1: Landscaping

A buyer will often determine whether or not they wish to make an offer on a property within a minute of stepping onto the property. A trimmed lawn, freshly painted exterior and a tidy landscaping job will greatly increase the value of your property as well as improve your odds that a buyer will be enticed into making an offer.

2: The Entryway

The first look inside the home is among one of the most important. When someone steps into your home, you need to ensure that they have the best first impression possible. Focus a great deal of time on the detailing and cleaning of the first rooms that they see. Clean in the corners, clean the grout between every tile and vacuum any carpets or rugs. Pay close attention to the detailing, as well as the presentation of any accessories in the room.

3: The Kitchen

The kitchen will often make or break a sale for a property. The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home. Present your kitchen in such a way where it is clean, well laid out, and pleasant to be in. Even a small kitchen can be made presentable with the right colors and use of space. Spend a great deal of time cleaning the kitchen and preparing it for viewing.

4: The Bathroom

A clean, tidy bathroom with fresh towels laid out, as well as strategic use of non personal accessories, is vital for the presentation of a home. The bathroom should be meticulously cleaned from the floor to the ceiling. Be warned, the buyer’s will check the shower. If there is a lot of staining in the shower, make certain they are all gone prior to showing the property.

Common Errors

1: Photographs and Personal Items left on display

The buyer is not interested in your photographs or keepsakes from vacation. Remove them prior to showing a property. These items often take away from their ability to imagine themselves living in your space.

2: Remove excess clutter

Clutter makes rooms look a lot smaller than they actually are. Remove clutter from all rooms.

3: Lawn not trimmed before every viewing

It is a lot of work, but maintaining the appearance of the exterior before each day of viewing makes a big difference. Grass left to grow is extremely noticeable to buyers.

Peter S. Museer

The purpose of a home staging company is to create a neutral space so that potential buyers can envision their style and belongings in each room. The objective is to foster an appearance of uncluttered, functional and welcoming rooms in the home or business facility. When a realtor shows the property, potential buyers can visualize the space without unnecessary distractions. Home staging can be especially important in family dwellings that have recently been placed on the market for sale. Real estate professionals know from experience that staging will increase the odds of selling a property.

If a homeowner is unable or unwilling to properly prepare the home for sale, realtors will often hire a professional home staging company. A professional home stager will remove clutter, depersonalize the space and make the best use of each room. With the current state of the economy and the flat-lined level of property sales, home staging businesses are in big demand. Realtors count on home stagers to increase their odds of a purchase offer.

Developers will often hire home staging companies to stage model homes. Home stagers can advise the developer on color choices, floor, furniture and appliances. A staged model home will attract more buyers than a model home that is completely bare. Additionally, smaller contractors who buy and renovate older homes will turn to a home stager when it comes time to list the renovated property on the market.

When the real estate market is sluggish, the realtors who are still moving properties are often the ones who regularly utilize the services of a home staging business. Home staging can mean the difference between a home that sells quickly and one that sits on the market for months or years.

“But every buyer knows instantly what they do not want” says expert and author, Barbara Jennings, of the Academy of Staging and Redesign. While buyers may not know how to describe what they want, they have no problems expressing what they do not want.

So here are some basic aspects about properties that buyers do not like and that homeowners should try to avoid by staging homes:

1) Dying plants in the front yard. You’ve no doubt heard the phrase “curb appeal”. A home should look terrific and inviting from the street. If it does not, buyers won’t even stop. They just keep driving.

2) Broken or cracked asphalt in driveway or front steps. Presentation is half the battle. But if your presentation fails leading up to the front door, many buyers won’t bother going inside as they have already experienced a negative impression that is hard to change.

3) Unpleasant smells upon entering. If the house stinks, you can probably bet it will be written off the list then and there.

4) Old rundown kitchen and baths. The kitchen and bathrooms are the most important areas of a home to modernize. Since they are both the hub and the source for cleanliness in the house, they need to be up-to-date and clean and free from any problems.

5) Bright colors everywhere. Buyers do not want to have to change the carpets and wall colors. They want the colors to be neutral so they will blend with their furnishings.

6) Cluttered rooms, messy rooms. Buyers want owners to stage home with good taste and demonstrate they loved living in the home.

Buyers want to believe they will love living in the home should they place an offer on the table. They want owners to stage home in attractive, workable ways to help them envision living there.

When homeowners look at their home with “buyer’s eyes”, they usually get a different perspective. Owners should inspect their properties with the detail of someone who is extremely critical. It should cease to be viewed as a “home” and instead be viewed as a “house” or raw asset. The more an owner can detach emotionally from the home before putting it on the market, the better chance they will have of getting buyers to pay attention to their property thus keeping it on the buyer’s list of possibilities.

Barbara Jennings has over 20 years experience in the interior redesign and home staging industry. Barbara’s Academy of Staging and Redesign is the world’s largest and most affordable home study interior redesign and home staging training center.

P.S. Be smart about money. Read how to choose competent invest in forex service.

Attention to detail makes the difference. When staging a home, one should follow some specific tactics to achieve the best outcome. Here are five basic mistakes to avoid:

1) Never sell a house empty. All too many people remove all items from the house and enlist the services of an agent to present a completely empty home. While this process involves less risk of damage or theft of furnishings, it is the worst way to put a house on the market. Buyers can see the shell of the house, but they will struggle to make an emotional connection with it which is vital to the process of getting them to make an offer.

2) Never sell a house with clutter. On the opposite side of the spectrum, many people try to sell their house while still living in the house and they don’t realize there is a huge difference between living in a house and selling a house. Homeowners often allow their rooms to become messy. They over decorate or severely under-decorate.

3) Never sell a house that needs maintenance. Pay attention to the little details – because buyers will notice every little problem and magnify it in their minds. No one wants to buy a house that requires repairs – even little ones. Repairs will have to be made anyway after the house is inspected.

4) Never sell a dirty house. Living with your own dirt is one thing but no one wants to buy a filthy house. Your home must pass the white glove test to sell.

5) Never sell a house that smells. The nose is one of the most powerful senses we have and when a buyer enters a house, they will pick up on odors that the homeowner does not notice. A smelly house is one of the biggest turn offs to prospective buyers. Air fresheners can help but they only mask over the odors and do not remove them.

Smart owners ask their neighbors, friends and relatives to walk through their house before they are listed on the market. It costs nothing to get their opinions and could serve as valuable insight into what additional home stagingmight need to be done.

Barbara Jennings has over 20 years experience in the interior redesign and home staging industry. Barbara’s Academy of Staging and Redesign is the world’s largest and most affordable home study interior redesign and home staging training center.

For the tips about luxury vacation home, please read this blog post.

Here are a few of the issues that cause many agents to stumble when trying to stage to sell according to Barbara Jennings, director of the Academy of Staging and Redesign.

1) Inability to advise sellers of the benefits of redesign – No seller looks forward to spending more cash to prepare their home to sell. Yet it is a rare home that requires little to no work. But if the proper tasks are done right, it is amazing how costs for redesign are reduced while making a dramatic improvement in the look and feeling of the home.

2) Inability to keep from offending the sellers – No one likes to be told that their home is a mess, that their decorating efforts are dreary or dreadful, that their home is in disrepair, or that it smells awful. So getting the truth across to a seller without totally offending them is an art that few agents have mastered. This is one reason why it helps dramatically to bring in a qualified stager to give the bad news, keeping the seller/agent relationship in tact.

3) Ignorance of interior design concepts – One cannot hope to properly conduct a proper home staging service if one does not know basic interior redesign concepts. How much furniture is kept in each room and where it is placed are crucial elements to successful presentation of the property.

4) Failure to go far enough in the design concepts – Knowing how much to do is as important as knowing what to do when it comes to home staging. Far too often untrained beginners are afraid. Fear immobilizes. You really only get one opportunity to launch a home for sale for the greatest impact. So if it is not handled properly the opportunity is lost, or at the very least, it is diminished.

5) Failure to hire professionals to manage the staging – Reducing costs is always a concern and no one like the idea of spending money to make money. But when it comes to home staging, spending money is often required. There are many tasks that will not involve costs, such as rearranging furniture and accessories however. Professional stagers are the most reliable people to lean on when it comes to good redesign techniques.

Barbara Jennings has over 20 years experience in the interior redesign and home staging industry. Barbara’s Academy of Staging and Redesign is the world’s largest and most affordable home study interior redesign and home staging training center.

Get yourself luxury vacation home – read how to do that.

Home staging expert and trainer, Barbara Jennings, is director of The Academy of Staging and Redesign. “I think many people shut down when it comes to preparing their homes for sale. The task feels overwhelming. They have emotionally set their minds and hearts on where they will live next and just don’t want to go to the trouble and expense to fix up the home to be sold.”

But here are 5 good reasons why every homeowner should pay attention to the concept of house staging, whether they hire a professional to stage their home or they do the work themselves.

1. Real estate staging fixes the most glaring problems in the house. No one wants to buy a house that looks as if it has been unkempt for many years. No one wants to pay for someone else’s mistakes or lack of attention.

2. Real estate staging diminishes the defects in a house. Every house, no matter how well built, has defects of one kind or another. But even if it were perfect, it will not meet the needs and wants of every potential buyer that sees it. The key is in making sure that the defects are minimized, so it will appeal to the most buyers.

3. Real estate staging accentuates the home’s attributes. Every home has a charm all its own but one may have to work at it to bring out that charm. Whether the house is old or relatively new, house staging can go a long way to dramatically enhancing the best features of the house.

4. Real estate staging reaches buyers on an emotional level. It is a well known fact that buyers do not make offers unless and until they have an emotional connection with a property. But most people struggle with visualizing their furnishings in the home. That’s why proper house staging can make a huge statement because it helps them visualize living in the home and even suggests ideas for arrangements.

5. Real estate staging brings the sizzle to the steak. While some people (mostly men) like seeing the shell of a house, women definitely respond more favorably to a well appointed, nicely decorated home. Once problems are fixed, house staging creates a cozy, comfortable feeling that helps potential buyers make a real, lasting connection.

Do you want to become a home stager? You can with our effective home study courses.

Want to improve the looks of the real estate before selling it – visit suspended ceiling blog for practical tips.

1. Poor stagers look for reasons to fail. Rich stagers look for reasons to succeed. The key is not whether a person fails or succeeds, but how she reacts to both circumstances. Every one fails now and then. The trick is to succeed more than you fail, and to fail in small increments with pre-calculated, measureable risks.

2. Poor stagers are jealous of successful stagers. Rich stagers admire other successful stagers. Poor stagers resent others who dress nicely, drive expensive cars, and enjoy the “good life”. Rich stagers appreciate the assets of all others, and are not threatened by other business owners.

3. Poor stagers believe life is not fair. Rich stagers believe life is what you make of it. Poor people sometimes develop a sense of entitlement, as if the world owes them a free ride. Rich people take pride in earning their own ride and inviting a few friends along for the journey.

4. Poor stagers concentrate on the obstacles. Rich stagers see obstacles as opportunities. Poor people are afraid they don’t know enough to be successful and they want to postpone until they feel they know enough before beginning. Rich people know they will never know enough, but they trust they know enough to get started.

5. Poor stagers focus on the risks. Rich stagers focus on the path. Poor people fear failure so much they don’t want to bet on themselves and would rather keep the status quo than risk the investment of time, effort and money. Rich people believe in themselves, knowing that should they fail, they will regroup and recoup, and wind up even stronger and smarter than before.

Studies have also shown that rich stagers think very differently from poor stagers when it comes to their ability to make money. That’s because rich stagers have a very different belief system about wealth that affects not only their thoughts, but their feelings and actions. Consequently their incomes, according to Barbara Jennings of Decorate-Redecorate.com, vary widely.

A person’s deep seated unconscious beliefs about money and their worthiness to have it are at the root of why some people are extremely wealthy and other people are extremely poor. Until a person can change their unconscious beliefs about themselves and how they feel about wealth, they will be incapable of changing their income status or their self image.

Barbara Jennings has over 20 years experience in the interior redesign and home staging industry. Barbara’s Academy of Staging and Redesign is the world’s largest and most affordable home study interior redesign and home staging training center.

For the tips about making your home look better, home improvements and suspended ceiling in particular – visit this blog.

Feng Shui is about arranging buildings or objects so that they are in harmony with the world around it. This careful placement of items is believed to increase the positive energy of a room. While Feng Shui has been around for centuries, it is still relatively new here in the West. Getting started with the practice can be intimidating for beginners, as there are many things to consider when deciding where to place your furniture or what colors to use. Below are a few simple tricks you can employ today to get started on the path to positive chi, and to selling your home.

One of the first steps to take when you want to improve the chi, or energy, of your home is to make sure that there’s plenty of visual and physical open space. Clean up the clutter and keep books, CD’s, and other trinkets in cupboards or in decorative containers. You don’t want to see everything in plain view, because this creates visual distraction. When everything is put in its proper place and hidden from view, the room will feel calmer. Television sets for instance, emit a great deal of energy which should be contained, so if at all possible, keep your TV in an entertainment center that has doors. As an added bonus, potential buyers will see that you have plenty of room to store your personal effects, and they won’t feel overwhelmed by your belongings.

Keep very little on your shelves, and only display cherished items that bring a sense of joy or serenity to the room. This will make the room appear bigger, and the energy will be happy and inviting.

Corners that point towards you are believed to send out “poison arrows,” which destroy positive energy. Try to have round tables rather than square or rectangle. If this is not possible, consider adding plants with rounded leaves to the room to soften sharp edges. Alternatively, drape soft flowing fabric overtop anything with pointy corners and such. This will literally soften the energy of the room and make it feel much more welcoming.

Place mirrors in strategic places around your home to create the feeling of a larger space. Do not place a mirror across from a door, or else you’ll be reflecting the positive energy rather than allowing it to come inside. Many Feng Shui consultants also suggest that it’s a bad idea to place mirrors in the bedroom because they are too stimulating for a place of rest. They’re also thought to be bad luck and romance-killing if placed in the bedroom, so beware!

Feng Shui is a very complicated art form, and requires a great deal of study if you want to truly master it. However, with just a few simple adjustments to your decor, you can have a significant impact on the atmosphere of your home. Once you generate some positive chi in your home, buyers will be drawn to it.

One of the trends that has emerged recently has been to showcase homes online using virtual staging techniques rather than traditional in-house staging. Using a computer program, virtual home stagers are able to take a picture of a home and alter it any way they like. This can involve everything from changing wall colors to moving around furniture.

Fans of this technique say that virtual staging is far more cost-effective than traditional home staging, which can be expensive and time consuming for sellers. With a few clicks of a mouse, a room can be transformed from dingy to delectable.

Properties that benefit the most from this technology are the vacant homes that have no furnishings or personal touches. Empty houses can prove difficult to promote via photographs. All that buyers see in the pictures are four white and carpeting. It’s very difficult for potential buyers to visualize themselves living in the property because it appears so cold and uninviting.

In addition, many empty houses look alike when photographed. Architectural features can get overwhelmed by the lack of personality in the room, and buyers can’t see the home’s true potential.

With virtual staging however, you can easily add elegant furniture and area rugs in order to personalize the space. Buyers will see a home that is welcoming and homey, which is exactly what they’re looking for.

Opponents say that virtual home staging is deceptive and unethical. A buyer sees a perfectly staged and decorated home on the internet, but when they see the property in person, they’re disappointed. It is then up to the real estate agent to explain that the listing showed only a computer-generated version of the home–essentially showing the home’s potential rather than its present reality.

But if virtual staging is seen as deceptive, is it really any more misleading than traditional staging techniques? When you hire a home staging professional, they come to your home and either rearrange your items to make the property more appealing, or else they bring in their own furniture–props if you will–to make the space look its best.

Another part of the debate is where do you draw the line? If it’s okay to change the window treatments to something nicer, is it all right to erase wall cracks and other flaws? What if you want to add virtual furniture to a room? If the furniture you select isn’t to scale with the true dimensions of the house, you could make the rooms appear to have more space than they actually do.

It’s important for agents who decide to use this technology to be very aware of how they use it and what their intentions are. If adding faux furniture to an empty room can get buyers to view the property in person, then that’s fine. When you start to alter the image of the house itself in order to make it look like something it’s not, that’s when you’re crossing the ethical line.

For great information on the Atlanta real estate market and for incredible Buckhead real estate listings, and to browse homes and properties for sale, visit RealSourceBrokers.com. This site is easily the most developed and useful Intown Atlanta real estate resource online.

Staging has been in vogue for the past couple of decades. It was however, only in the 1990s that staging was adopted by designers and real estate agents as a separate endeavor. Do-it-yourself staging is also very popular. These days staging is being seen as an important step prior to the selling of the house to help cut down on the time it takes to realize a sale. However, there are many homeowners who are increasingly turning to help from professional home stagers or real estate agents with staging experience, to prepare their properties before they are put on the market.

Staging basically is the addition of fresh coats of paint, repositioning, adding or subtracting of furniture and accessories in order to wow visitors and help the property sell quickly. Staging is concerned with proper styling and proper presentation. There are now home staging courses that are designed to teach professionals the many aspects of home staging. Armed with professional qualification, home stagers are now increasingly being sought after by homeowners to stage their homes.

There are a number of techniques that are used in staging and some important changes that may be required to make a home look more inviting to a buyer. It is believed that a homeowner decides within the first ten minutes of seeing a home. It is for this reason, that staging becomes really important as the changes can create a great first impression.

Homes that are furnished generally tend to sell much more quickly than empty homes. Intelligent use of the space at the time of staging is key. All efforts should be towards making the rooms appear larger, more open and comfortable. Wall treatments and furnishings are equally important aspects of staging, but nothing should be overdone. Less is more is the best motto when it comes to home staging.

Many of the products that home stagers will choose will be rented on a month-to-month basis. During this time, the original furnishings that were in the home can be stored in a warehouse. Renting the furnishings instead of buying them, keeps the cost of staging down to a manageable amount of money.

By using home stagers homeowners multiply their chances of selling their home.

Read more about how to buy a house after bankruptcy.