San Joaquin Housing Market

I just received the latest housing stats for San Joaquin county and they continuing to climb on a weekly basis.

The market continues to be saturated with inventory as more homeowners are putting their houses on the market. For the following six cities (Stockton, Manteca, Lathrop, Salida, Tracy and Modesto) there are approximately 6,600 houses for sale.

Very few people are attending Open Houses. The hot weather is keeping them inside or at the pool. Those that are venturing out to Open Houses are mostly neighbors checking out what their potential "competition" looks like.

Most buyers are looking online to find their next house. By looking at MLS listings, a lot of houses just aren't showing well and buyers or their agents are writing these houses off as "don't bother showing". IS your house on that list?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "Many buyers now have no sense of urgency and are willing to keep looking, hoping that persistence will yield a better deal. As a result, houses, especially at the lower end, are languishing on the market, while for sale signs and price cuts are multiplying." This seems to be what's happening in the central valley as well.

Here is a break down of the housing stats in San Joaquin and how many have been placed in escrow as of June 1st, 2007:

• Stockton - 3007 (55 in escrow)
• Modesto - 1784 (55 in escrow)
• Tracy - 936 (27 in escrow)
• Manteca - 578 (15 in escrow)
• Lathrop -149 (5 in escrow)
• Salida - 149 (5 in escrow)

Houses are still selling (162 so far this month). Why isn't yours?

If you want your house to sell, you must be proactive in your house sale. You must either reevaluate your marketing strategy or reduce your asking price.

Home staging is a great marketing tool! By having a home staging consultation, you can find out exactly why your house may not be impressing potential buyers and what you can do about it. By completing the suggested tasks on the Consultation report, your house will show better than houses being shown in an "as you live" state.

If you want to present your house in its best marketable condition especially for MLS listings, consider a Final Four Staging. This includes room by room consultation plus staging of the four main areas (living room, master bedroom, kitchen and bathrooms)

There is just too many houses on the market and buyers have the choice to sit and wait. How long can you wait? Call today.

How To Make Your House The Envy Of The Neighborhood

1. Curb Appeal Counts - Most buyers get their first impression before they even walk through the front door. When potential buyers and their agent drives up to your residence, you want to make sure they don't continue driving! Make sure your yard is nicely manicured, free of weeds, trees trimmed back (added benefit - cutting back excessive tree branches allows light inside the house), and Christmas lights are removed (yep, some people leave theirs out all year long). Simple additions such as mulch and pretty flowers can brighten any front yard and make potential buyers want to come in and see your house. Also make sure you keep your yard well maintained until your house sells. Nothing worse than someone seeing your house after it's been on the market awhile and it is overgrown with a falling over or dangling sign. The Ghost Town look doesn't sell houses; it makes buyers run away as fast as they can!



2. Clutter, Clutter Everywhere - Most homeowners and their agents don't go far enough when eliminating clutter. Rooms overstuffed with furniture, wall of pictures, shelves full of knick knacks, countertops full of personal products or appliances and overstuffed closets and drawers are considered cluttered. Pack up all personal items including pictures and trophies. Although these items may be personal for homeowners, they are a distraction to buyers and make the house seem small. Remember you are selling square footage, not your stuff! Pack it up for the move or get rid of it altogether. Great solution is turning some of your excess clutter into cash. Have a garage sale or sell it on Ebay.



3. Clean It Up - No one wants to buy a place that looks like a pig sty! Most homeowners surface clean their house but to sell, the house must be white glove clean. Hire professional cleaning services if you must. Housecleaning, window washing and carpet cleaners are a great investment if you don't have the time or desire to do it yourself. If you want to do it yourself, make sure you pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. These two rooms are what sell houses. Other places you need to pay attention to are windows (inside and out), baseboards, light fixtures, ceiling fans and fingerprints from doors, drawers and cupboards. Clean it up as if the President of the United States or your picky mother in law were coming for a visit .



4. Let There Be Light - A dark house feels small. An easy way to make rooms feel larger is to eliminate clutter. You are selling square footage and not your belongings after all. If you have dark colored walls, paint them a lighter color (dark wall colors make a room feel small). Remove heavy window treatments, cut back vegetation from the window areas and make sure windows are clean, inside and out to bring in natural light. Add more lighting to rooms such as table and floor lamps. These are all ways to lighten and brighten your house.



5. Move It or Lose It - You want to accentuate your house's positive selling features. These features include great views, high ceilings and fireplaces. Create focal points which will draw a buyer's eye to these features by moving around your furniture. Most buyers have their furniture facing their TV rather than their fireplace or views. Fireplaces and beautiful views are what buyers are seeking. Not only does moving your furniture allow buyers to appreciate the great selling features of your house but it also allows buyers to envision themselves living there. If buyers don't love the way your place looks and feels you may lose a sale. NOTE: Do not, repeat DO NOT try to hide anything! If you have dirty carpet, do not put furniture or a throw rug over it. If you have a hole in the wall, do not try to cover it with a piece of furniture or a picture. Any problems or conditions within the house must be disclosed ahead of time. Do not be dishonest. You're setting yourself up for a lawsuit.



6. Fix It or Forget It - If you have anything broken or missing, even something minor, fix it. If you don't, your house will be viewed as a "fixer upper" and it will bring in a lower asking price. Buyers feel if your house has broken or missing items (such as missing outlet covers and burned out light bulbs) than the homeowner most likely didn't deal with major problems like plumbing or electrical. In addition, when your house is in escrow, the home inspector will inform the buyers of any problems he encounters. These deferred maintenance problems are a renegotiating tool for buyers. Don't let this be a deal breaker. Fix any problems now!



7. Smells Don't Sell - If a potential buyer walks in and they are bombarded with the smells of your house, they may turn around and head back out the door. Smells such as cigarette smoke, pet smells, cooking odors and other "excessive" odors are a real turn off to buyers. Smells are imbedded in carpet, window treatments, your furniture, in trash cans and sinks and can be easily eliminated by thoroughly cleaning your house and belongings. Don't try to cover up smells with candles, sprays or potpourri. Sometimes even "good" smells are too overbearing. Best way is to eliminate the odor source and then air out the house. You may not be able to smell offensive odors (you are use to the smells in your house), but buyers can whether they are bad or "good" smells. Don't chase them off.



8. Broaden Your Buyer Field - Many homeowners are quite proud of their house, as they should be, and feel others should appreciate it. Unfortunately not everyone has the same tastes as you. Homeowners don't realize they are marketing their house to a small group of buyers when they choose not to remove wallpaper, personal paint colors and theme rooms. When it comes to selling a house, it must be neutral in style in order to appeal to a wide variety of buyers. If your house is too "taste specific", the longer it will be on the market (waiting for a buyer with same taste to come along).



9. Turn Key House - Buyers are savvier these days and they have the time to visit a lot of houses before they choose which one to make an offer. Buyers want a house they can just move into and start living. They don't want to have to strip wallpaper, paint neutral colors or replace outdated or worn items. If they did, they would buy a fixer upper. Don't let buyers think your house is a fixer upper! Simple and inexpensive renovation can make a house seem like it has been overhauled. Paint is the easier and least expensive way to update anything in any room besides the walls. Paint can make an ugly fireplace look new and fresh. Paint can refurbish cabinets in your kitchen or bathroom. A can of spray paint is a lot less expensive than replacing all your drawer handles. Paint (done by a professional company) can revamp bathtubs and sinks. There are even specialty paint products to update your ceramic tile and appliances. Other simple renovations include new light fixtures (sometimes it just takes new light covers) and new plumbing fixtures. The more "updated/upgraded" a house is, the less bargaining power potential buyers have.



10. Dress Your House For Success - Once you have followed all the suggestions (clean, declutter, lighten and brighten, renovate, repair, etc.), now it's time to accessorize. If you don't accessorize your house, it won't give off as much of an impact as you should be trying to achieve. Just like adding jewelry, shoes and handbag to an outfit, accessorizing finishes the look of a house. Accessorizing your house is the hardest thing to accomplish if you don't know what you are doing. Simple accessorizing can be completed using pictures, mirrors and art work, pillows, candles and certain types of "knick knacks". Group these items in odd numbers (1, 3 or 5) and display similar items as a "theme" or display at different heights.



11. Naked Houses Are Harder To Sell - Most buyers cannot visualize the potential of a house. Rooms look smaller in a vacant house. Buyers cannot picture size and scale so furniture placement helps give them a frame of reference. Have a few rooms staged to allows buyers to see how a room can look or be set up.



12. If You Post It, They Will Come - You must make sure your pictures posted on the MLS are the very best. 4 out of 5 buyers first look at photos online or in print ads when deciding which houses they'll tour. If the listing has no photos posted or if the house looks too dark or small, most buyers won't even bother viewing it in person. The purpose is to get buyers to your house so it can sell in the shortest amount of time for the best possible price the market will allow. Don't blow it with bad listing photos. Take lots of pictures of your focal points in the best possible light. Only post those which show your house at its very best. Even better, add a Real Estate Show to your MLS listing. Not all listing do this and it will make your house stand out.
    
    By following these suggestions, your house will look great. I you want to make an even bigger impact, hire a home staging consultant to make sure you have covered all the bases. Then you will definately be the envy of all your neighbors.
    
    

"The above information, authored by Becky Fields of Styled to Sell, appeared as a FEATURED POST June 5, 2007 on ActiveRain.com. ActiveRain is an on-line informational resource serving the real estate industry."

Housing Market In San Joaquin

According to John Glover of PMZ Real Estate in Manteca the following is the Weekly Real Estate Market Update - 5/21/2007.

Today we show the following MLS market statistics.

Manteca

575 Homes for sale on the MLS. This is up 14 homes from last week.
19 Homes have been placed into escrow since May 1, 2007.

Tracy

909 Homes for sale on the MLS. This is up 35 homes from last week.
31 Homes have been placed into escrow since May 1, 2007.

Lathrop

163 Homes for sale on the MLS. This is down 11 homes from last week.
3 Homes have been placed into escrow since May 1, 2007


Stockton

2889 Homes for sale on the MLS. This is up 52 homes from last week.
114 Homes have been placed into escrow since May 1, 2007.


Modesto

1752 Homes for sale on the MLS. This is up 15 homes from last week
97 Homes have been placed into escrow since May 1, 2007.


Salida

149 Homes for sale on the MLS. This is up 1 home from last week.
8 Homes have been placed into escrow since May 1, 2007


Realtytrac is showing the following statistics:

San Joaquin County
Homes in pre-foreclosure = 3,625 (Last week was 3,571)
Bank Owned Homes = 1,908 (Last week was 1,879)

Stanislaus County
Home in pre-foreclosure = 2,556 (Last week was 2,588)
Bank Owned Homes = 1,795 (Last week was 1,734)

Alameda County
Homes in pre-foreclosure = 3,865 (Last week was 4,048)
Bank Owned Homes = 2,391 (Last week was 2,203)

The above data was obtained from Metrolist Services, Inc. Neither John Glover, PMZ, or Styled to Sell Metrolist Services guarantees the accuracy of the above information. Data Maintained by the MLS does not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Tracy Housing Market

Quick reminder of my free home staging seminar. Sunday April 22, 2007 from 1-3 at the Tracy Library. www.istylehouses.com/seminar

Tracy Housing Market, as of March 12th, 2007

• 709 houses on the market (104 in escrow)

As of April 19th, 2007 there were:

• 792 houses on the market in Tracy.


• 9 houses pending


• 6 sold in the last month.

If you're not one of the 9 houses pending, what are you doing to help get your house sold? Give me a call and see if I can help you bring your house to the bargaining table.

What is home staging or house fluffing and how can it help you?

This is an article written by Kathy Somers, Creative Director of Stage It First for PRBuzz.
Stage it First is a Home Staging Service in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada

Apr 03, 2007

American's have been using staging strategies since the 90's but the trend is just starting to be recognized by Canadian homeowners.

In order to make a home more appealing to a wider variety of buyers it's important to de-clutter and neutralize the space. Home stagers are able to take this marketing tool one step further. Buyers today are more real estate savvy, baking cookies and putting on a pot of coffee doesn't cut it anymore in today's competitive market. Beautifully decorated model homes have elevated the expectations of the homebuyer. Regardless of the market it's important to stand out from the rest!

A "home stager" is a person who will come into your home and give advice on the things you can do to improve your homes overall appeal. Home stagers look at your property with the objective eye of a buyer. They help you to understand the things that are working for you and also the things that may need to be corrected or reworked.

Generally a home stager will do a 2-3 hour consultation. During this time they will go through each and every room with you and make personalized recommendations for your home. A home stager can also suggest paint colours furniture layout, and placement of artwork. Most home stagers will shop for you or accompany you on your shopping spree for decorative items, linens etc. If you need furniture rentals that can be arranged: as well as handymen and tradesmen referrals for any repairs or painting that needs to be done.

Professional help can range from $100-$150 per hour on average, although you can have a home stager do only the consultation and leave you to make the changes on your own. Most people should expect to spend 1% of the list price on staging. While that can seem expensive, it's a great deal cheaper than your first price reduction which usually means $5000-$10,000 dollars. It's up to you how much of the staging project you want your home stager to complete: from the consultation only, down to the final details of the showing.

Selling vs Marketing

As a homeowner, you are emotionally attached to your home. No matter how long you have owned your home, when you purchased it, you immediately started adding your style and personality to it. Now that you are selling it, you need to make it appealing to potential home buyers. If you keep it "as is" (you list it exactly as it is now), you are limiting your buyer field. In other words, you are "marketing" to a select few.

Think about it this way. If I open a butcher shop selling only beef, I am only marketing to beef eaters. Yes, there are many beef eaters but there are more consumers who don't eat beef. If I want to market to more consumers I must add pork, poultry or seafood. Every time I add another item, I am making my store more appealing to a variety of consumers. This is the same when you are selling your house.

Selling your house is about packaging and marketing. It has taken you a while to get it to where you want it, but now you need to package and market it so buyers will want it. What do buyers want? Buyers want a house which they can just move into and start living. They don't want to have to remove wallpaper, paint over unusual colors, make repairs, and upgrade items throughout the house. If your house feels dated, dirty, dark, bland, cluttered, small, etc., most buyer will discard your house and move on to the next one. With so many houses on the market, buyers have the choice and time to find the house which is within their price range, fits their needs as well as one which is in "move in ready" condition. Do you have the time for your house to sit on the market until the right buyer comes along?

How can you market your house so it appeals to a variety of buyers?

Think of your house as a product. Once you put it on the market, it is no longer yours. Soon it will be someone elses. Emotionally detach yourself from your house so it will be easier to make necessary changes in order to sell it. Hire a Staging Consultant to help stage your house. A staging consultant, like myself, can advice you on exactly what to clean, declutter, repairs, paint, renovate or modernize so it stands out among its competition and is in “move in ready” condition. Most buyers think staging is something they can do on their own but just like a proof reader; it takes an independent party to show you your home's flaws or negatives. What negatives might your house have? Negatives are anything that will turn buyers off. As an independent 3rd party, different from your agent, a stager can inform you which imperfections need to be changed and why. Or how to turn negatives into positives. Once your house has been properly prepared, a stager can return and give your house a style which buyers can envision themselves and their belongings in.
If your house is already on the MLS, have your agent take new pictures immediately. Online and print ad picture are a buyers first impression of your house. If they don't like they way it looks, they most likely won't bother giving your house a second thought. Have your agent upload the new photos to their website and print new ads.

Once your house has been staged, keep it maintained. Houses are not selling as quickly as they have in the past. Buyer can take their time when deciding which house they will make an offer on. If they viewed your house two weeks ago, they may decide to take another look and you want them to be just as impressed as when they first saw it.

In a buyer’s market, homeowners must make their house appeal to a variety of buyers, create a sense of interest and desire and make their house worth what they are asking. Staging is the way for both buyers and sellers to get what they want. If buyers get what they want (turn key home) , sellers get what you want by selling their house. Stage it! Style it! Sell it!

Staging Your Home's Exterior

A buyer’s first impression of your house begins when they pull up to your property. If buyers don't like what they see on the outside, chances are they won't want to see the inside. You can help make sure they want to come inside your house by spending some time working on your exterior appearance.

• 
  Kill any mold and mildew on the house, sidewalks, roof, or driveway.
• Pressure wash the outside of your house and dingy decks.
• Remove all unnecessary garden implements and tools. Remove all novelty ornaments such as garden gnomes, pink flamingos and gazing balls.
• Clean windows and gutters.
• Mow the lawn. Get rid of weeds. If you have a weed problem in your lawn, add a weed and feed to your lawn.
• Edge sidewalks and remove vegetation growing between concrete or bricks.
• Rake and dispose of leaves and dead flowers or plants.
• Trim tree limbs that are near or touching your house's roof.
• Cut back all overgrown plants and vines.
• Sweep your driveway, sidewalk and porch or entry way.
• If you still have your Christmas Lights hanging, now is definitely the time to remove them. You don't want buyers to be turned off by them.

To make your curb appeal even more impressive;

• Update outdoor light fixtures.
• Touch up any house paint which is peeling
• Paint house trim. This is an easy upgrade which will make the house color look updated.
• How does your front door look? If your budget permits, add a new front door or upgrade the hardware. If this is out of your budget, a good cleaning and/or a fresh coat of paint will make it look great. Oh and don't forget the hardware, polish it or spray paint it to make it look new.
• To add color to the front yard, plant flowers around trees, in flowerbed or pots to the entry way. Hanging baskets and flower boxes are a nice way to upgrade the look of a house too.
• If you have any areas which are patches of dirt, add bark or rocks. Make the yard look "finished".

Curb Appeal Maintenance - Once your house has been on the market a few weeks, don’t forget to keep it looking its best.

• Mow the lawn on a weekly or semimonthly basis. Hire someone if you have to.
• Make sure your “For Sale” sign is not falling over and any secondary signs on it are not dangling.
• Keep your flyer box full. A lot of buyers will pull flyers and if your box is empty, you could have just lost a sale.
• Make sure everything look the same as when you first listed your house.

By making sure your home’s exterior looks its best, buyer will want to take a look inside. By Staging your house’s interior and as well as the exterior, your house will make a positive first and lasting impression. Stage it! Style it! Sell it!

Is Your House STYLED TO SELL?

When purchasing a home, a buyer isn't just buying a house, they are buying a lifestyle. Home Stagers objectively style your home to appeal to a variety of buyers while creating an emotional connection.

Home staging is showing your home with its best features forward, making the first impression its best, in order to bring you a quick sale at the best price. At the same time, home staging can help highlight your home's unique features and make even unfinished or "forgotten" areas look their best.

Home staging is the process of preparing any home for sale by rearranging furniture, reducing clutter, neutralizing room (or adding a fresh coat of paint), simple renovations or making minor but necessary repairs.

Home staging is not about tearing out kitchen cupboards or doing major renovations. It is about highlighting and showcasing the existing features of your home, so buyers can imagine themselves living there.

Staging is a simple and inexpensive investment in your home to secure its equity.
Before you reduce your asking price by $5k or $10k - Invest in a home stager. A home staging consultant, like myself, can advise you on exactly what to clean, declutter, nuetralize, repair and renovate in order to turn your house into a showplace any potential buyer can see themselves in.

For a minimal investment of $150-$450 for a consultation, you could raise your home's value and keep the money you would have reduced in your pocket. What have you got to lose? Only time from your house being on the market. Staged homes sell faster and for more money than similar homes on the market.

According to a Forbes 2002 article written by Betty Schiffman titled "Selling Unsellable Homes", Schiffman states, "Before home sellers open their homes to the public, they probably have to clean behind the washing machine and bleach the bathroom tiles. The end result is a home that looks pretty much the same, only it's slightly cleaner and less cluttered.
A home stager, however, can take a basic three-bedroom home and turn it into another house entirely."

Homeowner and Realtor's "staging"

After Styled to Sell's Consultation

Which picture looks better? More appealing? Gives a good first impression?

The homeowners needed some advice on what was needed to make their house stand out. Your house too can stand out and make an impression. Call me today.

Stage it! Style it! Sell it!

What's In with Home Buyers in 2007

I found this article by Mark Nash on Broker Agent News titled “What's In, What's Out with Homebuyers in 2007”. I have some of his trends on "what’s in”, as related to resale houses in this blog. You can find what's out or on the way out on another blog titled "What's Out with Home Buyers in 2007"

What's In

• The housing correction - In my prediction for 2006 "What's In, What's Out", I forecasted a soft decline in house prices in most markets.
  In 2007, I project a 5-8% decline in prices on average between single-family and condominium homes.
• Homes that are priced right - It isn't the boom market of 2005. Look at only comparable's sold in the last six months. Forget the cocktail party chit-chat when all you heard about was record prices in the shortest market times in U.S. real estate history.
• Online home valuation sites ( Zillow.com) - Mainly those that utilize up-to-date and reliable home sale data. Technology is great when it works, but tread carefully with online valuation web sites. Ask yourself how long does it take your recorder of deeds and real estate transactions to record them? If up-to-the-minute, okay, otherwise plan the lead time into the online valuation to spew out accurate information.
• Market timing - Many buyers and sellers were on their own timelines in 2006 and they missed opportunities that were created by not recognizing the real estate markets ebb and flow. Spring is high market, the most demand by the largest number of buyers. Summer is a good market, fall is fair, and winter is the remnant market, the left-over buyers and sellers from the high, good, and fair markets.
• Savvy buyers - With interest rates historically low and bent-up demand from a soft year in 2006, the deals and lack of frenzy won't last long. "Deferred demand" from 2006 could ignite a mini-frenzy in some markets.
• Upscale garages. - It's no longer the out-of-sight-out-of-mind dumping ground. Today's garage owners want them decked out with cabinet and storage systems, mini-refrigerators, insulation, heating and air conditioning and durable but residential-looking flooring.
• Two home offices - Rising gas prices and commuting times have created more two-work-at-home families. Size matters, make sure each is at least ten-by-ten feet.
• Rejuvenation rooms - A one-stop space for exercising, meditation, yoga, sauna and fancy steam showers. Showers are going upscale too. Waterfall fixtures, programmable temperature and water flow are the next trend for "showerers".
• Mixing finishes on kitchen base and wall cabinets - Matchy matchy is out in kitchen design. The new look is to have stained wood bases and painted wood upper cabinets. The Old Europe look rules, but with today's appliances.

Based on a survey of 923 real estate agents, managing brokers and association executives who responded to a survey request in Agent to Agent E-zine, published by Mark Nash. Agent to Agent is distributed monthly to real estate professionals in all fifty states and Canada. This article is a no-cost run-at-will with permission from the author.

What's Out with Home Buyers in 2007

I found this article by Mark Nash on Broker Agent News titled “What's In, What's Out with Homebuyers in 2007”.
I have included only his views on what’s out or on its way out for this article. You can find what's in on another blog titled "What's In With Home Buyers in 2007"

What’s Out

• "As is" in home sale marketing. - Anything went in the boom market, but if you're planning to use "as is" in 2007, forget it! The phrase is the kiss of death and buyers see it as a red flag about the home and the seller. Sellers have too much competition to be chasing buyers away.
• Endless Open Houses. - The open house pendulum has swung from " the house sold in the first day" to "we need to have our house open every Sunday". Desperation is when your home is open every Sunday. Buyers know and track it. Plan on every three weeks to have a public open house.
• Over-full-price offers. - It was a strategy in the boom market to under-price a home and let the market set the selling price. Not today! One thing that won't change in 2007 is that every buyer will want a deal and will walk from one if they don't get one.
• Bedrooms not large enough for a bed. - In the boom, rehabbers and developers learned the fastest way to profit was to increase the room count of a home of an existing home. Bedrooms shrunk to walk-in closet size when a four-room one-bedroom was gut-rehabbed into a four-room two-bedroom. Or, the doorways and windows eliminate required wall space. Savvy agents kept asking, can you fit a queen-size bed in either room? And the answer was usually, no.
• Loads of glass upper kitchen cabinet doors. - Buyers say it looks great, but many who specified and experienced it firsthand, don't have the time to keep their kitchen cabinets organized. Plus if you hate washing the windows, having more glass in a greasy room, like a kitchen, is high-maintenance.
• Bowl-shaped above-counter bathroom sinks. - The splashing and overall upkeep, have earned these sinks the reputation of nice to look at, but don't want one.
• Any shiny metal finish. - Brushed nickels and pewter's are in. Antiqued and polished brass is out.
• Stainless-steel refrigerators and dishwashers are a fading trend. - The cold look and higher maintenance of steel is shifting buyers to specify warmer colors in kitchen appliances.
• Spiral staircases. - Once the rage for mid-seventies makeovers, now death to a home seller. The boomers have aged, their kids don't like them, unfriendly to pets and young children. Take yours out and put in a standard staircase (inside or out) before you sell.
  

On the way out.

• Bamboo floors. - The first reviews are in on this popular eco-friendly flooring, and they're not pretty. Easily dented and scratched these floors are prone to warping from variations in our climate and humidity levels.
• Hardwood laminate floors. - The word is out that these noisy poor relatives of solid hardwood, don't stand up to multiple sandings to change color or to remove stains.
• Home sellers who smoke in their home while it is being marketed. - Buyers hate second-hand and stale smoke odors. Marketing your home is not the same as living in it. If you have to smoke, go outside.

Based on a survey of 923 real estate agents, managing brokers and association executives who responded to a survey request in Agent to Agent E-zine, published by Mark Nash. Agent to Agent is distributed monthly to real estate professionals in all fifty states and Canada. This article is a no-cost run-at-will with permission from the author.

Branding Your House

Branding - A brand is a customer experience represented by a collection of images and ideas; often, it refers to a symbol such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme. Branding is a way of getting people to remember you. For example, if you see the golden arches, you immediately think McDonalds.

Branding can also be used to help people remember your house. It can either be a positive brand or a negative brand. As my family and I were looking for a house, my children, unknowingly branded houses as a way of remembering them. There was the "fish stank" house, so named because it smelled like a stinking old fish tank which had not been serviced in a while. There was the BBQ house; the family was baking BBQ ribs in the oven when we viewed. There was the pool house, because it had a pool in the back and there was the Pottsgrove house, which was the street name. And we even had the bubble gum house; the outside of the house was painted the color of pink bubble gum. My children remembered which house was which by these names.

Could your house be branded? Of course, but you want it to be branded in a positive light. How can you make sure your house will be positively branded? Stage your house so all the negatives are gone. Do you want your house to be known as the cat box, (because the house smells like one) or the pig sty (because it’s a major mess)? I didn’t think so. Make your house a memorable one, and I mean in a good way.

Stage it! Style it! Sell it!

Is Your House Worth It?

There are two prices when it comes to selling a house. There is the "asking or listing" price and there is the "value or worth" price. Let me explain the difference between the two.

Have you even been to the grocery store to buy a can of something and you pick up one can and it has a dent in it? What do you do? Most buyers will put the dented can back on the shelf and chose another can which is not dented. Why? Although both cans have the same product in it, to the buyer they are not worth the same. What will it take to sell that dented can? A price reduction. This is the same for anything on sale including houses.

When listing a house, Realtors will give homeowner comparables or comps of similar homes which are presently on the market or have sold within the past few months. Homeowners decide what to set the price at. Some homeowners have a certain amount of money they would like to get out of the house sale. Others look at the comps and pick a price they are comfortable with. This is the asking price.

The value price is what the house is worth to potential buyers. Buyers want a house which is the best value for their money. Most houses are priced right for their area but not priced right for the condition of the house. Don't let your house be the dented can!

Staging is a way to prepare a house for sale so it raises the condition of the property thereby raising the value of the house so it equals the asking price. Or basically so the house is worth the price. Cleaning, decluttering, neutralizing, minor repairs and simple renovations will make any house, regardless of price or location, in move in ready condition.

In today's soft market, buyers will chose staged homes (move in ready condition) over non staged homes (as is condition) because they can just move in and start living. If they chose a house which needs fixing up before they move in, they will deduct the costs from the asking price.

Don't lower your asking price; raise your home's value instead. Stage your house.

Call me for a Staging to Sell Consultation. It's a small investment which will put money in your pocket by helping get your house sold.

Why Isn't My House Selling?

There are four reasons why a house might not sell immediately after being placed on the market; timing, location, price and condition.

Timing has to do with market and season. If the market is soft or a buyers market, houses take longer to sell because there are more houses on the market than there are buyers. Buyers have the time to view lots of houses before they decide which one to make an offer on.
If a seller made the mistake of putting their house on the market during the latter part of the year, during the holidays, the house will take longer to sell. Best time to place a house on the market is during the spring to mid summer season. Reason is, families with children start looking in the spring and want to be all moved in by the time school starts so their children can start a new school at the beginning of the school year. No parent wants to pull their child out and have them start after the school year. In addition, during spring and summer the weather is warmer and there is more daylight.

Location can hinder house sales. If the house is on a busy street, next to a school (some people don’t like living so close to a middle or high school) or in an undesirable neighborhood it will take longer to receive an offer. Although sellers can not control their home’s location, it may be a little harder to sell compared to other homes.

Price and condition go hand in hand. When listing a house, Realtors will give homeowner comparables or comps of similar homes which are presently on the market or have sold within the past few months. Homeowners decide what to set the price at. Some homeowners have a certain amount of money they would like to get out of the house sale. Others look at the comps and pick a happy medium.

What homeowners don’t realize is although they have set the “listing price”, it is ultimately buyers who set the “value” price. Sellers want the most money they can make from the home sale and buyers want the best value they can get for their money. So if the home looks dated, is too personal or has a lot of distractions which take away from the house, buyer will feel the house is not worth the asking price and will either deduct from the listing price or forget about the house all together.

Staging is a happy medium. It allows sellers to get close to, if not their full asking price and allows buyers to buy a house which is in “move in ready” condition. "As is" in buyer's eyes mean fixer upper. Don’t let buyer think your house is worth less than it is.

Remeber...Don't lower your asking price; raise your home's value instead!

Stage it! Style it! Sell it!

Home Staging Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog on Home Staging and Styling. In this blog I will explain the benefits of Staging a home for sale or for those not selling their home, information giving a home an updated feel or as I call it "restyling" a home.

This blog will be on a weekly basis and will include observations I have made while visiting Open Houses. This blog is purely informational.

This blog will also have new information I find for home sales and any upcoming event that might be of interest to homeowners.

First I would like to let everyone know I will be conducting a FREE Home Staging Seminar on Sunday April 22nd. Fore more information: www.istylehouses.com/seminar.

Well I hope by reading this blog, you will get some useful information regarding the competitive advantage Home Staging has. Feel free to email me any questions you might have. I'm sure other have the same problem or concern.

Becky Fields
Home Staging Consultant and Home Stylist