In a hot real estate market, cleaning your home, decluttering of personal items and a quick paint job usually got the job done. However, in more trying times, professional home staging can really help your home sell quickly at top dollar.

Check out these amazing before/after pics from This Old House. My personal favorite is the Knex ferris wheel that was “decorating” a family room. (Don’t worry- it was indeed the “Before) These pictures are worth more than a thousand of my words!

For a referral to a home stager and/or assistance with buying/selling your home, call me, Jane Neilson, at Pinnacle Residential Properties. 781-223-7338. Happy Staging!

Paying attention to how your home will appear to others will help you sell your home

If you are trying to sell a home in today’s market, there are a few things to keep in mind that will help your home stand apart from the pack.  Prioritize and analyze what will fit in your budget and take the steps necessary to make your home show well and appeal to prospective buyers.

• Fresh & Clean: Inspect your home inside and out. Does it need a coat of paint? A fresh coat of paint will always be recouped in the sale of a home and is well worth the cost.  Does it look clean and tight?  Pack up the mess – the more clutter free a home, the better it will show.  

• Curb appeal: Pay attention to your home as if you were a potential buyer.  Is it inviting?  Clean?  Shore up your landscaping; make sure that your lawn is green and well-kept, that your flower beds are weeded and mulched, and that the exterior of your house is clean and respectable.

• Inspection: There will be a home inspection completed by the buyer – be prudent and consider doing one yourself.  Attend to items that could possibly hold up the sales process.

• Best areas of a home to update and remodel? The Master Bathroom and the Kitchen.  Don’t spend the money to gut and redo your entire home. But remodeling the master bath and kitchen areas of your home will make your home more appealing and grab a buyer’s eye.

• Evaluate: Are the remodel/updates going to net you more than you are putting into them?  This is very important. And pay attention to your local market; make the improvements that will help you not hurt you. If you are not going to get the money back that you are intending to put into your home, don’t do the changes. Instead do the low-cost improvements and make do by making your home clean in its appearance.

For more information and ways to sell your home, please visit my web site or email me – Lisa Williams of Pinnacle Residential Properties at lwilliams@pinnaclehouses.com.

Garage sales can be a great way to get rid of clutter — and earn a little extra cash — before you sell your home. Read the rest of this entry »