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Sunday, April 4, 2010

Price, Condition, or Location?

It doesn't seem to matter where your real estate is located. If it's in St. Charles, Geneva, or Batavia, Illinos, or if it's in Naperville, or Elburn, or perhaps it's in Wayne, we've made it through Winter and you wonder how to get your home sold in this market. The first thing to consider is "How did your home make it through the Winter?" You may get in the mood to do some Spring cleaning around your own place. Some simple and easy things to do to breathe new life into your home:

*Check for things outside the home that need to be spruced up after Winter.
*Tidy up landscape.
*Clean windows inside and out.
*Check for burned out bulbs on exterior light fixtures and clean any glass panels in those lights.
*Prepare your flower and bush planting plan. A splash of color is always a plus.
*Take a good look around the inside of your home and see what might perk you up. Look at your home with a critical eye.

Remember, a clean home is a big plus especially if you are thinking of selling your house. I've heard buyers say a million times when looking at homes, "Wouldn't you think the seller would have prepared their home better for showing?" After hearing that from so many buyers it caused me to really think about it. Often, the homes about which the buyers made such a comment, were not bad homes, but they just were not staged well. They were not as clean as they might have been. They had lots of "stuff" all over. Clearly, the things were considered treasures by the homeowner.\

Actually, sometimes all the items displayed are quite nice, but if there is too much, too much, then it just looks cluttered to someone who is seeing the home for the first time. Simply walking into a home for the first time there is a lot for a prospective buyer to consider. It's quite enough just to "take in" the house itself without having to also filter out all the belongings that will not be remaining. One buyer I recently worked with said it best. After walking into a home he was seeing for the first time, a home that could have been considered worthy of appearing in House Beautiful magazine, his comment was, "Well, there was just too much of that homeowner's personality displayed in there!" It took about three more homes to view before he was actually able to let go of the experience, what was to him an overwhelming experience, of having had to sift through all the over the top decorating of that one home. Get the point?

You may have a truly lovely home but when it comes time to sell, unless you are trying to sell to the narrow number of buyers who will also like your exact taste, you may want to consider making some pre-sale changes. Tone it down. If you have your house on the market and it has been on the market for a while with no showings, then price is probably your problem, or you may be in a price range that is just not moving right now. However, if you have been getting showings and no offers, take a critical look at your house. Are you guilty of over decorating or of having too much "stuff" or clutter, as buyers think, which serve as distractions to the process? This is not an attack on personal decorating style, but it is hopefully an illumination of the fact that unless you are trying to sell your personal style of decor rather than the home itself, maybe it's time for you to rethink your home's presentation.

If any of this makes sense, of if you would like to get more suggestions from me on how to get a home to sell, feel free to get in touch. Kay Russell at Keller Williams Fox Valley Realty 630-513-3810. http://GoRussellRealtor.com