This article appeared in a special supplement to the Kitsap News Group, "Time of Your Life" autumn 2007
When the decision has been made to downsize to a smaller home, whether it is for your parents or for yourself, emotions can be the hardest thing to overcome in making good decisions, so planning ahead is the key to a successful move. The thought of packing everything up, as well as the physical aspect of the actual move, can be overwhelming. When you begin to emotionally let go of the attachment to both the home itself and the items that represent many aspects of your life that have been collected over the years, it can make the move a bit easier. Remembering that the selling of the home is a business decision can also be quite helpful.
Selecting pieces of furniture, art, accessories that mean the most to you, and those items you must have in your new home will allow you to determine what is not needed and what can be given to family and friends, donated to your favorite charities, or sold at auction or consignment stores.
In either a buyer's or seller's market there are a few necessary steps required to prepare your home, ensuring you will receive the highest profit for the sale of your largest investment. Today's buyers lead busy lives and are looking for move-in ready homes. Buyers are unwilling to pay top dollar for homes in need of repair or total transformation to bring them into the 21st century.
You must look at the home from the buyer's perspective; they have no emotional attachment. When buyers are looking for a home, they carry with them all their hopes and dreams for a better life. A certified professional home stager's skill lies in creating a series of first impressions that help buyers visualize themselves living in that home. The stager knows you are competing against other homes in your local real estate market and will work to make sure your home is the "WOW House" without considering any of your emotional attachments. A home stager can help select items to update the look and feel of the home, as well as "set the stage" to make the home as appealing to as many buyers as possible. By eliminating excess furnishings, updating certain items, recommending pre-packing, and arranging furnishings, art and accessories, the home stager can enhance the selling features of the home, creating a series of positive "first impressions."
A stager can recommend key people to help with the downsizing and sales process:
•· A residential home appraiser can give you accurate information on the value of the home, as well as what improvements or renovations will increase the value and be worth the investment of your time and money.
•· A home inspector can help eliminate any surprises at closing time that might cancel the deal or can have a negative effect on the final selling price for the home. Making sure your home is in tip-top condition before placing it on the market is time and money well spent.
•· A hard working Realtor® will have your best interest in mind when marketing the home.
By preparing your home, taking care of any maintenance items and hiring a certified staging professional, you are positioning yourself to reap greater rewards for your largest and most valuable investment. The relatively small investment of preparing your home for a quick sale will help you toward your goal of moving on to the new home that will better meet your needs.
Roberta Anderson, IRIS, ODSP, DCC
Home Design Consultant
Anderson Homes Redesigned LLC
http://www.andersonhomesredesigned.com/
360.471.HOME (4663)
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Hi Roberta ~ Great article. This is going to be true for me after next year. I can imagine it is going to be very hard to down-size from the home where our children have basically grown up. I am already trying to get into a mindset of being logical and not emotional about going through things.