By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
There’s a lot of weight in the value of a home based on its name, finds researchers from University of Georgia. Add the word “country” or “country club” to a subdivision’s name and you may stand to increase the home’s value by up to 5 percent alone.
Researchers found that home buyers are willing to pay a premium when the word “country” or “country club” is in a subdivision’s name. In fact, buyers will pay 4.2 percent more for a property with “country” in the name and an additional 5.1 percent for “country club,” according to the study that evaluated MLS sales reports in Baton Rouge, La., between 1984 and 2005 to find out the influence a property’s name has on home values.
Buyers associate the words with affluence and prestige. Wealthier buyers tend to pay more attention to the property’s name, researchers found. And the wealthy are even more willing to pay a premium for a property name that conveys prestige than they are to pay for a good school for their children, the study notes.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Lorie Marrero
In honor of National Moving Month, the two experts have teamed up to help provide tips on how to improve your listings’ showings to get the house sold so your sellers can finally move on.
Ashley Whittenberger
Marrero and Whittenberger recently answered some questions for Styled, Staged & Sold on everything from getting a home ready to sell, how to intervene with your seller’s messy ways, and how to show your sellers how they can live in a staged house and keep it clutter-free and sparkling while it’s on the market (which is no easy task!).
Marrero is the author of “The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life” (Reason Press, 2009) and the creator of ClutterDiet.com. Whittenberger, a staging expert, is the president and CEO of Interiority Complex LLC.
To hear more of their moving and showing tips, Marrero and Whittenberger will be hosting a telecast, “Sell Your Home Faster & Improve Your Move,” 12 p.m. (EST) on Thursday that is geared for real estate professionals, stagers, sellers, and professional organizers. You can sign up here.
What are the main problems you often see in homes when sellers get ready to put their home on the market?
WHITTENBERGER: Too much clutter, too much furniture, and décor that is very taste specific. When staging, less is more. I always tell sellers that it’s important to remember that we’re selling your home, not your things! We want the home to be the star of the show, not your décor.
On the other hand, I have seen a few cases in which the seller has gone to the extreme of neutralizing and de-cluttering, and the home just looks bland with no personality whatsoever. The key is in striking a harmonious balance when designing the space. Professional home stagers do this by appointing and arranging appropriate art, décor, and furniture which highlights the architectural features of the home and helps it to stand out among the rest.
What’s a low-cost idea for prepping a home for sale that can have some of the biggest impact on its look?
MARRERO: Decluttering can have some of the biggest impact of all with the least cost. Decluttering accomplishes several things: 1.) It makes the space look larger; 2.) It de-personalizes the space so buyers can picture themselves living there without being distracted by your “collections” and stacks; and 3.) It makes the space feel cleaner and the home seem better maintained in general.
In fact, HomeGain.com’s 2011 survey says that decluttering brings a 586 percent return on investment when you sell.
Trying to keep a home always clean and clutter-free when you’re trying to sell can be a challenge. Do you have any tips for sellers on how to make living in staged home more simple? Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
By 2012, foreclosures will affect 91.5 million nearby homes and reduce property values of these homes by $20,300 per household, according to research by the Center for Responsible Lending. As such, you can’t afford to ignore that messy home next door any longer if you’re trying to sell a property.
Abandoned homes are blanketing neighborhoods across the country and while curb appeal for your listing matters, you also may need to take note of the curb appeal nearby. Buyers certainly will and if they see a home next door with shattered windows, overgrown lawns, and gutters hanging on by a thread, they might quickly decide that isn’t the right neighborhood for them.
In this month’s REALTOR® Magazine, I highlight tips from experts on what to do when Battling the Neighborhood Eyesore.
While our tips are more tame as far as how to contact your city department and homeowners’ association to get something done, an anonymous group in Detroit is being much more bold in its approach.
Known as the DDD Project (Detroit Demolition Disneyland), artists are finding long abandoned, neglected homes that the city has failed to demolish and painting them a bright orange color–“Tiggeriffic Orange,” to be exact, of Disneyland-inspired colors. The homes’ exteriors scream orange from every decaying square inch.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Spice up a space with a rug, whether a large rug that gives definition to a living room area or a carpet runner that enhances an otherwise dull hallway. Rugs can be a great, low-cost lifesaver when staging properties.
You can use a rug over any type of flooring–tile, hardwood, laminate, slate, and, yes, even carpeting. A rug can add pops of color or pattern to make a room more visually interesting (even if it’s otherwise vacant) and provide definition to a large room.
But figuring out the right size rug for a space can be tricky. After all, too small or too large of a rug can throw off proportions in a room.
The most common sizes for area rugs are 2’x3’, 4’x6’, 5’x8’, 6’x9’, and 8’x10’, according to the Wood Floor Covering Association.
Here are some size considerations for your rug shopping:
Living room: The general rule of thumb is to choose a rug that can accommodate all the main furniture on it, such as all feet of the sofa, side chairs, and the coffee table, designers note. But don’t cover every square inch of the room with an area rug–you still want to be able to see the floor. Leave at least a 12 to 15 inch border of the flooring exposed, which will provide a frame for your rug, according to the WFCA. Covering most of a living space can get costly. For a less expensive option that won’t hamper your look, choose a smaller area rug that just runs along at least the perimeter of the furniture.
Bedroom: For a balanced look, designers recommend choosing area rugs that extend beyond the bed about 18 inches. If the bedroom has twin or double beds, opt for an area rug that will extend beyond the bed about 12 inches, according to design tips at HomeDesignFind.com.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Home improvement is on more home owners’ radar as the home remodeling industry recently saw its biggest gains in more than four years. Experts are pointing to the uptick as a long-awaited recovery that is finally taking shape in the home improvement industry.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine
Did you know the color you choose for your home can at a subconscious level psychologically affect you or others? Choosing a wall color may have just gotten a little more stressful!
Scientific research has long pointed to the connection between color and its emotional or mental pull on our psyche, even if we do rarely realize it. And as a former psychology writer, I can’t resist the urge to bring back some of this scientific color research for you to consider when selecting paint colors.
After all, you can use such research to harness the positive energy of color when staging properties for sale.
A company called Colour Affects, based in London, is based on helping organizations and individuals learn how to draw from the psychological influence of color on human responses and behaviors.
Here are some of the insights they’ve drawn from color research, along with some of my “try it” tips for how you may be able to apply the information in your staging.
RED
This powerful pop of color can grab a person’s attention first and foremost, and has even been found to raise a person’s pulse rate. A 2009 study by researchers Ravi Mehta and Rui Zhu also found that red can actually improve a person’s cognitive performance too, making a person even more accurate and attentive to detail.
Try it: We all want buyers’ eyes drawn instantly to those selling features, right? Maybe a red accessory on the fireplace mantel or a vase of red flowers on those sparkling granite countertops can help you get buyers’ eyes right to where you want them.
BLUE
Blue is known as a soothing color that can be mentally calming. Blue actually tends to surface universally as the world’s favorite color, according to research, so you’re probably not going to turn off too many buyers by incorporating blue. However, you also don’t want to give people the “blues.” Sometimes blue has been found to be perceived as cold or unfriendly, so don’t overdo it.
Try it: A soft blue color in the bathroom or bedroom may just be the calming retreat you want to create in a home you have for sale.
Also, since blue has been found to make people more creative (studies have shown people in a blue room were found to be twice as creative than when they were in a red room), blue might be a good choice in a children’s room too.
YELLOW
This color is known as having the strongest impact psychologically. It can lift your spirits and is known as the color of “confidence and optimism.” Just don’t go overboard with it: Too much yellow has been found to make people feel emotionally fragile, depressed, or even suicidal–not the impact you want to have on buyers viewing your property!
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