First Impressions Matter! What does your front door look like?

Check Out Carol Schulenberg's (Ballantyne Home Staging) latest blog about Home Staging and the front door. What does your front door say about you?

Metro GreenScape has joined the Charlotte IAHSP Chapter

MetroGreenscape has joined the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP) Chapter as an Affiliate. President Darin Brockelbank will be speaking on the topic of outdoor staging at the organization's chapter meeting tomorrow. Are you interested in how exterior Home Staging could help it sell faster? Call us at 704.504.0980.

Charlotte Home Staging Expert: Marcyne Touchton

SELL YOUR HOME IN TODAY'S MARKET
Times are tough, but despite that, homes are selling. It is a buyer's market and we have an overflow of inventory of homes for sale. Your home has to STAND OUT and be set apart from the competition.

TOP 5 things you can do

CURB APPEAL

Driver-by's must be able to pass by your home with the thought, "that was a pretty home, I wonder what the inside looks like." Regularly cut the grass, trim the hedges, rake the leaves, sweep the sidewalks and power-wash the driveway if you need to. Have a few pretty potted plants for a pop of color. Make sure everything dead is pulled out or replaced. Don't forget to replace dead looking, brown pine needs - it's a cheap fix and gives you a lot of bang for the bucks.

DECLUTTER, DECLUTTER, DECLUTTER

According to Barb Schwarz, the pioneer and founder of Stagedhomes.com says, "clutter eats equity." Go through each room, with 2 boxes per room. Don't forget the family room, kitchen, and office, they are all considered a room. Label each box, "keep" and "Donate." Take everything off the shelves, tables, and start tossing into the boxes. Go back to the keep box and grab only a few decorative pieces you think you will use to "stage" the house room by room. Everything else in the "keep" box you end up not needing, pack it up so you will be ready for move day. It makes the moving process easier as well - and keeps your moving bill lower!

MAGIC OF THREE

You can have 3 items per hard area, but no more. If you have a lamp, plant, and book, on top of a table, that is well balanced. If you have 10 things, it would be overdone. The 3 things should be grouped together to make a triangle shape.

VIEWPOINT

The first impression people make is from the moment a person walks in to the home. Go to the doorway, and open your door as if you are a prospective buyer. Soak it in, them eliminate all the clutter that is preventing you from seeing the nice moulding, the wide hallway, the hardwood floors, etc.

"Q-TIP CLEAN"

This is something all ASP Stagers are taught from day one. A properly staged home should be immaculate - "Q-Tip Clean, " as Schwarz puts it. "It means getting dead flies out of your windowsill and going around the bottom of your toilet on the floor," she says. The purpose of ensuring the house is spotless is more than simply making it presentable. If a home is unkempt, a buyer will wonder what other, less visible problems may come with the property," Schwarz says. "They'll say, 'Gosh, if they live like this, what don't they take care of that I can't see?"

If you need further help and would like a FREE assessment, please do not hesitate to call Marcyne Touchton, ASP, ASPM, IAHSP. 704.905.6343. or email: marcyne@domainestaging.com

Ask the Expert: Home Staging

MARCYNE TOUCHTON

ASP(R), ASPM(R)

Founder of Domaine Staging, LLC

Many home sellers are now using the services of a professional home stager. When the house sits on the market for over 3 months, they realize that homes in our current market, with so much inventory to choose from, cannot be sold as is. Reduction in price won't guarantee a sale either, They see the value in staging a home, removing clutter and "de-personalizing" -because it is proven that a home that is staged sells faster, and gets top dollar. According to stagedhomes.com, a staged home sells in just 24 days versus the 177 days on the market of the average unstaged home. Yet too often I see homeowners-and even some professional stagers, forget about the first impression a house makes - from the outside.

My experience has shown me that staging a home should be done from the outside in. As a prospective home-buyer drives up to the property, they will form an impression of the house-and if the house is going to sell-that impression needs to be a good one! Simple things like new cushions on the lawn furniture, and a newly mowed lawn give the house a clean and fresh appearance. New mulch and landscaping assure the buyer that the yard has been well-cared for. And planters with blooming flowers or a seasonal wreath provide a warm welcome. Bigger improvements such as repairs to the driveway, or patio and new lighting can pay for themselves immediately in the higher offers that come through! Don't forget about the windows, it needs to be sparkling clean - free of cobwebs and check to make sure there is no wood rot on the windowsills.

A professional home stager will be able to look at the outside of the home with the same keen eye as we do the inside-looking for ways to declutter, tidy, and give the best impression. Everything from little touches to larger projects, such as a Metro GreenScape paver patio can increase the actual and perceived value, make it unique and sell that home quickly.

If you would like more information and/or to receive the Domaine Staging newsletter, email me at marcyne@domainestaging.com. You can also catch Domaine's tip of the day, become a Domaine Staging fan on Facebook!

* according to Stagedhomes.com. ASP, the only recognized designation by National Association of Realtors (TM).

Charlotte Exterior Home Staging

We are now offering Exterior Home Staging Packages:

Our Exterior Home Staging Team offers three different plans to help give your home that extra curb appeal!

Below are details about our Bronze Staging package (Typical 1/3-acre property size) This package includes a combination of the following exterior enhancements:

1) Six (6) flats of annuals, placed in pots on each side of the front steps or door, and the rest planted in the front to showcase the mailbox area.

2) Weeds pulled 20 feet on each side of the front door entrance way.

3) Re-edging of 60 feet of flower beds.

4) Pine straw distributed over 500 square feet of flower beds.

5) Removal of all yard debris and debris from our project.

6) Spot seeding of the front yard.

7) Cob webs removed from the side of the home.

8) Pressure washing of the walkway up to front door or front focal point.

9) Gutters checked for debris and clog checked at bottom spouts.

10) Trimming of up to ten shrubs if under 2 feet tall.

Cost for Bronze Staging Package is $750.00.

If you are interested in learning more about this, or our other available Charlotte area home staging packages, please call us at 704.504.0980.