Quick and Easy Home Staging Tips for Busy Parents
If you are a busy parent and selling your current home, you already have a lot on your plate. You may not have time for a whole host of home improvement projects, but the right staging can help you sell your home faster and even net you more profit. So use these home staging hacks to get your home ready without spending a lot of time, effort or money:
Declutter Every Room, Including Closets
Clutter has a way of building in our homes over the years. This can be especially true of houses with children and infants. But clutter can be a dealbreaker for potential homebuyers, so you should take some steps to clear your clutter before you begin showing your home. Consult your listing agent to determine how much you need to declutter. Go through your belongings and remove as many toys, books, games, and puzzles. Think about renting a storage space nearby to safely stow away your items for staging. Oftentimes, just getting items out of your house is the best approach to staging. Consider putting extra toys, kitchen appliances that live on countertops and even items from closets and pantries into storage.
Deep Clean and Maintain a Tidy Home
In addition to decluttering, a deep cleaning is another important step in staging your home. Use a detailed cleaning list to get rid of any dirt or grime that may be lurking around your home. Don’t forget to clean those often-overlooked areas like baseboards, trim and areas under and around your stove and refrigerator. Take extra care when cleaning areas your children play in so that you can be sure to remove any stains, sticky messes or marks on walls. For many busy parents, hiring a professional cleaning service to complete a one-time deep cleaning makes more sense than spending countless hours doing the job alone. Once your home is spotless, you only need to take easy steps to keep it tidy while it is on the market.
Refresh Brightly Colored Children’s Rooms
Bright pinks, yellow and blues are a gorgeous way to add personality to children’s rooms and nurseries. But those bright paint colors can be distracting to people looking at your home. So it’s best to opt for more neutral shades throughout your home, that more buyers will be attracted to. Choose colors that are light and airy and that may even add value to your home. To protect your family, and avoid unsightly odors, use low odor paint and primer.
With the proper steps and some basic supplies, painting your rooms is a simple DIY job anyone can do. Remove all stickers, decals, and shelves from walls, and then wipe them down to remove dust. If you have furniture in your home, use drop cloths to protect items from spills and drops. New paint is a simple way to make your house look new.
Clean Up the Yard and Add Some Potted Plants
Your yard is the first thing people will see when they see your home, so make sure yours is in excellent shape. This is another area where you will want to declutter and clean, to create some curb appeal. Pick up any toys or random items that may be in your yard, both in front and back. Repair any bare or damaged spots in your lawn, and be sure to keep it mowed and edges trimmed. If you do have any flowerbeds, pick up a few bags of fresh mulch to help them look their best. If new mulch is not in your budget, fluff existing mulch to help it appear a little newer. You can also add some color to your yard and porch with a few potted flowers and plants that are easy to care for.
Staging a home can be hectic for parents. Busy schedules and multiple responsibilities make it hard to complete a multitude of projects around your home. So focus on simple steps to get your home in shape for showings, and spend less time staging your home.
Photo Credit: Pexels
Category Archives: selling
6 Simple Open House Preparations You Shouldn’t Overlook
The open house is your best chance for getting bids on your property, and it’s a great way to drum up a little competition to drive bids even higher. Yet, many homeowners overlook the simple things that make all the difference. Use these preparations to stage your house beautifully and get more for your property.
Remember: It’s Not Personal
The first thing you want to do is declutter your home and depersonalize it, according to HGTV. You’re going to be moving, so get some boxes to pack away all those family photos and personal knickknacks. You want buyers to see themselves living their lives here. Also, remove as much clutter as you possibly can to make your home look less personal and make it easier for buyers to imagine their own items inside
Tidy Up the Outside
Realtors talk about curb appeal endlessly, and there’s a good reason: It really matters. Clean debris out of your landscaping areas, sweep the walkways, driveway and porch, and wash everything. Your doors, windows, shutters, gutters and mailboxes should all be cleaned and scrubbed so they gleam. Touch up the paint if needed. According to U.S. News & World Report, making a good first impression is essential to having a successful open house.
Put the Pet Stuff Away
Some homebuyers are turned off by homes with pets in them. They’ll start imagining smells and hidden stains, and before you know it they’re making a lower offer or no offer at all. If you have pets, hide the evidence. Put away toys, food bowls and all of their items, and don’t give potential buyers a reason to wrangle a lower price for your property.
Hire Professional Cleaners
Your home needs to sparkle and shine if it’s going to attract the most attention and get lots of good offers. Consider hiring a professional cleaning service to deep clean your entire house. Professional cleaners won’t neglect all the little details, and when they’re done everything will look and smell clean — something that potential buyers love. Most homeowners spend between $122 and $167 nationally for all-over home cleaning. This money will come back to you in offers.
Tone It Down
You may have a flashy personality, an eye for style and a certain way with home decor. But what buyers want to see is a neutral color scheme, not a lot of electric blue accents everywhere. Remove throw pillows, vases, artwork and other items that might have vivid colors and busy patterns. Make your home look as neutral as you can, and inspire potential buyers to imagine their own design tastes here instead.
Give Them a Parting Gift
Print up some flyers featuring nearby neighborhood attractions, area schools and pictures of your home inside and out. A little take away item like this will keep your property fresh in potential buyers’ minds, and it’s a great advertisement for why they should buy your home. Use full-color photos and an attractive design to make the flyer pleasing to the eye. Don’t forget to include all the contact information to make it easy for them to make you an offer.
Have a Great Open House
Take a little extra time to stage your house well, and your investment of time will be returned to you in dollars. The open house is your best chance of receiving multiple offers for your home, and that’s your best bet for getting the highest possible sale price. Don’t neglect the simple preparations that hurt so many sellers, and have a great open house.
Author
Suzie Wilson is an interior designer with more than 20 years experience. What started as a hobby (and often, a favor to friends) turned into a passion for creating soothing spaces in homes of every size and style. While her goal always includes making homes look beautiful, her true focus is on fashioning them into serene, stress-free environments that inspire tranquility in all who enter. The Ultimate Guide to Prepping Your Home for an Open House is filled with tips, tricks and other advice based on Suzie’s years of experience in interior home design that will set you up for success.
Photo credit: Pexels.com
Colors that make a room look bigger
CHICAGO – Sept. 14, 2016 – A room’s size is sometimes a matter of perception, and the paint color on the walls has a lot to with that perception. Some colors can actually make a room appear smaller, while other colors can make the walls expand and feel larger. Realtor.com® recently highlighted some of the paint colors to create the illusion of more space, including:
White: White reflects light, thereby making a space look brighter and feel more open. “White will make any room appear bigger and complement the natural lighting,” Than Merrill, a real estate investor and host of A&E’s “Flip This House” told realtor.com®.
Yellow: A creamy and soft yellow can also reflect light, and can create a softer alternative to white (as long as it’s not too bold of a yellow). Add white accents, such as on the trim, to add further dimension to the room.
Gray: A calming, light shade can help expand a room and, unlike white, doesn’t cast off a glare.
Monochromatic color schemes: Use a monochromatic color scheme for the entire space to open it up (in other words, stick with the white, gray or soft yellow and don’t introduce then a bolder color).
“Choose rugs, furniture, and accents in similar shades – like a patterned rug in white and light gray,” realtor.com®’s article suggests. “This creates a minimalist, clean look that makes the entire space feel larger.”
Source: “What Colors Make a Room Look Bigger?” realtor.com® (Sept. 9, 2016)
FREE and Paid Property Listings Websites
Here are some website you can post your properties to or search for deals at. Most are free, but some like eBay you’ll have to pay for. Enjoy!
However, if you want to get your house sold fast in Central Florida and more specifically in Orlando, FL area visit www.AnyHouseSOLD.com and/or contact me.
1. www.base.google.com
2. www.realestate.msn.com
3. www.ebay.com
4. www.realestate.aol.com
5. www.craigslist.org
6. www.zillow.com
7. www.trulia.com
8. www.kijiji.com
9. www.olx.com
10. www.oodle.com
11. www.livedeal.com
12. www.domesticsale.com
13. www.edgeio.com
14. www.househunt.com
15. www.homesalez.com
16. www.isoldmyhouse.com
17. www.Forsalebyownercenter.com
18. www.propbot.com
19. www.Fsbosellbuy.com
20. www.homes-for-sale-by-owner.info
21. www.fastrealestate.net
22. www.homesbylender.com
23. www.hometoursonline.net
24. www.homeportfoliojunction.com
25. www.mlshub.com
26. www.forsaleownerhomes.com
27. www.allthelistings.com
28. www.actualhomes.com
29. www.realtymadeeasy.com
30. www.fsbogorilla.com
31. www.homeclassifieds.com
32. www.wantedtosell.com
33. www.theyellowsign.com
34. www.fsboads.com
35. www.forsalebyowners.com
36. www.listingofhomes.com
37. www.home-for-sale.com
38. www.fsbo.net
39. www.nwrealestate.biz
40. www.ushx.com
41. www.homesellnetwork.com
42. www.tourmeonline.com
43. www.fsboi.net
44. www.talkingproperties.com
45. www.shopdreamhouse.com
46. www.allstatesfsbo.com
47. www.ownerswillcarry.com
48. www.byowners365.net
49. www.neorealestate.com
50. www.homesforsalebyowner.com
51. www.homes85.com
52. www.helpussell.com
53. www.virtualfsbo.com
54. www.owners.com
55. www.realestate.yahoo.com
56. www.usatoday.com
57. www.backpage.com
58. www.fsbocom.foreclosure.com
59. www.forsalebyowner.com
60. www.homesbyowner.com
61. www.buyowner.com
62. www.fsbo.com
63. www.militarybyowner.com
64. www.intlistings.com
65. www.byowner.com
66. www.forsale.byowner.com
67. www.fsboadvertisingservice.com
68. www.totalrealestatesolutions.com
69. www.fsboamerica.org
70. www.fsbolocal.com
71. www.salebyowner.com
72. www.listbyowneronmls.com
73. www.usapropertyadvertiser.com
74. www.fromhomeowner.com
75. www.fsbozone.com
76. www.postyourpad.com
77. www.propertysites.com
78. www.salesbyownerrealty.com
79. www.mhbo.com
80. www.sellhomeshere.com
81. www.owner.com
82. www.realestatemate.com
83. www.fsbo-bc.com
84. www.homes4salebyownernetwork.com
85. www.privatesalerealty.com
86. www.sellyourhomeyourself.com
87. www.fsbon.com
88. www.privateforsale.com
89. www.fsbosites.com
90. www.repus.net
91. www.fraserhomes.parkwest.com
92. www.sellitbyowner.com
93. www.reachbuyers.com
94. www.weblistings.com
95. www.houses4sale-online.com/index.htm
96. www.findgreatrealty.com
97. www.homeseekerz.ccom
98. www.thehomelist.com
99. www.fsbodepoe.com
100. www.usfreeads.com
101. www.realestateshows.com
102. www.properazzi.com
103. www.propsmart.com
104. www.walmart.oodle.com
FSBOs (For Sale By Owner) – stand very small chance of selling
Only 9 percent of today’s sellers are FSBO sellers, and among those who chose the FSBO route, 40 percent knew the buyer who bought their home. Among those who did not previously know the buyer of the home, 18 percent of those were contacted directly by the buyer to purchase the home. Taking these factors into account, the FSBO market of sellers who sold their home without knowing the buyer, and those who were not directly contacted by a buyer, is significantly smaller. FSBOs typically have a lower median selling price, though FSBOs typically received 98 percent of their asking price. Those who first tried to sell their home as a FSBO, but ultimately sold via an agent, were the youngest of all sellers and had the highest median household incomes. Every home seller must eventually decide whether to hire a REALTOR® or to sell the home on their own. But even after they decide to go solo, FSBOs can still be convinced to use a REALTOR®’s expertise.
Most Important Reason for Selling Home as FSBO
- Did not want to pay commission fee: 46%
- Sold it to a relative / friend / neighbor: 24%
- Buyers contacted seller directly: 12%
- Did not want to deal with an agent: 11%
- Agent was unable to sell home: 4%
- Could not find agent to handle transaction: 2%
- Seller has a real estate license: 1%
- Other: * less than 1%
Source: 2013 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers, (National Association of REALTORS® – Research, 2013).
How to easily find school zoning in Orange and Seminole County Florida
Ever wondered what school a house you are looking to buy or rent REALLY belongs to? Don’t rely on search portals which provide you with easy information because many times it can be outdated. Verify it for yourself. Updated 5/15/2018
Seminole County Florida School Lookup By Address
Orange County Florida School Lookup By Address
No more looking at cumbersome zoning maps. Just type in the address and you get all 3 schools. Elementary, Middle, and High!
Why so many Realtors leave that blank? I think the positives of customers being able to easily search for property by school district outweighs the possibility of zoning change while the property is listed.
I always include school zones in my listings and I found that it helps with greater exposure which in turn results in a higher sale price for my clients.
How to Check if there are Open Permits on the house yourself
Have you ever wondered if there are any open permits on the property you are buying?
Maybe you are thinking of selling and are in the process of preparing you house for sale and don’t want o see any last minute surprises which can delay closing and cost you time money and even make the whole deal fall apart.
It’s a good idea to run a search early to see if here is anything unusual. The status you want to see is “complete”. If a permit is “issued” or “expired” or “void”
Here are some links we use in Orlando area to search for open permits.
Orange County: https://fasttrack.ocfl.net/OnlineServices/Permit_Building.aspx
Seminole County: https://egov.seminolecountyfl.gov/Click2GovBP/SelectPermit.jsp
UPDATE: Here is a tool to easily look up permits throughout the United States