HomesByOwner Guelph

Staging Your Home For a Successful Sale!

You’ve likely seen the magic of home staging on TV’s real-estate makeover shows. Now you can steal these 10 tips and tricks from the pros to fluff up your own home’s appeal.

Home staging has hit prime time. You may marvel at what can be done in a 30-minute TV episode by a team of trained professionals, yet the reality is that you can achieve many of the same effects yourself. Your DIY efforts can impress agents and homebuyers and result in a faster sale for more money.

Before you get started, stop thinking of your house as your home. Treat it as an investment or commodity you’re trying to sell. Be a marketer and move your product using these 10 essential home-staging tips.

1. Raise your curb appeal. Potential buyers who drive by or drive up to visit should be greeted with a neat and tidy exterior. Trim the lawn and hedges. Clear the driveway of garbage cans, bikes and toys. Make sure your front porch, doors, and windows are gleaming and that eaves are clean and clear.

2. Clean obsessively. Clean as though your home is about to be inspected — because it is. Don’t miss any surface — door handles, windows, walls, appliances, floors, under furniture and behind the toilet. Rent a steam-cleaner for carpets and drapes. Buyers will usually look at the furnace and inside the garage too, so don’t ignore these areas.

3. Make minor repairs. Hire a handyman to make those long-neglected minor repairs such dripping faucets, aging caulking or loose tiles.

4. Purge closets and cupboards. Experts suggest that one third to one half of the contents of all closets and kitchen and bathroom cupboards should be removed. It will make your storage space look roomier, and it will help homebuyers imagine putting their things away here.

5. Kill the clutter. Even a clean room can look small and messy when filled with clutter. Remove knickknacks, newspapers, magazines, and clear your countertops of appliances. Pack up some of your books, CDs and other collections to give your home some breathing room.

6. Remove signs of daily living. You want your house to have that not-so-lived-in look, like a hotel room, so potential buyers won’t get distracted by your belongings. Remove all collectibles, photos, trophies and diplomas. Clear the bathroom of shampoo, conditioner and body wash bottles in open view.

7. Paint in a neutral colour. Painting is a good investment — it’s relatively inexpensive but can add to your home’s resale price. Choose neutral colours and avoid anything trendy. The last thing you want is for potential buyers to think the décor won’t work with their furnishings.

8. Lighten up. Make sure windows are spotless to let in more natural light. Strategically place floor and table lamps to brighten up any dark corners. Buyers want “bright and airy,” so that’s what you should show them.

9. Update fixtures. Dated light fixtures, cabinet hardware and even faucets should be updated to something more contemporary, but neutral.

10. Edit your furniture. Clear unnecessary furniture from a crowded room and rearrange what’s left into conversation areas. Make sure your furniture doesn’t block doors from opening or light from coming in through windows.

Of course, in some cases, you may have your home staged professionally. If that’s the case, you can still do much of this work yourself to save on the costs.

For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Statistics

Did you know?

FSBO Methods Used to Market Home:

Yard Sign . . . 50%
Friends/neighbours . . . 29%
Newspaper ad . . . 31%
Open House . . . 25%
Listing on the Internet . . . 21%

Most difficult things FSBO's Found
Getting the right price . . . 15%
Understanding paperwork . . . 18%
Preparing/fixing up home for sale . . . 15%
Attracting potential buyers . . . 9%
Having enough time to devote to all aspects of the sale . . . 7%

Source: 2007 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

HomesByOwner.com/Guelph can help with all these factors. Over 80% of people begin their home search on the Internet. We list your Home on FOUR websites. You need expossure to sell your Home. We can also help with pricing, paperwork etc.

FSBO is the way to Go!!

“Home Seller Consumer Insights; 2002-2003”
by Realty ViewPoint. The report concludes that
people that sell their home on their own typically
see 6% more in gross profits on the sale of a home.
This number increases to 29% when commissions
are included in the calculations. Also, people that
sell their home on their own typically sell in 8.1
weeks, while real estate agents take, on average,
11.5 weeks to sell a home. These conclusions show
statistical evidence that there is both a time and
monetary benefit to selling a home privately.

HomesByOwner.com/Guelph

We can help you save money and sell your Home for less than The Other GUYS!

Selling a home with an agent costs approximately 5% + GST. 5% of your home’s value usually ends up costing the home owner $15,000 - $20,000. Ouch! But is that 5% the correct amount? What percentage does using an agent really equal when you compare that to your actual home equity (ie - without your mortgage). Let’s do some more real estate math…

Your home is worth $400,000
Your mortgage is $250,000
Your equity is $150,000

So if you sell your home with an agent at 5% commission, you will need to pay $21,000 in commission and GST.

Now you have $379,000 from the sale of your home, but you need to pay back your mortgage of $250,000. So the amount of money that you have in your pocket is $129,000. How much did that agent cost you? What was the actual commission rate? You actually paid more than 14% of your own money in commissions ($21,000 / $150,000).

With HomesByOwner.com/Guelph, you now have the choice to sell your home and keep $150,000 instead of selling your home with an agent and keeping only $129,000.

Contact us today to SAVE your equity!!

The Real Commission Revealed!

If you think that a typical commission on the sale of a home is 5% to 6% you may find this article quite enlightening. The figures above would hold true if you have no mortgage on your property whatsoever, as for the rest of the population perhaps 99% of us these figures are remarkably low. When you hold a mortgage on your property, the commission percentage is closer to 60% or 90%. The 6% commission is based on the sold price of the property, but yet the entire commission is taken from your equity in the home, and therefore the real commission percentage is unbelievably higher. With the average commissions in Canada now over $20,000 you should know the facts. We surveyed several mortgage brokers to find out what the average loan to value might be for the average home owner, it is about 75% on properties owned for longer periods and 95% to 100% on recent purchases. It is this high loan to value ratios and low equity property owners that are hit the hardest. If you would like to know what kind of money a listing agent wants to take from you, get out a calculator, pencil and a sheet of paper right now and make sure you are sitting down when you are hit with the real commission percentage answer. If you have any kind of medical condition we would advise you to avoid these calculations. If you experience prolonged headaches, pains, vomiting or diarrhea after completing these calculations please contact your physician right away. Let your doctor know that you have completed these calculations so that he or she may also become aware of the truth. The 3 step formula is simple: 6% of your sales price, divided by your equity in the home = the true commission percentage. Follow these keystrokes; Step 1: Key in your sold price, Times 6 %, write your answer on a sheet of paper. Step 2:Clear the calculator, key in your sold price, Subtract the total amount of all mortgages against your property, Write your answer on the sheet of paper. This is your equity position. Step 3: Clear the calculator, key in the answer from step 1, Divide this amount by the answer from step 2, hit the percent key; this is the real commission percentage answer. Example: $300,000 property, 90% mortgaged and sold with agents Step 1: $300,000 sold price, times 6% = $18,000 (the false commission) Step 2: $300,000 sold price, subtract total of mortgages $270,000 = $30,000 (your equity position) Step 3: $18,000 divided by $30,000 = 60% commission (the true agent commission). Why is this? Because, in step one, the sold price of $300,000 is not the amount that goes to you, the $270,000 you owe to the mortgage company never even touches your hands, the remaining $30,000 has your name on it, BUT, first the agents take out $18,000 (60% of the $30,000) leaving you with $12,000 (less closing costs). Oh Yes, Don't forget to add GST on to that Commission!!! So have a Tylenol and remember… Save Thousands, sell your Home your self!!