First Impressions – Houses To Impress http://www.housestoimpress.com.au Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:36:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 4 Tips in Staging Homes for that Irresistible Curb Appeal http://www.housestoimpress.com.au/4-tips-in-staging-homes-for-that-irresistible-curb-appeal/ http://www.housestoimpress.com.au/4-tips-in-staging-homes-for-that-irresistible-curb-appeal/#respond Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:35:13 +0000 http://renovateforsuccess.com/4-tips-in-staging-homes-for-that-irresistible-curb-appeal/ There’s no doubt about it – staging homes can help sell your house fast and for top dollar, too! Now, every homeowner who has a piece of real estate property sitting on the marketplace would love that, don’t you think so?

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

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Street Appeal Sells http://www.housestoimpress.com.au/street-appeal-sells/ http://www.housestoimpress.com.au/street-appeal-sells/#respond Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:10:56 +0000 http://renovateforsuccess.com/?p=182 STREET APPEAL is the single most important component a home seller can alter to increase their PROFIT from the sale. Now you may have spent hours or weeks getting the inside of your house spruced up, ready for your first open inspection and it now looks absolutely fabulous. But guess what? You forgot to dress the front of your house to impress and all that effort just went out the door. In fact your potential buyers didn’t even make it through your front door!

Imagine 80 per cent of potential buyers make a call on your house based on their first view of it. What sort of impression do you need to make to encourage them to come inside for a closer inspection rather than driving off after a quick street view?

Whether we like it or not, first impressions do matter. Whether or not first impressions are cruel and can mislead the viewer is irrelevant because that’s the reality with which we have to deal. Now while a trained house hunter like me will not be dissuaded by a first impression, 80 per cent of people rely on first impressions from which they make a huge leap to the final judgement! Do we want to alienate that 80 per cent? No way! And if 80 per cent are so significantly affected by a first impression, shouldn’t we be getting a wow response from that first impression? Absolutely!

For most people, buying a house is an emotional investment. Most buyers form an opinion in the first 30 seconds. If you haven’t grabbed their attention with that wow factor then as sure as night follows day, they will not even expend the energy to get out of their car and come inside.

Here are 3 rarely followed but sure-fire Top $ Tips to greatly enhance the street appeal of your home.

Top $ Tip 1

Get your front windows professionally cleaned. Cleaning windows so they are streak less and blemish free really is a job for professionals. Clean sparkling windows are one of the most powerful, unspoken ways in which a proud homeowner can say welcome, so invest in a professional clean.

Top $ Tip 2

Get your lawn mowed and the edges trimmed. Even if it is a dry patch, make sure it is not a weed-infested dry mat. If you have time, investigate replacing with artificial lawn but if nothing else, at the very least, make sure the “lawn” is cut, fertilised and watered. Green lawns will make you thousands!

Top $ Tip 3

Dress your front entrance. Set the tone for the rest of your home with a welcoming entry featuring a clear path to your front door, well-tended greenery, a beautiful front door (This may require painting or adding a new door handle or new numbers), and striking potted plants as a feature either side of the front door. Creating a welcoming entrance that makes people feel good from the moment they approach your front door will entice them inside. Whatever it takes, make it look better than it did.

Street Appeal embraces everything between the street and your front door. It doesn’t take much to make dramatic style improvements that will add massive value to your home.

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