I read an interesting article in today's paper, The News & Observer, about the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) trimming project costs and not wanting to spend an extra $2.8 million dollars to lay thicker pavement for the I-795, a new four lane freeway. That decision will end up costing them $10 million dollars more. Just 16 months after construction potholes and cracks are showing up all over the freeway.  Now the DOT has to pay for studying this problem and fixing it.

The DOT engineer, Wendi Johnson, on the project from the beginning warned that the pavement they decided to lay would be too thin and too weak. But they didn't heed her advice and are now paying big time for that mistake.

Though road construction is far from comparable to selling your home, the message is the same: Being overly budget conscious in the wrong area can end up costing you more than you're trying to save.

As a property investor you're in the business of buying and selling homes for profit. Often times you put in a lot of time and hard work to make improvements on the house that make it more appealing to a larger number of buyers. The place where you may decide to cut corners is actually the most important area: presenting the home.

The new tile or hardwood floors you laid out look gorgeous, and the fabulous work you did in the kitchen is top-notch, but you still need to define the rooms to give buyers perspective and help them imagine themselves living in that house. The house needs to grab buyers in a warm inviting embrace as soon as the buyers walk in. Other wise you risk having to pay another month's worth of mortgage and bills on that house, and another month... and another month...

The first thing you need to do before listing the house is stage it. Rent some furniture to define each room's function, focal points, and highlight the home's best features. If you don't, buyers are going to walk in and focus on all the little details, such as any mistakes in the tile application, uneven seams in the crown molding, placement of electrical receptacles, etc. You get the idea. Have buyers focus on the highlights, flow and function of the house and how they can make it theirs.

If choosing furniture and placing accessories is not your area of expertise than contact a Home Staging consultant to help you with this process. The cost of hiring a Home Staging consultant and renting furniture is minimal when you look at the potential ROI. 

Libby Telford
Home Staging Consultant,
Style It Right, llc
919.435.7713

www.StyleItRight.com | Serving Raleigh & the Greater Raleigh Areas, North Carolina

Style It Right. Sell it quick. Get top dollar.