Home Staging for a More Successful Sale; Eliminate Negatives

A March 2012 artile in Zillow's Blog published by "Inman News" on line offered home stagers' suggestions for what is seen as negatives to a successful sale of homes. Think about these items as you prepare your home for viewing so that negatives will not distract from the better features your home enjoys.

1. Fake plants. While some artificial plants look more real than others, most becomeo dust collectors over time. Living plants often cost less than fake ones and usually improve air quality rather than adding allergens.

2. Clutter. Clutter prevents buyers from seeing the character of a room and make rooms feel smaller. Group like items, and think of what you really need to keep. Could Goodwill or the Salvation Army use your clutter more than you?

3. Unmade beds and dirty windows. Remember that clean windows and made beds show better than sticky fingerprints and piles of bedcovers.

4. Wood paneled walls. Consider painting as one of the least expensive ways to update your home, especially if you are willing to properly prepare the room and put careful labor to bringhten up those dark, paneled walls.

5. Overly full kitchen cabinets. Clean out your kitchen cabinets from unneeded, unmatched items. Too many storage containers without matching lids, old empty coffee cans and similar items distract from the room and make the cabinet space appear too small.

6. Too many pet reminders. Some buyers like pets and others do not. Even if your pets are put away for home viewings, keep only the most needed pet items out. Put away other items to keep your home tidy. A neat food and water dish with no stray spills or scattered food on the floor is more impresseive than a mess. Lots of pet toys, pet blankets, and fur all over the furniture detract from the beauty of your home.

A home that appears "move in ready" and invites you into the room is more successful in keeping a buyer's interest than one that is cluttered, messy or dated. Use these simple tips from home stagers to prepare your home for viewings, to show off the features of your home, and to make the rooms and cabinets appear more spacious.

Mortgage Rates, Sales Prices and Other Housing News

Fixed mortgage rates remain at near record lows according to Freddie Mac, with the 30-year average at 3.9 percent for the week ended March 1. For the same week, 15-year fixed loans were 3.17 percent.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) members were polled recently for their confidence index and were upbeat to the tune of 67 percent predicting some price gains in housing. Agents who participated in the NAR survey reported a slight fall in median time on the market. Unfortunately a recent CoreLogic report showed almost 28 percent of homeowners were at or near underwater at the end of 2011.

Keep in mind that if you sell your home at a lower price than you hoped for, you can often make up the difference or more when you buy another home; particularly if you plan to buy a more expensive home.

Impacts on the 2011 Housing Industry

“RealtorMag” the on-line magazine published for the National Association of Realtors, listed issues impacting the housing industry in 2011. These were noted by Trulia’s chief economist, Jed Kolko in a “Time” magazine article. Some of these issues and their impacts, paraphrased, are:

1. Fallout from banks approving foreclosures without proper review procedures. The consequence is that banks now have to take extra precautions. Regulators and banks are working on a settlement that could improve the pace of foreclosures in 2012.
2. Natural disasters: tornadoes, floods and hurricanes pushed the National Flood Insurance Program into the spotlight. This program was still strapped financially from Hurricane Katrina. Thus, insurance premiums did not fully cover the Katrina disaster. Home owners living in flood-prone areas must now have flood insurance to get a mortgage. If the National Flood Insurance Program is not taken beyond its current May 2012 extension, the future of mortgages in areas prone to floods is uncertain.
3. Loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. Mortgage lenders are willing to charge lower rates for loans backed by Fannie and Freddie with a lower conforming loan limit. A smaller number of loans now qualify for this backing according.

Regardless of impacts to the housing industry in 2011, it is now 2012. The future is ahead. While understanding negative impacts on the past can help us plan for the future, it is time to look for new ways around obstacles to make the dreams of home buyers and home sellers come true.