Why Read this~ Welcome to my blog! While visiting my site I hope you will get to know more about the real estate market in Hamilton county as well as me. I am ever changing as is the market and this blog will be full of my opinions, thoughts, ideas and things I want to share! Visit my about page it you want to learn more about me.
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Living room before staging
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Living room after
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Dining room before
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dining room after
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kitchen eat in area before
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kitchen eat in area after
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kitchen before 2
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KITCHEN AFTER
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master bedroom before
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MASTER BEDROOM AFTER
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master bath before
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Master bath after
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2nd bedroom after
You’ve all seen the shows and a good realtor will tell you, you have to stage your home. But what does that really mean?
Ok, so what does that really mean? Declutter, depersonalize, neutralize, minimalize? Now what? Move a chair or two? Well
have I got a story for you!!! I got a listing a year a go. Yes a year a go. Beautiful home! The kitchen is the size of a two car
garage!!! Well kept, loaded with features. The homeowner was willing to put away the family pictures and had 2 or 3 even yard
sales and made trips to good will. She boxed up so many things her three car garage could only hold 1 car-no kidding. I
came and took pictures and we got them on the internet. Long story short, in a years time we maybe had 5 showings. We
did get an offer but it was a first right offer meaning they have to sell theirs before they can buy this one but still not much
activity. We did everything. Price reductions, open houses, advertising and on every corner of the internet I could get it.
Finally after the year she says you have to do something and I don’t care what just do it. We agreed to stage it and to do it
my way. It was such a change in her home, when she came home from work she walked around for 30 minutes before calling me
then called and said she was in the wrong house. She couldn’t believe the change!!! Within 10 days of staging it we had
over 6 showings and 2 offers!!!! Pictures sell homes!!!! See the before and after
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 confused 4 months working on a short sale. 4 months! Only to get a week a way and have it go to sheriff sale. Sit back. You are going to love this story!!! A listing of mine was headed to foreclosure and the bank, a very large bank, agreed with the seller to do a short sale. In February we received an offer for the home. The buyer had some credit issues but worked very hard with his agent to get them resolved and to be able to get the home. Around the end of May he ran into some issues again and switched lenders. He now is borrowing from the same bank that has the loan currently. The second week in June we have almost everything done. The sellers bank has asked for a pre-approval letter so the buyer provides one. Less than 2 weeks later, all we have left to do on the sellers side is receive the payoff letter and we can close. The buyers side only needed a certified mold remediator and then they would be ready. On a Thursday, after just being told this was all we need only 5 hours before, I get a call from a realtor. He wants to know why a home I have pending in the system is going up for sheriff sale at noon? It’s 11 o’clock!!! I quickly start making phone calls to find out and to see if I can get it stopped. At 11:45 I get told it’s too late, the bank got tired of waiting. On them selves!!!!!! I tried calling the mortgage broker. I called his cell phone over and over. I would hang up each time I got his voicemail and call right back. 5 or 6 times- no answer. 12:30 I get an email from him asking if the rumor was true, did all his hard work really just go down the drain? Yes I told him. Your bank just let your deal go down the drain because they got tired of waiting. So he emails me back how it sucks that he got thrown under the bus by his own company but on the bright side, the new owner of the home called the buyers agent and said they would let the buyer buy the home after the alloted waiting period. Wow I said. How great it is that the bank screwed the buyer out of the $8000 tax credit, sold the $98,000 mortgage for $28,000 when they could have had $60,000 if they had only waited one more week. How great it was that the mortgage broker was still going to get to write the loan (in 91 more days), the buyers agent was still going to get her commission and the buyer was going to get the home he had been trying so had for. And how great for the guy who just bought the house that appraises for over $105,000 for $28,000 that in 91 days he gets a $32,000 profit!!!! YEA!! What a bright side!!!! Oh in case you’re wondering how much I got paid for all my work on this- zero!!!!
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 Here are 10 steps for getting your home ready to sell. I got these from RISMedia but they are the rules I use when helping a client get their homes ready.
1. Visit model homes and examine shelter magazines for inexpensive decorating ideas. Always keep in mind you are not decorating for yourself but for the general public.
2. Start with the outside. Give the house a fresh coat of paint, add shiny hardware to the front door and plant a few flowers to send a subliminal message the house is loved and well cared for.
3. Declutter every room to make it look larger. Get rid of family pictures, trophies and knickknacks. Closets and drawers shou downsizing, garage, kitchen, market conditions, more room, new house, noblesville, staging, westfieldld be no more than 30% full.
4. Invest in eco-friendly but bright lights. Open the drapes or remove them completely. “Light, bright rooms give the impression this is a happy place-and everyone wants to move into a happy place.”
5. Feature only a few pieces of furniture with mainstream appeal. Pull pieces away from walls to make rooms look bigger.
6. Make sure a room’s primary use is obvious. A bedroom should look like a bedroom, not an office, hobby center or gym.
7. Bedrooms and kitchens are difficult to stage because they are in daily use, but make the effort. Clear everything off the counters and night stands, roll up the rugs and hide the laundry hamper. Buff the cabinets with car wax and clean under the sinks. Invest in pristine white bed linens and towels.
8. Minimize the “pet effect.” Remove food bowls and litter boxes to the utility room. Deodorize thoroughly.
9. Organize the utility room and garage. Hang up the bicycles, roll up the hose. Renting a storage locker is worth the cost if it helps you sell faster and for a higher price.
10. Once your house is staged, invite your friends or Realtor over and walk them through to get an objective opinion.
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Thanks to all who are sneaking a peak at my website and blog. It is a very slooow process because I am learning as I go and have great help.This is one of those things that is a labor of love. I have drank a lot of cokes trying to get this going and I am soo close!!!! So hang in there with me. Keep checking back. And I hope you will eventually subscribe to my blog!
~Donna
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Oh how Realtor’s love new builds! Most of the time they go very smoothly. We don’t get paid until further down the road than if you had purchased something pre-existing, but almost all the builders in Hamilton County are wonderful to work with for the buyers and the Realtors – except one. Now I don’t want to take a chance with getting sued for slander so I won’t mention any names, but…
 Caught with your pants down? When someone decides to build a home whether it is a custom home or production home, working with a Realtor should not be something you decide not to do. We can help make sure things stay on track, help answer questions you have and follow-up to keep your stress to a minimum. The price you pay is not affected whether or not you use a realtor. Now with that said, there is one builder out there in our area who does do two pricing sheets. I got lucky when I it happened to me but another agent in my office just recently got screwed out of a commission and made to look like a liar to her clients. How can we tell our clients that you need us and you will not be treated any differently if you use us if builders are winking and hinting otherwise? In my instance, the sales person flat-out told me the price would be different if my clients kept me on as their agent!
I have confronted several of the salespeople for this company and gotten the same answer regarding what happened to me. Since a fellow agent got screwed by them I didn’t realize what they were saying to me. I do now. Their response each time (different sales people by the way at different communities) all said “oh they shouldn’t have said that to you”. At first I thought that meant this salesperson was wrong in changing the price when she found out about me being involved. Now I know it means she shouldn’t have shared their double pricing strategy with me!
It’s funny because this company is one the biggest companies in the area to offer Realtor incentives. I guess they do this because they have no intention of paying them!!!!
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As I stand looking out my back window I can see the grass that wants desperately to be green, the playset, and the patio we put in last year. Now, anyone who knows me knows, I don’t do anything expected, or like anyone else. For example, my updated patio.
To elaborate, my patio is across my backyard, away from the house, next to the yard barn and near the back of the property line. The majority of the material used was brick salvaged from an old homestead we used to have and some brick we acquired (with permission) from an older homestead here in Hamilton county. We laid out a pattern that has an outline of the old brick and old brick in the center with spots of bricks showing up here and there throughout. The rest is poured concrete. We wanted something with a look that has been there long before our neighborhood ever was. We also incorporated a firepit and a flower box. Once it was all finished we couldn’t wait to use it and got the all weather wicker furniture I have been dying for!
As I stand looking out at this patio I can’t wait to start using again, I realize it looks a little like we just dropped it there and really needs grounded. I have some ideas rolling around in my head in order to do that: We are going to install a privacy fence in one corner. More for definition and storage than privacy and to help frame the patio. Next, we are going to put a section of rot-iron fencing to seperate the flower box from the patio. As you can tell I’m not afraid to mix materials. Now for the fun stuff: Flowers!
I have a love for flowers, but with my schedule of being a real estate agent and a mom and all the other things I like to do, digging in the garden all the time isn’t something I want to be doing every day so I prefer periennals. For those of you who get them confused, and don’t be embarrassed because I do too.
- Periennals are plants that come back year after year.
- Annuals are the ones that only last one year.
Now keeping in mind where my patio is, my yard is also the main play yard for the kids and adults. Along with the playset we also have a volleyball court. So I need plants that can withstand an occasional stray ball or a player who misjudges the edge of the court. So along with perennial we are talking hardy!
Here are some perennials that work well:
- Hostas is one of my first choices. Great big green leafy leaves. This non bloomer has a personality all their own.
- Day lillies and knockoutroses are my next choices. Now everyone uses these three so they are easy to find and work well in Indiana. To keep my patio looking more like me and not the parking lot at the neighborhood hardware store, I am also thinking about adding astilbe.
- Dwarf Fountain Grass is a widely popular ornamental grass that looks best along walkways and around water gardens.
- American Beech
I have a few other ideas but need to research their hardiness to my high traffic area. I also have to consider the heat factor. My husband still feels the need to build fires big enough to heat the back yard in our fire pit!!!!
Now it’s your turn. Share what you are doing with your landscaping this spring.
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