"If you can Smell it YOU cant Sell IT!"

If you can Smell it YOU cant Sell it!

I bought my house a little over a year ago. When i was looking for homes I looked online before ever calling my Realtor to take me out to see it. I knew I wanted to be in a certain school district. In my area there is not many to choose from, especially at the time.  I was very excited about a particular home, especially driving by it! The neighborhood was great! It was less than 1.5 miles from the schools! I was pumped! I called my Realtor very excited about this all brick home in the perfect neighborhood! Yes i did see the photos online and yes it would need painted but I was ready to make the offer after driving by and seeing photos online!

We went the next day to see this house and it had already been dropped in price by more than 25k. Of course "things weren't moving right?" or  "The  listing agent had it overpriced in the first place?" I walked up to the door so excited!

THEN all at once BAM!!!!!! I was so upset as we walked in the front door! The lingering smell of SMOKE just slapped me in the face. I was so glad I did not have my kids with me because 2 of them are very allergic to cigarette smoke. I couldn't believe the smell , especially since the house was only about 10 years old! Obviously I never made the offer on this "perfect" home. We moved into our home about a year later and guess what, it was 2 houses down from the "smoke" house.  The house was still on the market with many price reductions. :(

A little more than a year has gone by and that "smoke" house finally sold! The price came down from the original, almost 75k and finally sold to someone who I believe is now fixing it up to rent it out. 

My point is this! This house was great! It looked great in pictures, It looked great driving by! But the second I walked in it  I knew it was not my home! I could not get past the smell.

As a Stager my job is to talk to sellers about these things. I believe 100% that had this seller known that he would have his house sit on the market for almost 3 years and have that many price reductions he would have taken the steps BEFORE putting it on the market to take care of the odor! His house would have sold a long time before it did and I may even be the one living in it! 

The same exact things can apply to any strong odors! Pets, foods, molds and musty smells and so on and so forth.

The cost to take care of these odors before listing can save you thousands in price reductions and frustrations! 

Don't let the Smell of your home on the market cost you like it did this now neighbor of mine!

I can come in and make your house look beautiful to appeal to  every buyer on the MLS photos , but if they walk in and are hit in the face with a strong odor they WILL most likely walk away from it or offer you a lot less money for it!

Tomorrows post will give you some good tips on how to take care of these odors before you list your home! Stay Tuned..........

And remember " If you can Smell it YOU cant Sell IT"

Shari- Staged Above!

Guessing game? Come play.....

Come "like" us on Facebook and Start playing! Facebook.com/stagedabove

Who wants to PLAY for a $10.00 gift certificate to Target? Why is Staged Above excited about November 8th, 2012? One guess per day by making a separate comment on my page with the answer. You can guess again by "sharing" this post on your page with your friends. You can guess a third time by asking your friends to come "like" us. They can guess then as well. If no one gets it right each day leading up to November 8th I will give a clue! GO.........

Weekend project! Spray- Paint those Shutters

This is the front of the house we moved into a little more than a year ago. One of the first things we did to chance the curb appeal of this home was to take the old worn green shutters off the house and clean them really well with DAWN dishwashing soap. I scrubbed them really well and let them dry for about an hour. I used outdoor black spray paint to achieve the new look we wanted. This project only took about half a day and most of that was drying time! Super easy!

Before

DONE! super easy and a quick update to give curb appeal!

Whats In It For Me? The Realtor?

 (What’s In It For Me) - in other words “What’s in it for YOU - the Realtor”?

Staging is a Market Differentiator – you will win listings over non-staging agents because you are offering Staging as a Standard Service

Staging is a Value Added Service – Your listing will sell for more than comparable un-staged homes, AND you will make more money (and so will your sellers) if you Stage

You Get more business – you will get repeat and referral business because Sellers will appreciate the extra effort and the fact that the Realtor did MORE to Get Them MORE!

Here is my two cents on how to have a “Must Stage” conversation with your sellers so that the property gets packaged, merchandised, i.e. Staged before it goes to market:

- The way you live in a home and the way you sell your home are two different things

- Once you have decided to put your home on the market, it immediately becomes a product, therefore it needs to be “packaged” – turned into a home - merchandised ( that’s what Staging does – it’s the only thing that you can do to  “package” and “merchandise” your listing)

- Buyers don’t like the lived-in look. They only know what they see, not the way it is going to be

- Buyers need to feel they are AT HOME, not in YOUR Home

- Staging creates a serious of great impressions throughout the home motivating the buyer to linger; when buyers are browsing for homes in the neighborhood, one of two things will happen; they will either move in or move on!

- The cost of Home Staging is always less than the 1st price reduction. On Average, the cost would be anywhere from $75.00 for a Staging Consultation, to $400 - $1,400 for a Full house Occupied Staging project and up to $2500 for a Vacant Staging project (which includes rental fees for furniture and accessories).

And for those of you who are all about the numbers, which I think all of us should be, than please click on the link below to be directed to the RESA (Real Estate Staging Association) Staging Calculator.http://www.stagingsavings.com/stagingSavings.html