All home sellers are concerned with justifying spending money on home improvements when they are just about to move. Some of my clients need a lot of convincing that you need to invest money to make money when it comes to maximising the return on your largest investment. So it is always a bonus when you can quantify the return on your home improvement investment.

I certainly measure all the results I get with my clients using “as is” appraisals before any renovation and home staging improvement begin. Then after the house is sold I compare the gain that has been made – usually in the tens of thousands!

I recently came across a survey that had been done by HomeGain.com that measures the average cost of a range of home improvements done pre-sale, the average increase in sales and finally the average return on investment for that particular home improvement. The survey demonstrates that you don’t need to spend a large sum of money on improvements to get some really great returns.

HomeGain 2009 Top 11 DIY Home Improvements For Sellers (National)

Waiting for your house or any piece of investment property to sell can cause a fair amount of stress and headache on your part. And not getting decent offers despite your property being listed in the marketplace for months can be a terrible ordeal, right? Well, I believe so, too.

Good thing you don’t have to go through all these – if you plan on having your house or investment property staged, that is.

Why go for home staging when you can sell your house as it is? Well, the answer is really quite simple. Staging homes can make your home sell fast and for a far better value.

As with a lot of things, in selling real estate properties, first impressions count – a lot! Research proves that most buyers usually make up their mind whether or not they are going to buy your house within 15 seconds of walking up your front door. So, it’s up to you on how you can make the most of it, or lose it. It’s your choice.

Now, if you’re ready to take the first step to working that magic called home staging, here are some tips that can help you snag that sale even before your buyers walk through your front door. Start by creating an irresistible curb appeal that your buyers will love! Here’s how you can do it in 4 easy steps.

1. Clean up and de-clutter. Don’t hide your property’s full potentials. Trim overgrown bushes and mow the lawn. Scrub mildew and molds off the sidewalks and that nasty oil spill in the driveway. Get rid of all clutter and unnecessary items, too.
2. Paint it. If you can afford it, why not apply a fresh coat of paint? It can make your house look more appealing to buyers. However, you may want to stay on the conservative side and avoid using very strong colors. Remember, you want your house to appeal to the most number of buyers and strong colors may only turn some people off.
3. Consider landscaping it. Now, if your budget can still accommodate it, you can consider adding fresh sod or some live plants and other interesting focal points to your home’s exterior. Or alternatively, you can remove some elements to improve the looks of your property. Are there any trees or shrubs that are overshadowing some attractive features of your house? Take them off and see how it improves your property.
4. Prettify your front door. Ultimately, all attention leads to your front door. So, why not further improve your chances of closing a great deal for all your efforts? Prettify your front door! You can consider installing a new custom-made door, if your budget allows it. Otherwise, you can consider using what you have and improving on it. You can repaint your existing front door, or flank it with an interesting molding. Or you can simply polish your door fixtures or install coordinated light fixtures and accents to do the trick. Try to be creative and explore all the possibilities!

Staging homes effectively can help you sell your house fast and for far better value than leaving it as it is. Home staging does not need to be expensive or extremely time consuming, as these tips on improving your property’s curb appeal show. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Now, are you ready to get your house staged?

Here’s a video that talks about creating great curb appeal and how it can help sell your house.

Video. Home Decorating and Staging Tips - Curb Appeal

Clutter is the Number 1 problem my home staging clients battle. It’s not a problem exclusive to people getting prepared to sell their homes. Even I struggle to keep my house uncluttered! My dining table inevitably doubles as an office desk with the never-ending onslaught of daily mail and brochures continually piling up waiting for me to pay my bills and file the rest either in the appropriate place or, more likely, in the bin! It is usually when I am expecting company that I frantically race around cleaning up the paper trail and returning my dining table to its deserved “home beautiful” state! In the real world not many of us manage to keep our house free of clutter and looking like a page out of a glossy magazine 24/7.

Many of my clients are faced with the same dilemma but on a larger scale. They have committed to sell their home and I come in and tell them they have to clean up their clutter pronto before they even think about any other improvements! I explain to them that de-cluttering is an essential part of preparing your house for sale, and is virtually cost free. For some people de-cluttering is a very daunting task because there is a lot of emotion attached to our personal belongings and it can be very hard to part with stuff we have held onto for a long period of time. I recently had a client who booked me for a consult and when I got there she only wanted advice about the front yard. Now in the preliminary phone call with her husband I knew the house was built in the early ‘60s and they were not selling for about 18 months. I presumed the house was original in some rooms and would most likely need updating. Even though I wasn’t shown the whole house, it was obvious that getting the house to a sale ready stage would be a formidable task judging by the large amount of clutter in just the room we were in. After discussing the front yard makeover, my conversation gently turned to the inside of the house and it soon became clear that although my client knew there needed to be some upgrades and changes made before the house went to market, she couldn’t even think about that until she had dealt with the clutter. Her mother had passed away about 12 months previously and she admitted to me that she actually had about 4 rooms overflowing with her Mum’s most valued possessions. Her adult daughters who lived interstate didn’t want anything and she had come to the realization that neither did she. However some of her Mother’s things were of great value such as bone china dinner sets and other precious items and I guess she felt obligated to hang on to them. She had to deal with the emotional attachment to her Mum and since Mum was no longer there, the attachment had transferred to Mum’s things.

I suggested maybe she needed some outside help with a professional declutterer to get her started. Sometimes when we are overwhelmed by a job that seems too hard to start, getting help from a professional is a great solution. I know when certain jobs are too big, even for me and I am quite happy to outsource when necessary to get the job done! Here’s an example of the amazing results you can achieve by removing clutter from your home…

“Break each room up into manageable tasks”

“Keep the best and get rid of the rest”

Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional it is vital you DE-CLUTTER before putting your home on the market. Not only will your eventual move be easier but you will create an open, spacious and simplified look that buyers will love.

7 Top De-clutter Tips

1. Make it a manageable project by doing one room at a time 2. Get organized with boxes, bags, masking tape and a permanent marker 3. Break each room into small tasks with a time line i.e. clean out bookcase – 1/2 hour 4. Divide your clutter into 4 categories

• Garbage bags for rubbish
• Carry bags for clothing going to charity, or to be given away
• Boxes for garage sale/auction items
• Boxes for the stuff you are keeping and that will go straight into storage ready for your move

5. Keep the best and get rid of the rest. If it makes you smile or feel good, keep it. If you have no particular emotion to it, or if you have a bad reaction to it, ditch it       6. Have a garage sale, or sell some things through EBay or in your local paper. You may even make a profit from shedding your excess. 7. Pay it forward – your excess clutter can be someone else’s treasure. The beautiful jacket you’ve held onto because one day you might be a size 10 again – give it to a friend and make her day! Toys, books, magazines & collections – the local kindergarten or school may appreciate a donation of some of these items. Old photos – put together a photo collage or photo gallery and give to your children or grandchildren.

De-cluttering your house is the absolute first thing you need to do to prepare your house for sale. And if you are not selling, it is still the best thing you can do to create more space and feel like you have moved to a new place!