Should I stage or should I go?

Why stage a home? What are the benefits of staging? According to recent studies by the Real Estate Staging Association a staged home is one that usually sells faster and is more likely to sell at original asking price. Now that doesn’t mean that the house will sell at a higher price, but it does mean the house will appeal to more potential buyers which could result in you getting more bids.

So I asked Beppie Mostert, an Interior Designer at Living Design Interiors in San Diego to give us the dirt on DIY staging. She was willing to share a number of tips that homeowners can adopt in preparing their own homes for the market, so listen up!

A house that sells at listed price in a short period of time has certain advantages and is incentive enough to stage the home on one level or another. Staging doesn’t need to cost an arm and leg. There are some simple ideas for staging to ensure the home looks good for the market and shows well on real estate websites, and I’d like to share them here.

The number one tip and most folks know this one, but it is to declutter and depersonalize. Your personal stuff is not what a potential buyer wants to see. What a buyer does want is to visualize how their own belongings will look in the space.

Tip number two is color and paint. Paint livens up a home and provides a fresh palette. For resale, a neutral color palette is recommended.   A consultation with your interior designer is worth the time and money spent as you will be provided with a completed palette for the rooms, spaces, and finishes. Not to mention that you now have a color palette that you can take with you to your next home as it will be based on your own furniture and accessories.

Tip number three is lighting. Without effective lighting a room will be drab, so check the lighting and also ensure that the same wattage is used in all spaces. Not only the wattage but ensure that all fixtures have the correct wattage and have a full compliment of light bulbs. If you do not have enough lighting, consider a small purchase of floor and/or table lamps or borrow from family, friends or neighbors.

Coming in at number 4 is the dining room table.  Walking into a dining room that has no decor is boring. Dining rooms deserve to be outstanding and exciting so dress the table for a dinner party. A beautifully arranged table is welcoming and there’s the wow factor, of course.

Numero five is a word about art and mirrors. Mirrors will make a room look larger, and they do not have to cost too much. Look for deals at retailers like Target, Michaels, and Home Goods. Art, on the other hand, is a very personal item. I always suggest subject matter that is abstract or landscapes with colors that bring out the accent color in the room.

Number 6 is furniture. Part of the decluttering stage is the placement of furniture. Furniture should be proportionate to the room and strategically placed furniture is far more appealing than a room filled with ill-fitting pieces. Each room has a purpose, so return each room to its original purpose. For example, that would mean that the pool table that had made its way into the dining room will need to go ‘bye-bye’!

Call Beppie at 858-243-0505 or email her beppiem@livingdesigninteriors.com for a staging/design consultation, we can vouch for her, she truly is a rock star at this stuff!

 

#Sandiego #realestate #staging #design #hgtv #target #homegoods #Micheals

 

Tackle these projects in just one day

New year, New You, right? I think this also applies to our homes. Take down those holiday decorations and all of a sudden your house seems bare, and you notice stuff you wish you had gotten to last year, but after blowing your cash on presents, the month of January can be tight.

Well, the good news is that you don’t have to spend a ton of time and money and brace yourself to upgrade your home. Here are a few projects that you can knock out in a single day, and they’ll greatly improve the look and enjoyment of your home.

Paint or replace an exterior door: If you know the correct dimensions and specifications for a replacement door, replacing an exterior door is a quick and easy job. That’s even truer if you’re repainting it. Preparation and a few coats of paint will only take a few hours.

Plant some low-maintenance trees: Young evergreen trees are relatively simple to plant, and after some heavy watering in the first few weeks, they’re very easy to maintain. They’ll add some color and texture to your landscaping, instantly improving curb appeal.

New light fixtures: Whether they’re on the interior or exterior of your home, something as subtle as light textures can have a dramatic effect. Swapping out traditional fixtures for something modern or industrial can completely transform a room.

New hardware: Drawer pulls and door knobs are easy to change out, and like light fixtures, they have a big impact. You’d be amazed how your kitchen or bathroom could look with new hardware.

Any other quick and budget friendly ideas out there?

 

Keepin the Loo clean

All of us at socalhomeshop hate cleaning the bathroom. To make matters worse it seems to be one of the most difficult places in our homes to keep clean. However, with a few clever changes and upgrades, it can be much easier to clean and maintain your bathroom. Check it out:

1-No-Touch Faucets: They’re not just for public restrooms, you know. A sensor on your bathroom faucet will eliminate one of the main touchable surfaces.

2-Install or upgrade the exhaust fan: The fan isn’t just for reducing odors or keeping the mirrors from fogging. The better your ventilation system in the bathroom, the easier it will be to prevent mildew and mold. It’ll also prevent paint from bubbling and peeling.

3-Easy-Clean Toilets: Whoever designed older toilets certainly didn’t design them with cleaning in mind! Newer toilets are often designed with smoother services that make cleaning a much simpler task—no more standing on your head to reach every toilet surface.

4-Remove grout: Germs and grime love to build up in the spaces between tile. Instead of tile, you can cover larger surfaces with glass or stone veneer, or simply use larger tiles. That’ll reduce the overall amount of grout in your bathroom.

5-Have kids: They need to earn their keep, why not have them clean it?

P.S. Number 5 goes for pretty much any room in the house:)

 

 

Make your living room more livable!

Here are some great ideas that can dramatically improve the feel and “feng shui” of any living room. Read on!

1. Move the furniture away from the walls: The tendency is to place your furniture against the walls, but giving it a little room to breathe will make the seating area seem cozier while also making the room seem more spacious.
2. Mix old and new pieces: Using the same furniture set to furnish an entire room can make it seem a bit sterile. Try mixing and matching different pieces and styles to give your living room a more eclectic feel.
3. Keep everything low: Arranging photos and artwork lower on walls will make a room appear larger, and can also draw more attention to the pieces themselves.
4. Place a bookshelf behind the sofa: It doesn’t have to be your entire personal library. Mix and match books with knick-knacks and other items to add some depth and texture to the space behind your sofa.
5. Try a smaller coffee table: Your current coffee table is probably larger than it needs to be, and it may be dominating the room. Try downsizing to a table that can still hold magazines, a centerpiece, and a few drinks, but will also give you a bit more room to move around your furniture.

Still not happy? Call socalhomeshop. We will find you the living room of your dreams!

 

Shoot me now

 

Getting just the right pictures of your home to make it show well is not an easy task. We asked Barry Fisch from flashitfirst  photography what his thoughts were regarding the best time to do a shoot, and he kindly shared the following with us:

“Clients often ask me what the is best time of day to shoot real estate photos, and I tell them to consider the following five things:

1 – Quite often, one side of the house looks best at different times of the day, depending on the orientation of the house and time of year.  Does your budget include a fee for shooting at 2 different times of day?  Each photography company has different rates for a return shoot.  It would be a good start to inquire.

2 – There are a number of challenges when shooting, then retouching the photos for an        interior.  The biggest, and often impossible to fix, is when the sun is directly in a      window.  You may have heard the term HDR, it stands for High Dynamic Range.  This makes that range go off the charts.

3 – The sexiest type of shots for real estate sales are twilights.  This is a magic 20-25 minutes at the end of the day where the direct sunlight is gone, but the sky still has some ambient color.  Again, the cost will be higher since there is more work on-site and also in retouching.  This is well worth it if there are ample landscaping lights, especially a pool or water feature with lights.

4 – If you don’t want to spend any additional money, pick a time of day when the shadows will be at their least, and the area that is the best sales feature is highlighted.

5 – If the view is a valuable asset and it usually is, be sure that the sun is not in the camera’s lens when taking those photos.  Sun should be at your back then.  Especially when shooting Pacific Ocean views.”

P.S. Check out this cool website that will show where the sun and shadows are, it also takes into account date and time www.photoephemeris.com

Be sure to call Barry @ 888-510-0515 or email him barry@flashitfirst.com  for your next shoot, he’ll take great care of you, and will be sure to make your property shine!

For buying or selling, think socalhomeshop your one-stop home shop!