home-staging

A few weeks back, we wrote a short list of the five most important housing pitfalls buyers should avoid when shopping for a home. As we said at the time, there were several other things to watch out for, and we’d fill you in on more of them soon. Well look! It’s already “Soon”! Let’s continue on with our ‘Home Buying 101’ recommendations that cover topics you may not be aware of – but definitely want to consider in your search for the right home to buy.

First, a little refresher course on the first five housing pitfalls we shared with you back in April, 2016:

1. Not Letting Your REALTOR® Do Their Job
2. Decide What You’re Looking for in Your New Home
3. Stay IN Your Budget
4. Get Pre-Approved for Your Mortgage Loan Before You Go House Hunting
5. Choosing The Right Lender

All of these are truly critical points that can make a difference in being happy with your choice of home and being able to afford it after the closing. Feel free to take a refresher course/walk down memory lane by reviewing the reasons why in that previous article here.

But what else could there be that you might not have thought of? How about . . .

6. Letting the Home Staging Distract You
Sellers are pretty savvy these days – and if they’re not, their Realtors® often are. One of the top priorities is to do all they can to make their home appealing to potential buyers. At the minimum, that might mean just getting rid of clutter and keeping it clean. But there’s a reason that “professional home staging” is now a career option. This is when buyers will manipulate the scene with the intent of appealing to your emotions (rather than logic). Because once that tug starts on your heart, you may not notice that the furniture is just a bit smaller than normal (which makes the room look bigger); you didn’t catch the condition or style of windows because they’ve been dressed up with attractive coverings; and that rug on the floor is just gorgeous – until you lift it up to see the damaged floor beneath it. The point of good home staging is to make it easier for you to envision yourself in that home, but once that love affair begins, sometimes people have a tendency to minimize what are legitimate objections to justify their ardor for a property. There’s nothing wrong with falling in love with your home – just be sure you get to see it for what it actually is, not just the good parts it presents to you (with a little help, that is).

7. What About Cosmetic Issues?
This one is sort of a double-edged sword. By their very nature, cosmetic issues (nails in the wall, nicks in the doorway, a chipped counter tile, poor choice of paint color, etc.) – are relatively easy to address, not too expensive to fix, and aren’t indication of any major mechanical or structural problems. Or are they? While minor cosmetic issues shouldn’t be the cause for you to automatically say ‘no’ to a home, you do want to be aware. How can you know the difference? If superficial problems are also paired with signs of neglect – such as a lawn that hasn’t been cared for over a long period, unusual odors in the home, or if these “minor” issues could theoretically have led to problems if left untended for too long. Sometimes, people just didn’t get around to touching up the little things . . . but then again, as a seller, they should be putting their best foot forward, so really give some thought to the types of minor items you discover when viewing a home. Just in case.

8. Stop Watching Home Repair Shows on TV Before You Start Home Shopping
No – really. Stop it! Those HGTV home makeovers you love to watch come complete with a whole staff behind the scenes to make it all happen. For the most part, you’re not going to have your own crew of minions to do the same bidding for you (although if you do, we need to talk!). Besides that, you know it takes more than 30 minutes and $500 to tear out a kitchen and rebuild it with new cabinets, countertops, plumbing fixtures, etc. The thing is, these shows give you the feeling that major projects are a lot easier (and cheaper), than they really are. So don’t start your search for a home by thinking you can save a few bucks and just add electrical, plumbing, and load bearing walls on your own. Read our lips: It ain’t gonna turn out that way. Besides – are you buying a home so you can enjoy living in it, or one that will be in permanent tear-out mode as you try all the DIY fixes you’ve watched on TV (while still holding down your day job, by the way)?

9. Make Sure to Research Your Neighborhood
You have a preference for where you want to live – most people do. Whether it’s near your work, an urban center, or to be in the best school district for your kids – we all start with a wish list. (Like, “Why don’t the people in that house just move and let us buy it?” Yeah, we’ve thought that before, too.) The thing to remember is that you can change your house to fit your lifestyle by upgrading or remodeling – but you can’t change the neighborhood. (Seriously – it’s no fun to be living in your dream home in a nightmare neighborhood!) So do your due diligence – and this is something you can do on your own: If schools matter, speak with the principals or the parents of other kids who attend. Find out what sort of community events take place in your vicinity. Safety is an issue – and now there are plenty of online resources where you can check crime reports nearby (Trulia is a good source for that). Visit the stores and places you would plan to shop if you lived there and make sure they feel comfortable to you. (There can be a lot of reasons they do or don’t, but those would all be personal assessments you should make yourself.) Drive up and down the streets in your immediate area to make sure houses are well-tended; check property records to see if there are any trends of foreclosures; look for signs of vacant homes. As information continues to become more readily available, it’s just a matter of using the resources that are out there. Reassure yourself that THIS “Dream Home” is where you’ll be doing a lot of happy dreaming!

10. Don’t Make a Purchase Out of Desperation
This one might be a little harder to enforce, because people have many different reasons for wanting or needing to purchase a home within a certain time frame. The only thing we’d like to suggest is that you keep that ‘desperation’ in mind when you consider making an offer on a home. When prices are rising, buyers get anxious and sellers get greedy (human nature or capitalism, take your pick!). When a buyer has been losing out on home after home because it’s a seller’s market, it can be easy just to get tired of looking and tell yourself “I don’t care – just buy it.” That may put you over-budget (leaving you with long-term financial distress)… in the wrong area… , or just plain in the wrong house. Or, you may end up paying far more than you should for the marketplace. If at all possible, we recommend creating a back-up plan. Your New Home Resource Realtor® can recommend options for short-term or corporate rentals to help ease you into a soft landing while you make the right decision about which home to buy.

As we’ve mentioned many times before, buying a home is a bigger process than many people consider. Working with the right Realtor® can make all the difference in making a smart purchase that you’ll love for years to come, or letting too many other factors influence the most important thing: This is to be your home. It needs to be right. New Home Resource can help you with that. Just give us a call to find out how. 702.365.1000.

New Home Resource helps current and future homeowners with all of their Las Vegas real estate needs. Whether your preference is for property management, a newly built home from a local builder, or a resale property in just the right location, a New Home Resource Realtor® is here to provide just the service you’re looking for. Please contact a New Home Resource Realtor® today at 702-365-1000 or at www.newhomeresource.com. Broker Joanna Piette, and agents Denise Moreno Thrasher, Jessica O’Brien, Evelyn ‘Beng’ Kern, and Kathy Paterniti are all here to help!

There’s definitely a formula for success in selling a home. And when it’s time for you to think about selling yours, if you’re working with an experienced and knowledgeable Realtor™, they’re going to let you know what it is. The formula will change depending on the home, the community, the city, and the surrounding area – but there are a few ‘universal’ concepts that you should be aware of. That way, when it’s time for you to plant that “For Sale” sign in your yard, you’ll be a few baby steps ahead – and sometimes, that’s just enough of a leg-up to get to a happy finish line sooner.

1. Buyers Know Within Seconds If They Want To Buy Your Home.

Yep – buying a home is a huge investment, so you would imagine people want to weigh all the pros and cons, maybe even make some spreadsheets to compare features, costs, and benefits.

You would be wrong.

Why? Because the mind processes far more information in less time than previously thought; one recent study shows that 80% of prospective buyers know if a home is right for them within seconds of stepping inside. That’s a daunting thought, isn’t it? But all the more reason that we drive home this fact: No detail is too small for the Seller to consider. Sweep the front sidewalk, clean up the leaves; tidy up the entryway, unclutter every horizontal surface. And of course, we’ve never heard of a Buyer complaining that a house is “too clean.” That’s worth remembering, too.

2. Pricing Makes A Difference – But Not For The Reasons You Think

First off, we’ll say this: Your home needs to be priced right to take advantage of every sales opportunity. We addressed that at some length in a previous article – “5 Reasons Why Your Home Didn’t Sell” – check it out here. But there’s a bit more to it than that.

It’s one thing to think you’re getting a great deal at Nordstrom’s Rack when you see that $14.99-price tag. It’s another thing to be shopping for a home with a price like “$299,999.” (You just felt a little “thunk” didn’t you?) There’s a certain sense of ‘bargain-hunting’ that is out of place with all those 9’s in a home’s sales price. Even without setting a foot on the property yet, it’s enough to turn off many buyers because it feels dishonest and “cheap.” Just don’t go there.

On the other hand, while those last two numbers should always end in “00” – you don’t necessarily want tooooo many of them showing up in the rest of the price, either. You know that feeling you get when you’re at the grocery store and your total comes out to EXACTLY $20.00? Yeah. That almost never happens – and when it does, it’s pretty memorable. If your Realtor™ has performed an accurate price evaluation of your property, the odds of it coming in to show five 0’s in a row are just about as common.

The fact is, a sales price of $200,000 seems arbitrary – like you just plucked that figure out of thin air – and that makes your valuation suspect, to say the least. Stick with the facts, and base your final listing price on firm data.

3. There’s A Reason Why There’s A Home-Staging Industry

Buyers. Love. Staged. Homes. How do we know that? Those homes sell faster. Often by 50-70% faster. How’s that for an eye-opening thought? You don’t necessarily need to shell out the money to hire a professional stager – because these days, you can find a myriad of helpful tips online about how to do much of it yourself. But it does boil down to two things:

1. If you’re still living in the home during the listing period – consider renting storage space to streamline what furniture and belongings are on display. After all, you are moving, right? May as well take this opportunity to start packing and simplify the look of the house. It takes a good eye and a commitment to a bit of heavy lifting – but more often than not, it will pay off with a quicker sale.

2. If you’ve already moved out of the home – think about adding some furniture and accessories back into it, even if it’s only to stage the main living areas. For a potential Buyer, viewing an empty home is a little like making whoopie with the lights on (ack!) — i.e., every flaw is visible. (Unless you’re J.Lo.) PLUS, most people aren’t capable of fully visualizing the potential of space in a home when it’s completely empty. Help their imagination see your home for what it really is: The. Awesome. Place. They. Want. To. Live.

As we referenced above, your specific home has unique attributes that a professional Realtor™ will help you recognize and capitalize on to help you get to that fabulous trifecta of “Offer-Escrow-Closing.” But knowing these handy tips can help, too. If you’re planning to sell your home soon – we’ve got a lot more of them we can share with you. All you’ve got to do is ask us!

New Home Resource helps current and future homeowners with all of their Las Vegas real estate needs. Whether your preference is for a newly built home from a local builder, or a resale property in just the right location, a New Home Resource Realtor® is here to find the perfect property for you. Please contact a New Home Resource Realtor® today at 702-365-1000 or at www.newhomeresource.com. Broker Joanna Piette, and agents Denise Moreno Thrasher, Jessica O’Brien, Evelyn ‘Beng’ Kern, Lance Partin and Kathy Paterniti are all here to help!