When selling your home, the best thing you can do is stage it for prospective buyers. Staging is simply preparing your home in a way that creates buyer interest, and it can make a dramatic difference in the selling price and the speed of sale. Try these quick staging tips:
- Make the exterior of our home welcoming by staining or painting your front door and cleaning the windows inside and out so they sparkle.
- Remove stored items from your garage to make it look spacious and organized.
- Make sure your home is infused with light. Take advantage of sunlight by opening your drapes. If showing in the evening or on over-cast days, turn on lights in every room.
- Brighten the interior of your home with fresh, light-toned paint.
- Clean and organize kitchen cabinets, drawers and pantries. Remove any clutter from countertops. You may want to bake a pie or cookies before a showing to make your home smell inviting.
Of course, this works for both selling your home or even if you are planning on renting it out.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions or concern regarding any real estate issue.
Brian Ripp, CRS, GRI, Broker – your Bay Area Realtor
www.BrianRipp.com serving Fremont, Newark, Union City & surrounding communities. Real Estate & Property Management.
Real Estate Market Weekly Update Webcast: http://realtytimes.com/REUv/BrianRipp
Home sales increased 35.2 percent in May in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home declined 30.4 percent, C.A.R. reported last week. “With affordability for first-time buyers at a record high, sales of existing, single-family homes continued to remain above the 500,000 level for the ninth consecutive month,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “Buyers are beginning to realize that the combination of favorable home prices, historically low mortgage rates, and first-time home buyer tax credits, may not align again for many years.
“The sales gains over last year have diminished in recent months,” he added. “This trend is expected to continue through the end of the year, as limited inventory at the moderate and low end of the market constrains sales activity,” he said.
I read this great information from my Calif. Association of Realtors e-mail update. www.car.org
Brian Ripp, CRS, GRI, Broker – your Bay Area Realtor
http://realtytimes.com/REUv/BrianRipp
Spring is typically a good time for homeowners to start preparing to sell their homes because families interested in moving will often look now so that they can buy a home just in time for the kids to go on summer break.
Landscaping and curb appeal are among the top areas that buyers notice first. In fact, some studies show that good quality landscaping can increase the value of a home from 5 to 11 percent. Elements such as curving flowering beds and design sophistication attract buyers more easily than just rectangular boxes filled with flowers. Plant size and the diversity of plant material are also important to buyers. And colorful plants that often don’t cost much to put in such as annuals can really brighten the look and the appeal of a yard.
That’s why many sellers start to spiff up their homes and gardens to make them irresistible to buyers but these things can bring unwanted guests as well. If you don’t plan carefully, you could be building an attractive garden that leads a trail of ants right inside your home.
“If you build a beautiful mulch garden around your home, you want some sort of a concrete barrier or some other material besides wood between the mulch area and your home,” says Nic Izatt, branch manager for Antac Pest Control. Izatt says it’s very important to not have any earth-to-wood contact. He says that having a garden too close to your home without any barrier can encourage ant and termite colonies to develop.
So while you may be looking to create value and appeal give consideration to things that might not only attract insects (which can be a minor or major problem) but also consider how the overall landscape is working in a yard. The American Society of Home Inspectors cautions buyers and sellers that, as they are enjoying the pretty landscape, they need to be sure to give a careful check on how the elements all function together. For instance, are the plants healthy? Is the placement of large trees, the garden or lawn in a hazardous position or sloping toward the home? Is foliage too close to the home? Again, this can become a breeding ground for insects. Taking note of these types of possible landscape issues can help to ward off future headaches. Here are a few things to watch for when either getting your yard ready for sale or when looking to buy.
Get to the root of it: while seeing exactly where trees roots are located can be a bit difficult, spotting any obvious signs of lifting or cracking sidewalks or driveways can be an indication that there is a root problem. The opposite also poses a problem. If you see areas where the yard is sunken in, that could indicate a leaking sewer line resulting from a root interference problem.
Know the topography: understand potential risks such as if you’re located at the bottom of a hillside. In heavy rains the water will flow downward toward the foundation of your home, possibly causing flood.
Limb control: notice if tree limbs are out of control, branching out in every direction and touching the roof or interfering with power lines. Watch out for tree limbs that are hanging over chimneys as animals can climb down the chimney but also the branches could block the draft, creating higher carbon monoxide levels in the home.
Close-up look: closely examine plants in your yard and be sure that you don’t see mushrooms or fungus growing at the bottom of the trees as that can be a warning sign of a health issue. Landscaping that’s been thoughtfully created and taken care of will be a huge benefit to both the seller and the buyer.
Brian Ripp, CRS, GRI, Broker - your Bay Area Realtor
www.BrianRipp.com serving Fremont, Newark, Union City & surrounding communities. Real Estate & Property Management.
