How to Get the Most From the Sale of Your Home

Home Staging Services by Brenda Isakson

We all would like to get the best price for the home we are selling.  As a licensed real estate professional and Realtor®, I have seen many sales go through quickly at excellent prices with delighted buyers, and in too many other cases the potential buyers pass by with little interest.

Based on my experience, there are two key reasons why buyers pass on a house:

• Price does not match market
• Poor presentation

Correcting the former is easy and can be done in consultation with your real estate agent.

Improving the presentation of your home takes more work, but is well worth doing and can usually be done at no or little cost.  Proper home staging - presenting your home in the most appealing manner - is mostly about organizing and cleaning up clutter, and often requires no investment.

The first step is assessing your "clutter coefficient" - how "busy" and filled to the brim are your rooms, closets, cabinets, basement, garage, attic?  I can not emphasize too strongly the need to ensure that all rooms and storage spaces are open, clear and lack all excess clutter.  If needed, donate or store as many things as you can prior to listing your home.  For the highest cluttered cases, a modest investment in a storage unit will pay off.  While it is easy to assume that buyers can and will "look past" the clutter to envisage your home decorated as they prefer, most people can not do this - the cluttered home simply looks smaller and less appealing.  Plus, some buyers assume that clutter equates to poor maintenance, whether true or not.

Don't forget the exterior.  The yard must look clean and open, and the exterior of the house should be clean and presentable.  Keep toys, objects, excessive furniture, etc. out of the yard.  Make sure patios and decks are clean and in good repair.

Once you have opened up every room to its maximum, you should consider selected improvements.  A fresh coat of light, neutral paint always helps.  Consideration for other replacements and upgrades should be made carefully - improvements do not all pay off to the same degree.  The remaining pages on this site offer more specific advice related to the types of upgrades you can make.

As a seasoned pro, who has also operated antique sales and home accessory businesses, I can help you "produce a great play" by offering professional advice and/or staging services.  I can support you in any way, from advice and design up to complete restaging and reorganizing.

Please call me with any questions.  I can also represent your real estate needs as a listing or buyers Realtor® in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Delaware Valley area.  See my real estate web site here.