the exact same taste as you. Get rid of it. Some wallpaper can accept paint but the surface needs

proper preparation, so please consult a professional.

This room was one of the first rooms buyers would see upon entering the house. The dark

blue paint and burgundy drapes reflected the home owners’ personal taste. By painting the

room a lighter color and removing the window treatments, the room is lighter and brighter.

Note also the clutter in the room – too much furniture blocking the path to the door and the

over stuffed bookshelves.




Summary: With several months before you list your house for sale, you have plenty of time to

tackle the bigger tasks, such as painting, making necessary repairs both inside and out, and

pruning and planting.

Two Months Before Listing Your Home

You’re two months away from listing your home… what to do?? First, relax. You have time,

but we definitely want to pick up the pace of activity. We suggest doing something very small

EVERY day. If you miss a day, don’t sweat it, but you need consistant activity at this stage to

maximize your home’s market potential.

Maximize your curb appeal by lightly pruning shrubs. Don’t get too aggressive here – an

overgrown bush looks better than one that has been pruned to within an inch of its life.

Removing the worse offenders and replacing them with smaller plantings can take as little as a

day and will be well worth the effort. Put down fresh mulch and plant some flowers that will

retain their blooms for the next several months. Even in colder months, you can plant winter

pansies.

If you have not read the section on paint and wallpaper in the 4 to 6 month plan above, please

do so. This is still your first priority.

After the appearance of the walls, your next priority is to depersonalize and declutter your

home. This is probably going to be the most difficult part of the home preparation process.

We’ve already discussed what depersonalization is – the removing or neutralizing of your

personal tastes and preferences, or your “footprint”, from the house. Depersonalizing goes hand-

in-hand with decluttering, but there’s more to it. Let’s take a moment to talk about what clutter

is and what to do about it.

We use the word clutter in a variety of contexts during our consultations. A kitchen countertop

may have a couple of small appliances, a few days worth of mail, the kids’ homework, and

chargers for phones and lap tops on it, maybe a coffee mug, and we’d say it was cluttered. But

we can also walk into a family room and have a neatly stacked but fully packed bookcase, and

we’d say that was cluttered, too. I’ve seen displays of dozens of family photos in beautiful

frames artistically arranged on top of a table, and that would also be clutter. In the last two

examples, regardless of how neat or artistically arranged, if there is a lot of it, its clutter. Its not a

bad thing – its just that there’s a LOT of it. This is what we call “visual clutter”, and is loosely

defined as objects that distract buyers from focusing their attention on your home. When there’s

so much to see and you don’t know what to look at first, this causes a problem for buyers. Too

many of your own things, regardless of how nice they may be, doesn’t allow the buyer to

imagine themselves and their things in the house.




Another issue is that people are naturally curious, and when there’s a lot of clutter, buyers start to

become more interested in what’s on display and not the house itself. I’ve seen buyers start to

examine family photos or diplomas on walls, or admire collections of figurines on shelves. The

problem, though, is that when they leave the house, what are they going to remember about the

house? Did they notice that the baths had been updated and the bedrooms freshly painted, or did

they only see the interesting collection displayed on the mantle? If they only remember the

things in the house and not the house itself, they’ll cross your house off their list.

Beyond all of the clutter and excess furniture, did you even notice that this room has a huge

fireplace and built in bookshelves on the far wall? This house was on the market for only 19

days, and the fireplace was a deciding factor for the buyers.

And clutter isn’t just what’s found on tables, shelves or countertops. We often hide our clutter

behind closed doors… cupboard doors, vanity doors, closet doors… I think you get the idea.

You don’t want buyers to think that your house is “too full of stuff”; although you’ve become

accustomed to your “stuff” and you enjoy it, too much of a good thing can leave the impression

that a room or storage area is cramped and too small.

Here is some of our general advice on how to manage clutter:

Now is the time to start to pack and purge. Your things should be divided into three categories. First, separate the items you don’t use on a regular basis, but still need, like

out of season clothes. Second, separate items to throw away and third, items to donate.

As I mentioned before, buyers will open every door that’s attached to the house – every closet, cupboard, and vanity. These are the areas where you need to start to pack and

purge. As a general rule, closets shouldn’t be more than 2/3 full. Kitchen cupboards

need to be cleaned and organized, and the pantry should look like the shelves at the

grocery store. Bathroom vanities are notorious for hiding half used bottles of shampoo,

multiple bottles of scented lotions, and duplicate deordants.

Clear the refrigerator of all decorative magnets, photos, etc.




Look at each room with a critical eye. For items that are displayed or out in the open, take a good hard look at it. Ask yourself, “Would a model home have this?” If the

answer is “No”, it needs to go.

View the decluttering process as a start to packing for your move, something that you’re

going to have to do anyway. You’re actually getting a head start!

By the time you have depersonalized and decluttered, you will probably have a lot of stuff that

needs to be stored, sold, or given away. For storage, consider having a portable storage unit

delivered to your house. As you pack, you can walk it right into the unit. The unit can usually

be delivered directly to your new home for easy unpacking. Give us a call for suggestions on

temporary storage and recommended companies in the area that offer this service.

Holding a yard sale is always a good way to get rid of your excess possessions, but please keep

the big picture in mind. If a yard sale will take one weekend to plan and another to execute, our

opionion is that you would be better off giving your things away and taking the tax write-off.

The few hundred dollars you MAY produce from a yard sale may cost you thousands of dollars

if the time could have been spent on additional home preparation activities.

While you are packing your personal effects, consider how much stepping around furniture you

are doing. If you constantly have to watch your step as you are moving around the house, you may have too much furniture. Excess furniture in a room will make the room appear smaller.

Too many bar stools, a table and four chairs, and an ecclectic collection of furniture made this

kitchen/family room feel disjointed, small and cramped.

If you can, find another location in your home for excess pieces of furniture. Maybe you can

store some of your older furniture and move some of the nicer pieces throughout the home. You

may also have to reposition some of your furniture to showcase the space of a room as well as

the best features of a room. Advice on what should stay and what should go and rearranging

furniture is a very important part of our consultations.

Summary: With two months to go before your listing date, curb appeal and walls are still your

top priorities. After that, start to pack for your move. Box up all of your personal effects,

collections and clutter and put it into storage outside of your home




My Home Is Just About To Go – Or Already Is – On The Market Congratulations! You are on your way to selling your home. Even if your home is already on

the market, it is not too late to prepare your home for the next visitors! At this stage of the game,

we focus on cleanliness and presentation, and then we work backwards into the two month and

six month strategies.

Start with the all important curb appeal. Keep the grass watered and mowed. Mow twice a

week during the fast growing season – we want buyers to think country club! Add some potted

plants near the door for color and to make the front entrance more inviting. Be sure to have a

new mat at the front door. If buyers see an old and worn mat at the door, what is that telling

them about the interior? Also, a new mat will help to keep dirt from entering your house, which

will help in keeping it clean.

If painting is necessary, you are better off doing it and doing it quickly. Hire some painters –

make sure they will show up with a team and can paint the necessary rooms in a few days or less.

Do it during the week to minimize the chance of interfering with potential visits from buyers.

Your home needs to look as much like a model home as possible – neat and pristine and almost

like no one lives there. This is especially true for the kitchen and bathrooms. In the kitchen,

make sure that all dirty dishes are put in the dishwasher, and run the garbage disposal (drop a

quarter of a lemon in there before running it to help clear out odors). Wipe down the kitchen

table and countertops, as well as the sink and faucet. Put the dishrag or sponge in the cupboard

under the sink.

Personal products in the bathroom need to be put away and clean towels hung.

Next, make sure that all personal items are put away in the bathrooms. A countertop full of

makeup, deodorant and hair gel prevents the buyer from imagining this very personal space as

their own. Make sure clean towels are neatly folded on the rods.




ALL surfaces – countertop, commode, tub and shower – must be IMMACULATE! We all know

what bathrooms are used for, but you don’t want to leave the evidence for a buyer to see; you

want them to believe that bathroom is never used.

Make the beds and put away laundry every day. Again, we are going for the “no one lives here”

image; buyers need to be imagining themselves living there, not imagining what you are like.

While we are on the topic of bedrooms, if necessary, upgrade your bedding in the master

bedroom. Inexpensive bed sets are readily available; try to keep the colors neutral and avoid

busy patterns. The master bedroom should be an oasis of rest and relaxation, so get rid of the

exercise equipment, work you brought home from the office, and if possible, the TV.

After you have cleaned and are making your everyday existence invisible to potential buyers,

start working backwards on the plans above. Start with the Two Month plan and improve your

curb appeal, then move inside and depersonalize and declutter.

Summary: If you are just about to list your home, or if your home is already on the market, its

not too late to improve its sale potential. Increase your curb appeal, and then tackle the interior

of the house. Start with cleanliness, remove all personal hygiene and cosmetic products and

make your master bedroom an oasis with plush bedding. These improvements take just a few

days and will dramatically improve the impression your home will make on potential buyers.

By:

Monica Murphy

President

Preferred Staging, LLC

Josue is a phenomenal realtor. He went above

and beyond to ensure my family was getting

the most for our money. He laid out the best

plan for return on investment with our listing property. His plethora of top notch contacts

made that process a breeze, as well as

affordable. When it came to buying he found

many new properties missed, laid out road

trips to see them all even on our short notice,

and is a superb negotiator when it comes time to close the deal! Our family will be calling

him in a few years when we sell as week as

for investment properties Zillow Online Review

Read more at: Zillow.com/profile/Josue-D-Ruiz/#reviews

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