MRoseSellsNJHomes

Whether you're decorating your first Christmas tree or your tree of many years needs a "sprucing" up, these ideas can help you have a beautiful, elegant tree by reusing what you already have!

To begin, the only real investment after the purchase of your tree will be the lights.  For the most elegant look, I suggest white lights.  White lights are classic, serene, and elegant.  If that's too dull for you, go for a single color.  For a more fun, casual look get the multi-colored.  I never recommend blinking lights inside the house.  Too busy!   

Now, for the free decorations!  You probably have the makings of some great ornaments around your home already-- you just didn't know it!  A lot of everyday items can be turned into ornaments-- you just need to see them in a new way.  Here's how!

•  Christmas Balls:  Old glass balls that are scratched, the wrong colors, or just look shabby can be reused.  Rinse them in a dish tub of soapy water and the color usually comes right off.  The glass is actually clear and the color is just a film over it.  Now you have clear glass balls that can be painted, glittered, covered in fabric, beads, and ribbon-anything you can think of.  Tip:  Use a thin paint brush to add glue to the inside of the ball and then sprinkle in glitter.  Or paint the inside with the paint of your choice.

•  Flowers:  Have an old wreath that has seen better days?  Any dried or silk flower arrangements you're done with?  Pull out the best flowers, fake fruit, and ribbons and use to decorate your tree!  Ribbon can be cut and made into several bows.  I have a friend who wanted a Victorian looking tree so we found faux roses, peonies, and hydrangeas around her home and used them on her tree.  It was beautiful!

•  Tiny Christmas Presents:  When I was young we decided to add a second tree for just us kids.  Since we couldn't afford to buy more ornaments we had to get very creative.  We took tiny jewelry and gift boxes and wrapped them with wrapping paper and yarn and then hung them on the tree.  They were adorable!  To this day we still use some of them!  Tip:  Use wrapping paper in solid colors or with very small print for the best effect.

•  Around the House:  Try looking at anything you come across in the house as a potential ornament.  Costume jewelry, tiny stuffed animals, seashells, copper cookie cutters, party favors, tiny toys, small pictures in frames, chandelier crystals, strands of pearls, tiny glass perfume bottles, small figurines, collections of small things such as spoons-- really, anything that can be tied with a ribbon and hung on the tree!  Start looking around! 

•  Memories:  My most important tip of all!  This tip requires planning ahead, but you should start now-- it will be well worth it!  Whenever my family travels we bring home a Christmas tree ornament from that place so that when we trim the tree, we remember our travels.  We also save party favors from weddings, showers, and other special events so we can add them to the tree.  We remember baby Grace's baby shower, Shirley and Patrick's wedding, Aunt Ida's 75^th birthday, and many others.  We say a prayer for them as we add their ornaments to the tree.  Every year the tree becomes richer with memories.

By getting creative with what you have, you too can start making a memorable Christmas tree.  Through the years as we've collected more ornaments and memories, trimming the tree becomes more than just another holiday chore.  It becomes a walk down memory lane and along with that, gratitude for all we've been given.  Merry Christmas!

Michele Rose is a Realtor and Professional Home Stager in Burlington County, NJ.  She has been assisting both buyers and sellers with their real estate needs since 2004.  In 2007, she founded Rose-Colored Staging, a home staging and redesign business, to help sellers successfully market their homes with professional home staging.  She also stages listings for fellow agents, getting those listings sold!

Townhomes and condos can be a bit more challenging to sell because often they look very much the same as many of the other homes in your neighborhood.  One can easily blend right in with all the others-- not good when you're trying to attract buyers!

So how do you make your home stand out from the rest?  How do you encourage offers on your home instead of the others?  You've already heard the advice for homes in general-- declutter, clean, paint, and make repairs.  But what specifically can you do in a townhome or condo that will make a difference? 

Here are my top five tips: 

1.  Spiff up your curb appeal!  Within the limits of your home owner's association, add special touches that will make your home stand out.  Add pots of flowers to the front step or just outside your door.  Hang a wreath on the freshly painted door.  Make your landscaping beautiful with color.  When the buyers get out of their cars, help them to know that yours is the house to buy!

2.  Create as much space as possible.  These are not usually large homes and the biggest complaint I hear from buyers is that the homes are too small.  You may have outgrown the place but don't let buyers see that.  Rent a storage for extra stuff that can be packed and for furniture that is too large.  If you have a storage space attached to your home, don't pack it full.  It's a selling feature-- let the buyers see how much space you have!

3.  Play up anything unique about your home!  Do you have a gourmet kitchen?  Do you have a fireplace when most units don't?  Do you have a beautiful view?  Use what you can to highlight those features that differentiate your home from the rest.  When I sold my townhome, I focused on the view of a large pond.  In fact the first photo in the MLS was of the pond.  It caught a lot of attention.

4.  Update Standard Fixtures and Lighting!  A lot of these homes still have the original builder's grade fixtures and lights.  Add a more contemporary and "dressed up" look to yours by replacing dated shiny brass with black iron, burnished bronze, or polished nickel.  Look through current home magazines to see what's in style.  Don't think that just because your home store sells it, it's the "in" thing.    

5.  Consider Your Customer!  If someone is looking for a townhome or condo, they usually are looking for low maintenance, so do the repairs for them.  Depending on your area, your buyers could be single, or young marrieds with no children, or older with no children at home.  They may work a lot.  Know who your target is.  Consult a local professional home stager to make sure your home will appeal to the audience in your area.  The cost of a consultation is a small investment and the return will make it worth every penny!

Follow these tips and you will be pulling ahead of the competition in no time!  If you're in Burlington or Camden County and would like to schedule a consultation, give me a call!  We are here to help you get your home sold!

Michele Rose is a Realtor and Professional Home Stager in Burlington County, NJ.  She has been assisting both buyers and sellers with their real estate needs for the last 6 years.  In 2007, she founded Rose-Colored Staging, a professional home staging and redesign business, to help sellers successfully market their homes with professional home staging.

From my sister Lisa, my Guest-blogger!

Hunting for a new house can be so exciting!  Potential buyers have a vision of a desired lifestyle, they crave the "perfect" house, they know everything will be better in "the new house."  Isn't life grand?  They've done everything by the book.  They are ready to buy.  Their agent brings them to your house and then?

No offer.  Why?  You may not know it yet, but your home may have just been labeled by the consumer.  Or worse, YOU may have been labeled by the consumer!

As a consumer, I have visited Smelly House (not just a smell-- this odor remained on me after a 10 minute drive with all the windows open.)  Note:  Don't wear open-toed shoes when house hunting for bargain priced homes!  Which brings me to Squirrel House.  I wanted to run away crying from that one.  There was a home we visited when no sooner in the door I said, "Get out of here quick!"  We don't like to discuss that one.

Ok, so maybe your house isn't that bad.  But the gross and dirty are not the only houses being labeled by picky buyers.  I visited Lightbulb House.  Or actually, Lack-of-Lightbulbs House.  No lie, the homeowner carried their one lamp into every room we visited.  What did the house look like?  You got me!?!?  Bean and Rice House was a boy at his kitchen table eating beans and rice.  Nothing horrible, just a distinct odor really.  Pee Pee Bathroom House obviously had young boys.  Nothing a good cleaning couldn't take care of.  In Scary Bird House the guy said "not to worry 'cause they don't hurt ya."  Not comforting!

There is a whole different list for carpet-- Bleach Stain On Carpet House, Pink Carpet House, No Carpet House, Pea Green Carpet House, Ugly Brown Carpet House, Nasty Carpet House.

I bought a condo that we called The Precious Moments Hallmark Store House.  It was fairly clean and kind of smelled like a Hallmark Store.  I could see past the cutesy wallpaper.  She had a curio of Precious Moments figurines nestled in Easter grass surrounded by a picket fence and stuffed sheep animals.  Why didn't that condo sell faster?  Didn't exactly send a message of serious seller.  She taught kindergarten for a living.  I bet she was good at it.

One of my favorites is the Wedding House.  Every room has pictures from their big day along with the unity candle, dried flowers, framed invitation, white gloves, the garter, the champagne glasses... the list goes on and on and guess what?  No buyer wants to see that!  I know it may seem harsh, but they don't care mainly because they weren't there.  They simply can't relate.

The most annoying one is The House With Only 3 Bedrooms, But The Agent Listed 4.  How is this going to help the seller and the agent?  I'd really like to know.  It didn't help the buyer who needed 4 bedrooms!  What a letdown!

So how do you steer clear of being labeled?

My Top Five Suggestions Are:

1. Hire a good stager before you list your house.
How do I know this?  I hired one!  My sister to be exact.  Michele Rose is a Realtor and Professional Home Stager.  I sold my home in a tough market.  And I would have sold sooner had I listened to her price suggestion from the beginning.  Live and learn.  We settled $100 over her initial price suggestion within 90 days.

Stagers are professionals who come to your home with an objective eye.  They view your home as a buyer would and give you suggestions to make your home more appealing "to the masses."  They generalize decor and creatively plan how to appeal to home buyers and their senses.  It's worth the investment, and you will see a return, whether it be in terms of lesser days on the market or a higher offer than the average seller.  Already listed?  Never too late!  Every house deserves to be staged.  EVERY house!

2. Clean it!
De-clutter the home by packing collectibles and "stuff" neatly somewhere out of sight, deep clean the whole house including professional vent cleaning, professionally clean the carpet and floors, clean up the messy paint jobs and touch-ups and such, tidy the gardens, tidy the exterior, and powerwash.

3. Make it special.
Hang nice art in place of all your framed family photos, burn a lightly scented candle, leave some snacks like cookies and punch for potential buyers, fluff some pillows, decorate with hardback books, buy fresh flowers for the entry vase and please have all the lights on so we know you're inviting us to really look at your home.

4. Hide the unmentionables.
Take your pets and all signs of pets (some people don't like pets!), hide the cleaners, toiletries, dirty laundry, medicines, bills and anything with your name on it.  This is no longer your home after all, it is your house-- a product that you are selling to a consumer.  We don't want to see your cat's litter box or your rash cream!

5. Listen to trusted professionals.
If you are not getting showings after you have completed a professional staging and you have "done everything right," and your agent has marketed your home appropriately, then you may need to lower your price.  It's hard to hear, but it's true and it gets you to where you want to be-- sold and moved!

By the way, when I was selling my house, it was labeled The Clean House. Now that's the kind of label I can live with!

Michele Rose is a Realtor and Professional Home Stager in Burlington County, NJ.  She has been assisting both buyers and sellers with their real estate needs for the last 6 years.  In 2007, she founded Rose-Colored Staging, a professional home staging and redesign business, to help sellers successfully market their homes with professional home staging.

A while back I saw on television show with doctors giving advice on weight loss.  They said that yes, some people are genetically predisposed to being overweight and a large part of it is heredity.  But, they said, that is not an excuse to be overweight, it just means you have to work harder.

Hmmm...

Kind of like selling a house in a tough market-- it's not that it can't be done, you just have to work harder.  Yes, it may be more tough-- but that does not mean it cannot be done!

So what does working harder to get a house sold mean? 

• Be Committed:  Be serious about selling your house.  I mean, seriously serious.  I mean doing what is needed to get it sold.  I mean taking the advice of your agent and a home stager. 
• Have an "Exercise" Plan:  Fix the needed repairs, update anything not from this decade, and add a fresh coat of paint.
• Picture Yourself in a New Place:  Get into the mindset that this house (which is no longer your home) is going to be sold-soon.  Pack away whatever you can live without for the next few months, since you will be moving.  (The weight-loss advice would be to get rid of the "fat clothes!")
• Track Your Progress:   Get feedback from your agent, be aware of market changes, know your agent's marketing plan, and make sure your home's marketing is excellent.  Make sure your home is advertised, especially on the internet.
• Keep Your Goal in Mind:  You may have to adjust your price, or you may need to make concessions to get what you want.  Keep your goal in mind-you are selling your house.  Do not let anything get in the way of that goal!

There is no reason, even in a strong "buyers' market" that a home cannot sell.  It needs to be priced well and it needs to show well.  As in weight loss, motivation is key.

Now... if only shedding those pounds was as easy as selling a house...