Staging : Sell your home faster, make more money

In this business, I really value the importance of my relationships with professionals involved in all aspects of house flipping projects. Real Estate professionals have a great insight on what is currently selling and where changes can be made to maximize profits on the sale. Contractors can help us with budgeting home improvement costs.

Where should you focus your efforts for maximum return on investment?

Cleaning/Decluttering

Fresh coat of paint

Staging

Renovations

The list is endless, so how do I prioritize?

Every home is different and our design style is often personal and unique. As confident as you are in your taste, I believe in the importance of getting a second opinion. Reach out within your network for advice on what can be done to your home in order to showcase it’s best qualities (and take focus away from it’s flaws!)

For example, an accent wall colour may bring the perfect focus in your living space, but most potential buyers will see it as a painting project (not move in ready/additional cost to them). Our condo had a bright orange accent wall… which wasn’t to everyone’s taste.

The first impression a potential buyer gets of your home is no longer by walking in during an open house! With access to multiple search sites and MLS listings,  potential buyers may click on to the next listing if the images do not entice them to stay longer on yours.

I scoured different sites and found a few very interesting facts:

1. 98% of staged homes sold above asking price (source HGTV’s designed to sell)
2. Staged homes on average experience a 3% minimum increase in final sales price, versus non-staged homes. On a $400,000 that’s $12,000! (Source http://www.stagedhomes.com)
3. “Your investment in staging costs less than the first price reduction” Barb Schwarz, Creator of Home Staging
4. “Homes that sold after four weeks on the market sold for 6% less than ones within the first 4 weeks.” Survey by the National Association of Realtors.
5. “The staged homes realized on average a 6.4% increase over the list price.” Coldwell Banker Broker survey on 2772 homes in 8 cities.
6. “Staged homes sell, on average, within 35 days of being placed on the the market. Homes not staged took, on average, 175 days to sell” Based on a StagedHomes.com survey.

Seems like a no-brainer to me. Don’t you? I would be interested to hear your experiences in home buying/selling. If you had to do it again… what would you change?

Preview: Master bathroom remodel

I wanted to share a few teaser photos of the post I’m working on. When Chris and I bought our house last summer, it ticked almost every box on our list of must haves. Great neighbourhood, character, open concept, 3 bedrooms, 3 bath, finished basement, nice back yard, etc. We loved it so much, we even overlooked the fact that it didn’t have a garage (and being in the city, tight neighbours meant we actually couldn’t have one). The lack of garage… and Canadian winters… This video on têtes à claques explains the life we chose to live (en français) in order to live in our dream home. It’s all about compromises right? And we can always get an automatic starter!

It had recently been “renovated”, but not quite to our taste. We put in an offer  on the 1892 brick home with the intent to make our mark with a redesign that would suit our taste. For example, replacing the thin, old, yellowing hardwood floors with a wider, light brown, maple hardwood (we’re Canadians, how ironic) instantly changed the feel of the house. An other redesign project we took on was our master bathroom. Here are a few teaser pictures taken with our phones, and stay tuned for a more detailed post on what was done!

Before – small and tired

During – making more room for a large glass shower

After – More pictures to come!

After – More pictures to come

Modern day door-to-door salesman

So, when you both work from home, it means you’re ALWAYS available. It’s great when you’re expecting a Fed-Ex or UPS delivery (perfect for someone like me who loves to shop online deals). It’s really great that we never have to drive to the remote pick-up depot due to multiple missed delivery attempts.

Late last week, a man knocked at the door to offer his “professional” snow removal service. Apparently, an alarming hump of ice had begun to form at the edge of our driveway. This can cause considerable damage to the bottom of the car if left unkept he said. $35 is what he normal charges – but said he could do it for $25. I asked Chris what he thought -“How much is your time worth?” he says. I really had no interest to break the hump down and the SUV has no issues getting in and out of the driveway (it’s also a company car, soooo….), but why not get a “professional” job done?

I agreed with the man (after using my kick-ass negotiating skills) at a $20 price for the “professional” service. I’m not sure why I ASSUMED that this would take him at least an hour to complete…

My tools – not a truck…

So the guy takes MY shovel, walks over to the hump and picks at it for about 5 minutes. Comes back to the door, asking for his $20. Not willing to let it go so quickly, I asked him about this “truck” that is supposed to remove the ice he just scrapped off . He tells me his “buddy” is just down the street and will be over shortly with the truck. “Listen man, I’ll pay you AFTER you remove the ice/snow you just picked off” I said. The man gives me attitude, grabs my shovel and removes the ice (which took him about a minute). When he returned, I had no choice but to pay him what we agreed. Epic fail.

I have to give it to him, he must of done 5 houses on the street in an hour. Probably negotiating an outrageous price with the senior neighbours. I’m in the wrong business.