HUD, VA & Fannie Mae Foreclosure Specialist

Contact me to learn more about purchasing foreclosed and distressed properties in addition to information regarding the associated cost to rehabilitate them.

With an aging stock of houses, there are many properties becoming available with equity. These properties can be purchased at discount prices and rehabilitated by you-the purchaser through available FHA203K financing.

Purchasing a foreclosed property will give you the gift of equity and the fortune of owning a newly renovated home.

How to Sell Your Home Quickly

Have you ever visited a new home development? If you have, you probably remember seeing models that seemed to suit your lifestyle and tastes perfectly. That’s because they were perfectly “staged”. You can create that same feeling when you prepare your own home for sale.

Home staging is not about remodeling, fixing up or making your home look sterile. Instead, it focuses on amazingly simple steps to make your home show like a model without spending a lot of money. The secret to staging is helping potential buyers imagine themselves and their families at home in your “home for sales".

Setting the Stage

Your first step is to clear the stage. Take out extraneous furniture, decorations, pictures, etc. Take each room down to its most basic form, opening up the living space as much as possible. Then build it back up to the way you want it to look – without clutter. Make the strip-down process easier by stowing packed boxes in an out-of-sight area like the garage, or by renting a storage locker to hold extra furnishings until your home is sold. In essence, pack up early.

Props

When building the stage, try to make each room tell a story. A cleaver arrangement of props will make it easy for buyers to imagine writing a letter at the desk in the kitchen, clicking on the television while enjoying a bowl of popcorn, turning on the stove and preparing a special meal.

Choosing a theme for a room can help you decide how to stage it. You can, of course, stage the room as you use it now, or choose a particular motif – Southwestern, country, international. Or, pick an activity to illustrate on your stage, i.e., relaxing in the office or library, gourmet, cooking, resort or vacation living. Place the props needed for those activities throughout the room.

Lighting

Lots of light can open up a room, making it seem larger. User larger-watt bulbs than usual. Add lamps. Open curtains. Hang mirrors. When it’s being shown, the home should be a bright as possible. Brightness gives a showy feel. Your home is now center stage! .

Homework

Ask what buyers are looking for in your community. What are they saying about the homes that they don’t buy? What is it about the homes that are selling that makes them so popular? By determining your ideal target buyer, you will better understand how to stage your home. My experience in your specific neighborhood can help you answer all of these questions and more.

Aroma

Almost as important as how a home looks, is how it smells. Ask a close friend to walk through your home and take a whiff here and there. Are there any offensive odors? Is it too perfumy? Too drab? Stale? Musty? Are there any pet odors (which should be fixed – not covered up!)? What can you do to impress potential buyers with scent?

Time to Sell

When the time comes to sell your home, you’ll want to work with a real estate professional that knows all aspects of the selling process – including home staging. Contact me today to discuss how I can help you set the stage to sell your home for the best possible price!