Home-staging options are available for every budget
This week’s column, the second in a threepart series, was written by Allison Moore of Warnock Real Estate in Fort Smith. Moore is a licensed real estate agent and has been selling and staging homes in Arkansas since 2014. As a Realtor-stager, she combines a passion for the real estate industry, a background in marketing and an eye for design to help her clients reach their real estate goals. She serves as vice president for the Fort Smith Board of Realtors.
Preparing your home for the market can be an overwhelming task. What to do first? What is most important? Who do I look to for advice? Is the current real estate market a buyer’s market, or is it a seller’s market?
First and foremost, consult a Realtor who is familiar with your market, and ask if he or she uses the services of or can recommend a professional home stager. Knowing what the market demands is key to getting the most money possible for your property and not overspending in the preparation process.
As a Realtor-stager, I consult with clients who have million-dollar properties to sell, as well as clients who are selling their starter homes. The selling prices and the budgets available to get a home market-ready are as varied and diverse as the clients themselves. Whatever your budget may be, there are steps that can be taken to get your property market-ready.
TIME TO MAKE RENOVATIONS?
If you have the means to do whatever is necessary to get your home market-ready and budget is not a primary concern, now may be the time do some renovations. In some cases, I find that a seller’s timeline takes priority over budget.
Updating a kitchen or bathroom may seem like a major undertaking, but doing so can yield tremendous returns from your reno investment. As with all home-improvement projects, consult a professional before beginning any work.
As I discussed in last week’s column, homeowners grow accustomed to their surroundings and have certain ideas regarding improvements. You can’t always see or know what needs to be done to make your home more marketable.
Luckily, professionals in the real estate industry, such as Realtors, home stagers and Realtor-stagers, will know exactly what the current real estate market demands and how your budget will best be spent. For example, perhaps your current market is a seller’s market, and your property is in a highdemand area. Most likely, renovations may not be necessary. However, if it is a buyer’s market, and prospective buyers want to have at least two or more full bathrooms, now may be the time to convert that half bath into a full bathroom.
BUDGET-FRIENDLY IMPROVEMENTS If your budget doesn’t allow for renovations but you can make some updates or improvements, the following suggestions will help stretch your budget.
• Paint
Paint is one of the easiest and most cost-effective improvements a seller can make. I recommend visiting model homes in your area to see what colors are being used.
If possible, hire a professional painter to do the work.
Make sure the color or colors chosen work with your existing cabinets, flooring and finishes. Now is not the time to try this season’s trendy colors. Every home is different, but choosing one color to use throughout the home can create a fresh and cohesive feel.
Walls aren’t the only thing that can be updated with paint. A dated brass chandelier or door knobs can be transformed with paints made for metal. Definitely hire a pro to tackle this job, unless you are a handy do-it-yourselfer.
• Lighting
If you have the means to update your home’s lighting, use your money here. There are five areas where I suggest updating lighting to attract buyers — the entry, the dining room, the kitchen, the master bedroom and the master bathroom.
Some wonderful fixtures can be found in the clearance section of your local home-improvement stores. Try to find fixtures that work with the other fixtures and finishes already in the rooms.
• Outdoor spaces
Don’t overlook your home’s outdoor spaces. Make sure potential buyers can easily access the front entrance. Mow the yard, and trim hedges.
If your home’s exterior is looking a little tired, power washing can do wonders. Fresh paint on the trim, garage and front door can also bring new life to a home’s exterior. If your budget allows, opt for a new front door. A new front door is an easy update with a big impact. Also consider new house numbers or a new mailbox,
WORK WITH A HOME STAGER
If your budget allows and you are ready to do anything necessary, hire a professional home stager, and trust him or her to walk you through the entire process, from pre-listing to marketing after your home is listed.
Consult with a home stager and, based on his or her recommendations, decide which tasks you are willing to take on yourself and which items you need to hire the stager to do for you.
Even if you have little to no money to spend on preparing your home for the market, there are three very important items that every seller can and should do.
• Clean, clean and clean some more.
A clean home that is dated shows much better than a home that is dated and dirty. There are many things that you cannot control during your home-selling journey. A clean home is one of the controllable items.
We all know that kitchens and bathrooms help to sell homes. They are also the areas that can get the grimiest. Polish and shine all the appliances and faucets, scrub the floors, and clean those windows, inside and out. Don’t forget to clean ceiling-fan blades and lighting fixtures.
As mentioned earlier, tidy up your home’s outdoor spaces. It costs nothing to pull weeds, sweep a porch or clean the windows.
• Depersonalize the living spaces.
Take down all the family photos and items with personal information.
I recommend this for two reasons. First,
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Realtors experienced an increase in the number of homes sold statewide in June, according to a report distributed by the Arkansas Realtors Association on Monday.
The number of homes sold in the 43-county statewide area surveyed by the ARA increased by 5.92 percent compared to June 2017, and year-to-date figures show a 6.18 percent improvement.
Valuations and average sales prices also showed improvement this June. The average sales price across the state rose from $180,264 in June 2016 to $184,387 this June, an increase of 2.29 percent. Statewide valuations for June rose by 2.29 percent; year-to-date figures reflect a 4.74 percent increase.
“I believe central-Arkansas real estate is seeing considerable improvement due to a culmination of factors,” said Maurice Taylor, 2017 ARA president.
“The slight rise in interest rates, relaxed lending standards and low unemployment numbers, along with this being our peak selling season, signal strong economic growth and have been the driving forces in a great summer of real estate sales and closings,” he said.
A portion of the report appears below. To download a full copy of the report, visit the ARA website, www.arkansasrealtors.com, and select “Publications,” then “Housing Market Reports.”