Sellers only get one chance to make a first impression, so it better be a good one.  If a buyer is turned off when he sees your house on the first visit, he won't come back for a second look.

So, how can you make sure that your house will get second showings?

1. Clean houses sell, so make sure your house spic and span from top to bottom.  It should sparkle and smell fresh the entire time that the house is on the market (not just the first week).  Did you know that a lot of buyers won't even step inside the house if there is an unpleasant odor that greets them at the front door?
2. Remember the phrase, "Less is more."  Remove excess furniture, accessories, and knick knacks from the house.  Your goal is to make the home appear spacious and removing these items will do the trick.
3. Remove family photos from the home.  It is difficult for buyers to imagine themselves living in the house when they are looking at pictures of you.  You should also leave the home when it is being shown for the same reason.
4. Position furniture so that it complements each room.  If you are not good at this, hire a stager or someone with an interior design background.  Correct furniture placement helps a room to feel balanced, allows for unobstructed movement through the space.
5. Neutralize the home.  Although paint is an easy thing for a buyer to change, it also spells more work him.  Take a critical look at the colors on your walls and if the paint is a strong or bright color, repaint.  If you have wallpaper, remove it and paint the walls a neutral shade.  If you've painted the trim or doors a color, repaint them by taking them back to white.  A neutral palette allows a buyer to picture his belongings in the space and appreciate the fact that moving into your home will be easy.

Check out our complete list to prepare your home for sale or request our Home Staging Tips brochure.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri

If you currently own a home and want to make a move this year, there are a few things that you must do in this market to achieve that goal.

Many years ago the process of moving to a different home looked a little bit like this.  A person who already owned a home and wanted to move would go house hunting, find a new home to purchase, write a offer contingent on the sale and settlement of his existing home, and hope that somebody would buy his home - and the seller of the new house was fine with this arrangement because that was the norm.

That way of making a move to a new or different home has not been in recent years and is not the way the process works anymore.  Here are the facts:

1. Sellers are no longer willing to accept an offer contingent on the sale of an existing home because there is no guarantee that your house will sell quickly, if at all, and the seller is not willing to risk taking his house off the market in the hopes that your house will sell.
2. Some sellers are willing to accept an offer contingent on the settlement of your existing home.  This means that you have already found a buyer for your house and you have a firm settlement date.  Though not a perfect scenario for a seller this type of contingency is less risky and he is more likely to accept your offer than if you do not have a contract on your existing home.
3. If you have already sold your home or if your home is under contract and you are merely waiting for settlement, it gives you more power when negotiating the terms and conditions in your offer for the new home.
4. Going house hunting before your existing house is on the market is guaranteed to set you up for disappointment.  Right now, it is easier to find the new home of your dreams than sell your existing home.  What happens when you find that new home before your home is even on the market?  You have no way of creating an appealing offer for the seller and your offer will most likely be rejected.

Many people ask, "What happens if I sell my home before I've found a new one?"  First, please understand that this situation is highly unlikely given the large inventory and low price points in our market right now.  Secondly, if someone makes an offer on your home and you haven't found a new home yet, you can put a contingency in the contract stating that you must first find your home of choice before you will settle.

Bottom line - if you want to make a move in 2010, get your house in order and put it on the market.  Then go house hunting.

Thinking about moving in order to take advantage of the Homebuyer Tax Credit?  Consider attending one of our 1-hour information packed seminars.  No pressure, no obligation, just education.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri

Everyone knows the importance of decluttering and staging a home to help it sell.  Yet, I am amazed by the many homeowners who will go through all of this preparation and still don't put their best foot forward when selling their homes.

Nothing is more disconcerting to buyers than entering a home for sale and being greeted by a dog or cat, or being distracted by the constant barking of a dog in a cage.  Additionally, many people are allergic to certain kinds of animals and when that animal rubs up against them, they get rather upset because they are worried that an allergy attack might ensue.

To note, if the buyers don't like animals and they see a dog or cat food bowl let alone the dog or cat itself, the buyers will notice "pet smells" that don't even exist and will cross your house off their list right away.

Furthermore, agents showing the home are always worried when given instructions by the sellers such as, "Please don't let out the cat or dog."  We really don't want the responsibility of making sure that the animal stays in the house in addition to watching our clients and their children (especially problematic if a pet is in the house), educating our clients about the home, making sure that the lights are off, and locking up the house when we leave.

Having had a dog as part of our family for 17 years, I can't imagine allowing strangers to come into my home and hoping that they will make sure the pet is safe and remains in the house.  I just wouldn't expect strangers to care that much.

Case in point, last week when showing a home in the frigid cold a dog was outside on the porch and seemed to want to go into the house.  I asked another agent showing the home (who was there when I arrived) if the dog was allowed inside the home.  He said, "I think the dog belongs to a neighbor because he was here on the porch when I got here."  I then called the listing agent to verify if the sellers owned this dog and if he was supposed to be left outside or inside the home.  He looked like an indoor type dog and was shivering from the freezing cold weather.  This was the sellers' dog and he was supposed to be inside the house.

About a month ago (and on another freezing cold day), I was showing a home and the agent before me let out the little white poodle who lived there.  The poodle ran down the street and the neighbor chased it, caught it, and put it in the backyard.  When I pulled up to the house with my clients, the neighbor greeted me and asked me to let the dog inside (which I did).

These are only two accounts of many similar incidences that Jesse and I have experienced during our careers as realtors.  So, if you have a pet and are selling your home, what should you do?  During showings take your pet with you when leaving the house, have a friend or neighbor take care of it during showings, or invest in pet daycare.

Put your very best foot forward when showing your home to potential buyers and make the process less stressful on your pets.  It's a tough time for them, too.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri