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Meridian & Butler March
2) Neutralize the walls
Remove all dated wallpaper in your home, and paint the walls
with a neutral color (such as Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige).
Also, change any dark colors to a neutral paint, this will not only
make the room look bigger, but it will also highlight important
features of the room such as the fireplace, windows, or crown
molding. Paint should complement the room rather than being
the first thing that stands out. You do not want to be known as
“the house that has the purple living room” or “the house with
the mustard yellow kitchen.” Buyers have a difficult time seeing
their own furniture and taste in a home that has a strong decorating style. Neutralizing the walls will detract from this, and
will also freshen and brighten up the space.
living
spaces
Selling Your Home? Place Your
Space in High Demand
Story and photos submitted by Julie Snider, Butler
Tarkington resident and Owner of Redefining Spaces
In a competitive
market, staging your
home is crucial. Buyers
are choosing homes
that need as little
repair, remodeling,
and reconfiguring
as possible. Home
staging focuses on
the best features of
the property by editing the contents of the
home, neutralizing excessive decorating and
essentially creating a “lifestyle” in the home
that buyers will gravitate towards. Preparing
a house by staging it will make your home
appealing to the greatest number of potential
buyers...therefore your listing will be in
higher demand.
As a Certified Home Stager, I have been in many homes, and five
of the most common suggestions I make to sellers are the following:
1) Clear the clutter and de-personalize
Clutter and personal pictures are very distracting. When buyers
walk through a listing, you will want them to view the house as
their potential home, and this is hard to do when the home is
personalized or over-decorated.
Consider also editing furniture in different rooms in order to
have the room appear larger. I often tell sellers that we decorate
to sell much differently than we decorate to live. Your goal is to
have your home show like a model home when you list it, and
this can be done by packing up knick knacks, pictures, furniture
and other decorative items that take away from the parts of the
home that you want to highlight.
Kitchen and bathroom counters should be completely cleared
off. Don’t forget cleaning out and paring down closets, kitchen
pantries, basements, and mudrooms. All of this packing will also
give you a head-start before you move.
NeighborhoodNews
March Meridian & Butler
3) Make sure you have curb appeal
This is the buyers’ first impression of the home, so curb appeal
is critical. Making everything look trim and neat is a must, and
mulch is a great solution. You should also consider changing out
the address numbers, painting the front door, and adding flowers in urns. This will all add charm and a sense that the home is
well taken care of.
4) Replace dated light fixtures, cabinet hardware, and dated
bathroom faucets
Buyers appreciate fixtures that