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Preparing Your Home for the Market? You Can't Please Everyone!

By
Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage 209100

When you list your home with The Cameron Team, we provide a complimentary staging consultation with a professional stager. We find our clients get a lot out of an experienced third-party viewing their home and suggesting changes to make it show better. Her suggestions are often low-cost, like moving/removing certain pieces of furniture and decor, decluttering, painting a room, and/or focusing on a thorough cleaning. A good stager can make a home more appealing to a wider range of buyers, but there's no need to go overboard with upgrades. She tries to work with what you already have.

Design Ideas and DIY on Google PlusWe host a Google Collection called Design Ideas and DIY. If you aren't familiar with Google Collections, they are collections of Google Plus posts that all have a similar theme. Ours is like a cross between Pinterest and Facebook. Multiple times a week, we post pictures and links of homes, furniture, DIY projects, and more, and often ask for follower feedback. We have over 120,000 followers, so we get a lot of comments.

What amazes me is how different the opinions are. We recently posted a photo of a modern bathroom with a chandelier, separate tub and frameless glass shower. Something like this would go over very well in the Wilmington real estate market, where mid-range buyers and above are looking for master suites with an open spa-like feel where they can shower quickly when needed or soak in a jetted tub. But the responses to the picture so far include that the tub should be removed, chandeliers have no place in a bathroom, and that it all looks amazing.

A week ago, we shared a picture of Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's gourmet kitchen. Now, we all know very well that this kitchen was professionally designed. So, what was the feedback? Many people loved it, but comments also included that the brown cabinets look washed out, the finishes are unattractive, and the large island, a feature many buyers would love, is in the way.

Two weeks ago, we shared a foyer from a beach cottage that light herringbone wood flooring, a driftwood inspired table, light wood chandelier, and turquoise accent lamps. Many people loved it. Others thought the light finish on the flooring was ugly or worn, some hated the wooden chandelier meant to tie in with the exposed beams in the next room, and others just plain dislike the table and lamps.

Why am I sharing this feedback? Because it goes to show that you can't please everyone, even if you're a professional designer. People take to what they take to. If you're preparing your home for sale, you can't stress yourself out over the few people who may not like your home's features, because there is someone out there who will like them. You can't go changing your white cabinets to brown cabinets or you chrome finishes to rubbed bronze just become someone doesn't like the color. It's not worth your time and money. It's best to let them make those changes if they choose to purchase the home.

Now, if there's consistent negative showing feedback about the age of your countertops (ex. worn laminate) or condition of your floors (ex. scratched wood), you may need to adjust the listing price to reflect the market value. But that's a discussion to have with your Realtor.

If you're thinking of selling your Wilmington area home, give me a call or send me a message through this page. We can further discuss the complimentary staging consultation that we provide and how your home compares to others in your neighborhood.

 

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