Selling a home is oftentimes more expensive than sellers anticipate. Agents’ commissions can be as high as 6-7%, the repairs and fix-up, even minor fixes, can add up and holding costs are frequently underestimated that are being incurred during the sales process. In an attempt to limit or reduce these costs, more and more investors are attempting to sell their investments without using agents. This can be a great way to save a lot of money, but you really need to know what you are doing if you are going to go it alone.
Below are a few ideas that can be helpful in preparing a home for sale.
8 Tips for Low Cost Staging
In a tough sales market, staging can help move a property.
Barb Schwarz, who claims to have invented home staging in the early 1970s, estimates that about one in four homes nationwide are now staged.
Julie Dana and Marcia Layton Turn state in their book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell, that a seller stands to gain as much as $9,000 on a $200,000 house if it’s staged.
Shelly Wagner, a Detroit-based stager, estimates that the cost per room for staging is $100 – small potatoes if it really helps a home sell.
Here are some ideas from Wagner for effective, low-cost staging:
• Remove scatter rugs and knickknacks from every room.
• Get rid of everything on the kitchen counters, including appliances, except for the coffee maker.
• Remove as much as you can from closets.
• Hire a cleaning service if necessary to make the house spotless. Scrub floors, walls, and windows. Pay special attention to the microwave, oven, and refrigerator.
• Focus on the feature rooms, the living, dining, and master bedrooms. Additional bedrooms are best left empty or minimally furnished.
• Arrange the furniture to show off each room’s best features.
• Set the dining-room table with napkins, plates, and flatware.
• When showing the house, turn on soft instrumental “buying� music, preferably classical or jazz.
Source: Detroit News, Marge Colborn (05/03/08)
Posted by Carter Brown
Shelly has some great ideas, but she failed to mention the importance of curb appeal! make sure your home is attractive from the outside. The last thing you want is for a potential buyer to drive up to the house and keep on going – not liking what he sees on the outside. That first impression is crucial…