By Melissa Dittmann Tracey

Styled, Staged & Sold caught up with real estate pro Cheryl Kirby, co-creator of a new instructional staging DVD for real estate professionals — “Get Ready, Get Set, Get Sold!” — to talk about the simple things you can do to spruce up a property, and when you might need to intervene to stop a seller’s messy ways.

Cheryl Kirby

Why did you produce the video “Get Ready, Get Set, Get Sold”?

KIRBY: My associate-Cari Gililland-and I are both REALTORS®. We always go on home tours and put our listings on home tours too. We’d go through some of these homes and go “oh my gosh, they really think they can sell this home with all of this dirty stuff all over the place! Don’t they understand what they need to do to sell a home?”

We kept talking about producing a video for real estate professionals because some get really uncomfortable saying to their clients: “Your house is dirty, and you really need to clean it.” So we wanted to be able to offer them a tool to give to their clients to show them here’s what you need to do to compete in the market.

How bad of a condition have you seen properties in?

KIRBY: I’ve seen homes that smell so bad you can’t even walk in, the carpet is stained, and the walls need touch ups. The garbage is overflowing, there’s laundry scattered on the floor in the bedroom, pet hair all over, and junk all in the yard. You name it, I’ve seen it!

So what are some of these important things that sellers can do to get a home ready to sell?

KIRBY: Smell is huge. Smoke, cooking certain foods, and garbage overflowing can really make a home smell bad. The minute a buyer opens the door: The smell is there and can be a quick turn off. Continue reading »