Enhance the Curb Appeal

After last month’s Home Staging post and the great information I received from Chad Neiberger of Ambiance at Home I wanted to write something this month about “curb appeal”.  During my research I came across this article written by Ann Anderson of Connecticut that really gives great advice on what to consider in your curb appeal presentation.  Thanks Ann Anderson.

5 Ways to Enhance Curb Appeal (You Might Not Know)

 We know the basics of curb appeal…moving, weeding, painting, and so on. But there are some things that are not quite so obvious, but that can make a big difference. And they are (not necessarily in order of importance):

1.  Keep your driveway empty – no parked cars. Cars in the driveway detract from the exterior of the house and give a little too much information to potential buyers. If your car is dirty or has a few dings, potential buyers may take that as a reflection of the way you take care of your home. Or they may think you are having financial problems.
2. Keep your garage door closed. This makes the exterior look much neater. Just make certain the door is in great shape. (This may be a place to spend a little money if it is out-dated or needs painting or repair, particularly if it faces the street.)
3. Make the walkway to the front door clearly delineated – and make certain this is the way the potential buyers enter. A clearly defined walkway feels inviting, and walking to the front door shows of the house much better than entering through the garage or side door into the kitchen. Make certain there is plenty of room to walk. If plants encroach on the walkway, cut them back.
4. Keep your garbage cans and recycling bins hidden. Sure, everyone knows you have garbage. But they don’t want to be reminded of it when they pull up in front of your house. The best location is the side of the house, as long as it isn’t visible from the street. A small fenced enclosure works well, but even screening them with bushes can work. Keeping them in the garage isn’t always a good idea because of the smell.
5. Make the house interesting from the street. That might mean adding color (such as a bold red door – as long as it goes with the house), some new landscaping (plantings of different types and sizes or perhaps re-shaping flower beds), or even shutters. Even if the house appears well kept, if it is uninteresting, potential buyers may keep driving.

 We have all heard you only get one chance to make a good first impression. And that is certainly true with houses on the market. If you don’t grab the potential buyers’ interest as soon as they pull up to the curb, you may never get it back – if they even bother to come in at all.

Ann Anderson is the owner of Rooms Reborn ( http://www.roomsreborn.com ), a decorating, staging, and redesign business serving Connecticut. She is also the founder and Director of the School of Interior Redesign ( http://www.schoolofinteriorredesign.com ). a private occupational school teaching staging, decorating, redesign, feng shui, and working with relocating seniors. She is also the co-creator of the Ready2Sellin30Days system which is designed to help do-it-yourself home sellers prepare their homes for sale with less stress.

Home Staging Matters

Properly priced, well maintained, and effectively presented homes sell quickly and for top dollar.

As you get your home ready to sell you will hear a lot about ‘curb appeal’.  So you put in the time and energy to make sure those ‘maybe’ shoppers who are just going to ‘drive by’ slow way down and take a good look at your home as a clean, well maintained, solid investment.

This gets them in the driveway and making an appointment to tour your home.  There’s an old real estate truism that says buyers make a decision on whether or not to move forward with writing an offer within the first ten seconds of walking in the door.

From the moment they walk in the door they are doing a high speed scan of everything in sight from the light fixtures and cob webs to the color of the paint and texture of the furnishings, to the finish on the floors and the condition of the baseboards.  You get ten seconds. 

As the seller you are looking for the buyer or buyer(s) to see the beauty and potential of your home that you saw when you bought it.  That brings us to the professional home stager.

I spoke with Chad Neiberger owner of Ambiance at Home the Twin Cities premier home staging company.  Chad said, “Home staging is more than playing musical furniture.  It is presenting your home in its most polished state, it is about the furniture groupings, but it is also about lighting, and making the environment neutral and appealing, making your home inviting”.

Ambiance at Home is staffed with professional designers that will work with the home owner to make a notable first impression on potential homebuyers.  Ambiance at Home is happy to provide you with a free consultation.

“To achieve the greatest possible result,” Chad adds, “a home should be presented in its very best light from the time it goes on the market.  Your asking price may be directly influenced by the home staging process.  Chad noted, “Ambiance at Home had more than twenty properties staged in the recent Parade of Homes, a testament to their working relationships with builders and Realtors”.

Before you list talk with your Realtor or contact Ambiance at Home.  They will be able to tell you if home staging would be of benefit.  If you know in advance that it would be in your best interest to hire a professional staging company to maximize your return and shorten your days on the market you can budget accordingly. 

Next time you are out looking at properties ask if they have been professionally staged.  Then ask yourself if it made a difference in how you viewed the property?  I think overwhelmingly you will answer yes.  Remember you get ten seconds.  I think home staging could make all the difference in selling your home, and you might only know by consulting a professional.

Staging your home for sale is more than keeping the grass cut and picking up the dirty cloths.  Make sure the ten seconds the potential buyers spend looking at your home is the ten seconds they are talking about when they are backing out of your driveway.

Find Chad Neiberger at www.ambiance-athome.com .  Need a great Realtor referral give me a shout.

Owen Riess