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Home Staging Tips in Palm Beach County... The Heat is On in Florida so Keep Your Cool!

By
Home Stager

Home Staging Tips in Palm Beach County... The Heat is On in Florida so Keep Your Cool!

Our days are already in the high 80's in Palm Beach County and it isn't even summer yet!  If  your home is on the market  hopefully you have already called in a Home Stager to help get your house "show" ready! 

But now that we're into our summer weather... make sure your house can Take The Heat!

Don't forget!

Curb Appeal- Those beautiful plants and shrubs you planted may begin to feel the heat. With water restrictions in effect, keep an eye on your lawn, shrubs and flowering plants.  This is especially true if your house will be unoccupied.  If you have to replace some plants, choose those that are drought and salt resistant if you live near the ocean.

grassYou only have to look at a plant for it to grow here.  Your lawn that only needed mowing every 10 days in the winter may need to be mowed every 5 days now.  Check for insects and disease that may turn a beautiful green lawn yellow or patchy.  

Remember.... this is the first thing your Buyers will see.  You want them walking into your house wanting to see more.... NOT thinking about all of the work that needs to be done.

 

 

ThermostatDial it Down!- You'll want your Buyer to linger in your house... spending time to take in each room.... Visualizing  themselves and their lifestyles in your house.  Remember this... Buyers that are peekers typically aren't going to make offers.  

If your home's thermostat is set on "high" while you're away at work or out of town, your Buyers will feel as if they've walked into a sauna.  They'll be heading for the front door and the comfort of their air conditioned car without stopping to even look at all of the features of your house. 

Pina Colada Here I Come!- who wouldn't want to relax by the pool with an iced cold beverage in hand.... children playing in the pool.... on a hot day?

        Check your pool and patio area... is it inviting?  What out there says "Come on In!"

          *  Make sure you patio furniture is clean and in good condition.
          *  Is your pool being well maintained?  With our hot summers, the wrong chemicals or no chemicals can turn your pool from Pina Colada Paradise to the Green Sludge.
          *  Add pots of colorful plants....
          *  Put away the mountain of toys or anything else that doesn't belong in this area
          *  In Florida, being able to enjoy the outdoors all year is why we're here.  Don't neglect this major selling feature!

Don't Forget... The Heat is On!!

 

Posted by

Kathy Streib
Retired Home Stager
and Interior Redesign

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Comments(52)

Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Sylvie- It is summer as far as the temerature goes and the AC's are going strong!

Steve- Thanks!  So many of our sellers may be out of town and there's nothing worse than trying to view a house when it's hot inside and there's no air!

May 17, 2011 06:37 AM
Kathy Schowe
California Lifestyle Realty - La Quinta, CA
La Quinta, California 760-333-8886
We are entering our hot months here too- thanks for the tips!
May 17, 2011 06:39 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

It's hard to visualize being too warm when I just threw another log on the fire... But I agree with your post. That first impression is all important!

May 17, 2011 06:48 AM
Jennifer Manchester
Suburban Properties of Charlotte, LLC - Mint Hill, NC
GRI, ePRO, ASP - Broker/Home Stager

Great tips.  I grew up in Florida and I swear during the summer you could see the grass grow!

May 17, 2011 07:39 AM
Kate Akerly
Kaminsky Group - Manhattan Beach, CA
Manhattan Beach Residential Sales

I wish NYC were getting warm today!  Thanks for the post.

May 17, 2011 07:47 AM
Craig Rutman
Helping people in transition - Cary, NC
Raleigh, Cary, Apex area Realtor

So many people don't even realize these things that you've shared here. This is a great eye opener for them and should be required reading for anyone considering putting their home on the market.

May 17, 2011 08:36 AM
Brenda, Ron, Lee Cunningham & Tara Keator
West USA Realty - Phoenix, AZ
Realtors, Homes for Sale - Phoenix Metro

Love it!  We are always having to remind sellers (especially of vacant homes) to keep the home cool so that buyers will linger!  They just have a hard time paying the electric bill!  Missing the dollars while picking up pennies!

May 17, 2011 08:40 AM
Dimitri Matsis-REALTOR® (818) 599-6083
Troop Real Estate Inc. Westlake Village CA - West Hills, CA

Hi Kathy,

You're spot on.

Here in California we are lucky enough to have affordable gardeners and pool maintenance people. We have them come once a week. That keeps our house looking good year around.

We (my wife and I) love Florida. We might be coming for a visit soon.

Thanks for the post.

May 17, 2011 09:17 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Kathy- you probably have the same issues we have here.

Marte- I always forget that even though we're feeling summer weather here, others are still experiencing the cold!  Very hard to grasp!

Jennifer- I do believe you're right.  It's almost as if you mow your lawn and then the next day you have to mow again. 

Ackerly Team- I have a feeling in about 2 months you'll be wishing it were cool again.

Craig- Thank you for your very kind words.   I know from personal experience that trying to look at a house when it feels like a sauna or a freezer is almost impossible.

Brenda & Ron - I like that: "Missing the dollars while picking up pennies". 

Dimitri- Hope you do!!! Coffee's on me!!!

 

 

 

 

 

May 17, 2011 01:21 PM
Robert Courtney
Lihue, HI
Century 21 All Islands, RA, CDPE, MCRE, CIAS

Kathy - Good tips.  Hope you have a lot of readers that are selling or thinking about selling their home take your advice.  It will help a Realtor® reduce the time on market, if the home gets priced right.

May 17, 2011 05:04 PM
Gwen Kelly
Broadmoor Realty, Inc - Long Beach, CA
Long Beach, CA Real Estate

Good advice as always Kathy.  Thank you for the post.

May 17, 2011 05:23 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Robert- You are so right... and that's what we want to do... help get the home sold quicker!  If the home is priced correctly, then staging can help!

Gwen- Thank you, Gwen, and glad you stopped by!

May 18, 2011 02:11 AM
Gene Riemenschneider
Home Point Real Estate - Brentwood, CA
Turning Houses into Homes

Good advise.  Some photos as examples would have been nice.  Home staging is a visual thing.

May 18, 2011 05:41 AM
Diane Beck
Vibrant Interiors - Pittsburgh, PA
Greater Pittsburgh's Award Winning Home Stager

Kathy~  Mowing the grass in the winter?  HA HA!  We could do that here only after we dug out from the snow.  Very nice post with excellent suggestions.  Staging outside is as important as the inside even in the northern states.  Thanks

May 18, 2011 06:53 AM
Kibbi Rieber
Coldwell Banker Sea coast Advantage - Ocean Isle Beach, NC
making friends one house at a time

It's amazing the number of reponses everyone gets when they post a good article. Enjoyed reading yours-lots of good advice and I like the idea of looking from across the street as well. I live on the North Carolina Coastline and I love nice weather, outdoor living and flip flops too. Nice weather helps everyones attitudes. Thanks for your post and enjoy your summer.

May 18, 2011 08:17 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Gene- Staging IS a visual thing

. front  After

Diane- Forgot about our neighbors to the north.  We don't have to shovel snow, thank goodness.

Kibbi- Thanks!  Ahh- the North Carolina coastline... where native Floridians headed when the rest of us started discovering Florida's great weather!!

 

May 18, 2011 12:15 PM
DeeDee Riley
Lyon Real Estate - El Dorado Hills CA - El Dorado Hills, CA
Realtor - El Dorado Hills & the Surrounding Areas
Hi Kathy, Great tips here! Thanks so much for sharing them.
May 18, 2011 04:49 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

DeeDee- Hope you can use them with your sellers!!

May 18, 2011 04:53 PM
Brenda Hughes
Evansville Home Staging & Re-Design - Evansville, IN
Home Staging & Re-Design Southern IN, KY

Amen Kathy! so many people Sellers and Realtors alike forget all about 'curb appeal' and forget about the back yard.  I consult my clients from the front sidewalk thru to the back fence,

every inch of the property is important when you are creating an oasis for the buyer to fall in love with and want to call their own.

Kathy I wish we could send some of our rain your way, we have had too much this season...

May 26, 2011 02:16 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Brenda- Send it on down.. we need it.  Hope you aren't in the path of any of the tornadoes.

May 26, 2011 04:18 AM