It's Snowing in the Twin Cities! Usually by now this has lost it's thrill for the residents of St Paul and Minneapolis Minnesota. By December snow is often both deep and a nasty color of brown. But not this year. Yeah Snow.
While the snow is beautiful and makes me want to run out and by a Christmas Tree this very second it also brings to mind some things that as a Professional Home Stager I would like sellers to be aware of.
When you are selling real estate in the winter in a cold climate like we have in the Twin Cities buyers thoughts go to issues such as:
- How much work will it be to keep this property shoveled?
- What is the condition of the furnace and windows?
- Where am I going to park my car during the inevitable snow emergencies?
What I do as a home stager is educate sellers on what they can do to stand out from the competition. It is so important to try to view your property from a buyer's perspective. You want to get into a buyer's head. I have three suggestions for you:
- Keep the sidewalks, driveways, and access points from the road to the house completely clear. Don't make buyers tip-toe up to your property. You want them to march up to your house admiring it's curb appeal, not staring down at their feet. Keeping everything shoveled and free of ice also reinforces that keeping it up is no big deal at all. You don't want them thinking about where they are going to find an extra two hours everytime it snows to clear the crive and walks.
- If you have newer windows, furnace, or have implemented the suggestions you were given during an energy audit...shout it from the rooftops. Leave notes, or warranties out for them to see. If you haven't thought about how to make your home more energy efficient it is not too late. There are many excellent resources available on the internet and some tax incentives still available to help with the cost.
- Keep the driveway plowed.Even if your property is vacant, or your garage is filled with moving boxes rather than cars keep the access to the driveway cleared. Garages take on special importance to Minnesotans during the winter.
If you live in the Twin Cities metro area and are getting ready to sell you home or are having trouble getting people interested in your property I would welcome the opportunity to tour your property with you to give you my home staging recommendations.
For information about services, pricing, before and after photos, or to check out prior customer referrals you can go to my website.
Comments(6)