Coeur d'Alene, no gnomes are good gnomes...

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Home staging tip-no gnomes, fake deer, flamingos, or outdoor chotchke's. They say YOU, not future homeowner....

Putting your house on the market means taking YOU out of the equation. If your house has too much of YOU everywhere, your buyers won't be able to envision themselves in YOUR space. All your chotchke's need to be pre-packed. They are too personal and buyers will get too caught up in them and not in your house.

Believe it or not, fake deer and flamingos are not appealing to everyone. We are trying to market your house to as many people as possible, so as much of YOU that we can remove, the better. Your yard is often the first impression a buyer will encounter. Make sure it is appealing to everyone by removing all your 'yard decor'. Remember, it's a yard (read; grass,flowers,shrubs,trees,etc.), not a place to display merchandise. Make it memorable for the the right reasons. You don't want buyers remembering your house/yard because of all the fake chotchke's scattered around it.

Coeur d'Alene homes with stuffed animals?

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You know you need a home stager if....your master bedroom is displaying stuffed animals as decorative accessories....

REALLY? Yes, REALLY!
I have been seeing stuffed animals in mature, adult bedrooms being used as accessories. Okay people, as soon as you moved out of mom's house your stuffed animals were supposed to be left behind. Along with the gun safes that I have mentioned in previous blogs, the stuffed animals are not considered decorative items. Guns and stuffed animals are like this yin-yang thing, but it doesn't work while trying to sell a house. Depersonalize your master bedroom.
Buyers are trying to see themselves in your house. How can they if YOU are written all over it? Highly personal items, like stuffed animals, should be the first items pre-packed when selling a house. When your buyers walk into your master bedroom, they shouldn't feel uncomfortable, as if they are intruding on your privacy. If they do feel that way, you can guarantee they won't be making an offer on your house.
If anything in your master bedroom identifies your emotional personality in that space, that is exactly what needs pre-packing. Home Stagers are experts in identifying exactly those "taste specific" or "personality specific" items that need to be packed up.

Daily Tweet rehash

Here's the daily Tweet rehash.

Coeur d'Alene-home staging tip-after that Open House, follow up w/ your Realtor to hear about comments made about your house.

Do you really want to know? YES! it's the only way you are going to get an idea of what your market is looking for.
Did they love the granite counter-tops? Will you be leaving the stainless refrigerator?
On the flip side....they might not have liked the wall color you have chosen in the kitchen. Or they think the house needs too many fixes.
Okay, deep breath. Now you have something to work on before your next Open House, right? And you thought you were finished getting the house ready for the market before you went live with a Realtor....
Now you can take those comments and chose to do something about them to help your listing or you can wait for a lower offer to come in.
If your comments from the Open House (or the Listing Walk-through) include updating or fixing ANYTHING, I recommend doing whatever you possibly (read, financially) can. Important factoid - buyers WILL overestimate the cost of repairs. What does that mean to you...? An offer below your asking price. If you are not okay with that, then stop reading this blog and get to work on those fixes!