Mini Staging Lesson One
How to Make the Big Decisions

You’re thinking about moving.  You’ve watched the news, you’ve read the papers, you know the real estate market is tough.  You’re wondering what you need to do to get your home ready to sell.

The current generation of home buyers is fussy.  With work, family, and the frantic pace of daily life, these folks aren’t interested in building sweat equity or getting a better price because a house needs work.  They’ve grown up with the instant gratification of TV, the Internet, and fast food. They expect more and they don’t want to wait for it.  Buyers want to move in and get back to business.

I’d like to be able to give you better news, but I can’t help you sell your home if I don’t tell you the truth.  Today’s buyers want their homes “in turnkey condition” as it’s now called by the real estate industry.

What does that mean to the home seller?  It means if you’re considering putting your home on the market “as is” you can expect a long listing time, a lower sale price and it may mean no offers at all.

So if you’re serious about selling your home, if it’s dirty—clean it, if it’s broken—fix it, and if it’s dated (even if it’s in good condition) get rid of it.  I call this approach the 3rs of home selling—remove, repair, and restore.

And if there is a larger improvement you’ve been wondering if you should do—do it.  Most homeowners know intuitively what needs to be done, they just talk themselves out of it by saying it’s too expensive, too much work, or takes too much time.   From years of experience, I can tell you if you’re thinking something may be a problem, chances are potential buyers will think so too.

For example, you may be wondering if you should replace your carpeting.  It could be worn, stained, or it might even be in good condition but several years old.  You’re thinking it would be less work for you and more fun for the new owners if you offered a carpeting allowance and let the new owners replace it themselves.

That is perfectly reasonable but, although I agree with you, that approach no longer works with today’s home buyers.  If you want to sell your home today, you need to market to today’s buyers and they expect their homes to be turnkey ready.

Do yourself a favor.  Put in new inexpensive, neutral colored carpet, or it’s very likely your home will linger on the market much longer costing you even more in time, effort and money.

Diane Keyes
This Sold House