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Before a Berks County real estate home buyer enters a home that is for sale their senses are already at work. Sight is normally the first sense used. Second is hearing, unless there is such a rancid smell outside the home it cannot be ignored. Some of the sounds around a home can be controlled by the owners, some cannot. Read on for important home staging tips. There are many Berks County homes for sale so it’s important that your home looks and sounds its best before it goes on the market. Things like trains close by the home cannot be controlled. This is similar to living next to a busy road or highway. Loud music and barking dogs coming from the sellers home likely can be controlled. In this article I will point out items relating to a Berks County home buyers sense of hearing and how they affect the staging of a home. There will be things that we recognize as a potential issue and take control of. The things we cannot control can be managed. The Entrance: Does … [Read more...]

I remember when I first started my real estate career. It was autumn 1993. I was eager to gain all the information and experience I could. I took every opportunity that came my way. One day I received a call from a prospective home seller. He invited me over to preview his home. I studied everything I could get my hands on relating to the home. I was about to embark on a great journey. I was excited and ready. On my way to the home I thought about all I had learned about homes in Berks County. I was ready. All I had to do was be myself, share information I had amassed as it related to this particular home and not say anything that may upset the home owner. It was go time! I knocked on the door and was greeted by the owners. Upon entering the home I was also greeted by an invisible inhabitant. Oh no….It was the stench of something fowl. I stayed true to my training and simply hoped I would just get used to the smell, or it would simply leave. Things were going great. Then … [Read more...]

Selling a home can be difficult. This is especially true if it cannot be seen. I am not referring to a preview or showing. I am talking about lighting. It’s important that your home is illuminated in the best possible way to attract prospective buyers. During a home showing it is important to have all the interior and exterior lights on (Yes…Even in the daytime). It is a proven fact that abundant home lighting helps with mood. It is important that a prospective buyer is in a good mood when previewing your home. Besides setting the mood and accentuating your house’s best features, good lighting not only brightens a room, but can also make it appear larger. Remember, the buyer is in a foreign space. Lighting helps them find their way around and increases visual acuity. As the seller, you will score big points if your home is properly illuminated. There are three lighting types used to enhance a home: natural, task and accent.  All of the types serve a distinct purpose … [Read more...]

The mantra of real estate value has always been “Location ~ Location ~ Location”. While this is still true De-clutter ~ De-clutter ~ De-clutter may now be running a close second. It is no mystery that people everywhere have more stuff than ever before. This is especially true in Berks County where we tend to keep things we know should have been discarded years earlier. Now it is time to sell that Berks County home but there is one problem…You cannot find it through the clutter. What to do? Well, if you are a true Pennsylvania Dutchman it is time to “RED UP”. If you are not, then de-cluttering will have to do. After you have disposed of all the things you can bear to part with, moved some furniture around and done some sprucing up it is time to call the Realtor®. If that Realtor® is me it is likely we still have some work to do. When I photograph a home it is important that it is displayed to the world without anything that may take away from the homes natural … [Read more...]

In past articles I have laid a solid foundation of ideas for someone who plans to sell their home. I used the five senses to show how home buyers will value your Berks County real estate. If you have not read the articles yet here are the links: SIGHT- Berks County Home Buyers Need to See the Light SMELL- Berks County Home Buyers can Smell a Good Deal HEARING- Berks County Buyers Hear What Your Home is Saying to Them TOUCH- Simple Touches Can Lead to a Successful Berks County Home Sale TASTE- Taste Affects The Intrinsic Value of a Berks County Home The most important sense to a Berks County home seller is the sense of VALUE! “What is my home worth?” This is often the most requested piece of information most Berks County home sellers want. Yes, they want to hear what I can do to sell their home, where I advertise and how long I have been selling Berks County real estate. But they all pale in comparison to the main question…HOW MUCH? It is not always easy to … [Read more...]

If you are planning to list your home for sale, you will likely look for ways to improve its salability. You may watch the latest episode of HGTV or call your local REALTOR®. Either way, good information is available on how to prepare your home for sale has value. You may consider staging the home or getting to that honey-do list. You might call Jeffrey C. Hogue (selfless plug) and have him list your home and take great home photos so it looks primed on all the web sites. Almost everything you come up with will have some level of effort & expense. While all the ideas and efforts are worthy, they all pale in comparison to a pre-listing home inspection. Having your home inspected by a certified home inspector before your home hits the market offers a benefit to everyone who is and will be involved in the sale of your property. It is likely that a home inspection will be done on your property at some point of the sale. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, more than … [Read more...]

Simple Touches Can Lead to a Successful Berks County Home Sale- This is part 4 of a 5 part series on how your home staging affects the senses of a prospective Berks County Home Buyer. When selling a Berks County home, homeowners inevitably consider the visual factor as the most important (it is on the web).  If the home is on a high traffic road or your furnace is loud, sound is quickly addressed.  Odors are hard to ignore.  But…..the sense of touch?  As a Berks County Home Seller, you may not want home staging to involve views touching things much.  The truth is, they do and that is a great thing! Consider your favorite sweater.  Did you only look at it, or did you touch it, even try it on?  New linens, the handle on the dishwasher, the knobs you chose for your kitchen cabinets.  When a person touches something, they are making a stronger connection.  They are now beyond window shopping.  As a Berks County Home Seller, you want to make a connection during home … [Read more...]