Since you cannot (or should not) eat Berks County real estate I will have to improvise a bit on this one. Instead of “Taste” being a sense as in “Eat”, I will switch the theme to a sense of “Taste” as in home decorating.
I remember getting priceless feedback from a particular agent after a showing on a Berks County home I had listed. The agents comment was “Upon entry of the home my buyers and I were assaulted by the decor“. It was something I did not appreciate at the time but never forgot.
It is a common rationale that when staging a home to sell, the more neutral the home decor, the more it will be liked by prospective home buyers. What it really means is, the more neutral the home decorating the more acceptable the home will be to home buyers. I say balderdash!
Yes, balderdash! If a Berks County home buyer likes neutral colors they will like neutral home décor. If they like bold colors they will like home decorating with bold colors. If they like…oh well you get it. So how do you appeal to a home buyer’s sense of taste when trying to sell your Berks County home?
Let’s start with what you do not want to do with any Berks County real estate in preparations for staging a home to sell… Don’t overlook obvious negative issues.
The largest area of the interior of a home is the walls and ceilings. The second largest area is flooring. This means paint and floor coverings. If your home needs a paint job because it has not been painted in years have it painted. If the flooring is worn and/or dated it should be changed.
Home sellers customarily do not want to spend the money make these changes, fearing that the prospective buyer may not like their choices. “If they like the home I will credit them for the paint job”. These words have been uttered to me by many a hopeful Berks County home seller.
There are several things to discuss about homes in Berks County, PA and home decorating tips when these words are uttered:
- “So where should I put home fix credit information?” If I put it in the Multi-list or an ad (Credit for paint/carpet with acceptable agreement) this immediately alerts the agent and the buyer that the home does not show well or was ill kept. This could leave it off many a Berks County showing list, negatively impacting attempts at staging a home to sell.
- I have stated in many blog articles how important home photos on the web are. The photos are only as good as the home itself. When I take home photos wall, ceiling & flooring blemishes are not as noticeable. The prospective home buyer’s see the photos, get excited to see the home because of the photos and then get disappointed when they arrive at the home and see the real thing. No sale.
- Can the home owner afford to spend the money on the home? If not, stay tuned for an upcoming blog article on home decorating tips I will be writing. There is a way to overcome this but the answer is larger than I want this blog article to be.
- Should the home owner spend money on the home? My rule here is simply 2 to 1. For every $1.00 you spend you should get $2.00 in return. This rule applies to upgrades not things that are broken and need to be repaired.
- First impressions mean a great deal. In preparations for staging a home to sell, remember a finely painted and decorated home is hard to resist. You would not try and sell your car without washing it first.
Often I relate online dating to buying a home CLICK HERE to read the article I wrote pertaining to this. Let’s say you were single and online looking for a companion. You saw someone who looked interesting. The portrait photo was professionally taken and looked good. You decide to take the next step and make the call.
Your date shows up and as the person approaches you notice a distinct difference. They do not look like their photo. In fact, their nose is misshapen! They sit down and before you can utter a word they say “I know my personal photo looks different. My nose was broken recently and I did not want to have it fixed until you had a chance to see me. I have several nose models here with me. I will put them on and you can choose the one you like best.”
Think you would make it through that date? If you did, would that first impression ever leave your mind?
First impressions of your Berks County home only happen once.
What you want to do…Contact a Realtor. I was going to add a selfless plug there but if you have read the last 4 parts in this series you already know what I would say
A realtor in Berks County can provide you with a market analysis. This will give you a basis of what to spend or not to spend when preparing your home to sell. If you already have the best home in the neighborhood better not overspend. Berks County real estate is a hot market. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of Berks County homes for sale and farms for sale in Berks County. That’s why it’s important to make sure that your home stands out from the rest of the pack.
To that end, a realtor in Berks County can also give you home decorating tips. We Realtor’s see many homes a year. We hear firsthand what Berks County home buyers say. A Realtor can also give you contractor references and get you in touch with a professional home decorator. I personally network with people who are professionals in almost every home trade there is. This is a true benefit to my customers.
Having a well decorated home will not guarantee a sale. Once the right home buyer comes along (one who’s TASTE fits the décor) your efforts will pay off. In many respects the sale will be closer to the price you want for the home than not. This is known as intrinsic value. For more on what intrinsic value is CLICK HERE to read the article.
Next week I will follow up this 5 part series with some special remarks and a proposal on how to best value your home.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey C. Hogue
