(reprinted with authors permission)
(may be applied to most markets)
What is Positioning?
M-W.com says it is: to put in a certain position <positioned the chairs around the room> <positioned the company in the global market>
That is exactly what needs to be achieved either by accident or with existing attributes of a home or piece of real estate in the Pinehurst, NC market area ~ or practically anywhere else, but ‘positioning' can be accomplished deliberately as to affect and increase awareness and desirability of a particular home or other piece of real estate. (My definition)
You might see or understand this clearer if you think about what ‘flipping' real estate is about. A house is acquired and changes to the house are made that either increases the value and or awareness of the house, and hopefully both. The home reenters the market, generally as quickly as possible so it doesn't become a long term investment, and with the home now dressed up and improved is marketed in a manner that garners the greatest amount of exposure as soon as it is placed back on the market.
A house like this was generally ‘positioned' at the lowest level of comparable properties on the market for sale taking location, square footage, style and age into consideration. All these are factors are not impossible to change but generally are not cost effective unless the house is very undersized for the neighborhood or the style can be easily converted into a more marketable style.
When it is placed back on the market the ‘position' of the house is what has actually improved the most by the new owner making repairs and creating a more desirable house. The results hopefully are the profit that keeps ‘flipping' a viable business. On the other side, for beginners this can be the exact opposite.
Now we have established that ‘positioning' is improving a house among the comparable competition in the real estate market. This makes positioning increasingly more important in slower markets that have been most affected by the subprime mortgage issues, foreclosures and with the higher mortgage rates that are becoming harder to qualify for. OK, now we know what ‘Positioning' is, and what Positioning will do for us, How to we do it.
I'm going to suggest that if you are the homeowner ready to, or needing to, sell your home that you get the help of a Realtor, Home Stager and Home Inspector. If you feel that this is an expense you can not afford now, consider what it might cost you if you don't. If you still feel you can not afford all three then I suggest that you at least obtain the services of a Realtor ASP. (Accredited Staging Professional) No, this is not an advertisement for ASP ~ but it is a good place to start if you can only afford the 1 professional.
Let's now take a look at those factors we can not easily do anything about: location, age, style and size. Drive around your neighborhoods and look at homes for sale, at local real estate sites, home magazines and local newspaper for what is listed for sale and what has sold. A great place for the public to investigate is their local city or county government web sites. Many times if you can find where your property is listed on these sites you can see what the tax value is along with the values and size of the homes that will be on the market along with yours that you have driven by or seen elsewhere. That is why it is important to write down those addresses as you drive by. This is all great for you but what is more important here is that you usually can see what homes have recently sold for, and that is what will dictate your course of action.
Now that our research is done and we know what a reasonable expectation in price may be, we can focus on how to ‘position' your home which is now thought of as a ‘house' or piece of real estate. With this detachment start by looking at your house from the street to see what can be done to improve the all important curb appeal? Are the shrubs overgrown or dead? Are the planting areas freshly mulched and neat? Are the trees in good shape? Is the entrance of the house inviting, or do the windows need cleaned, along with the roof, gutters, sidewalk, driveway and the main entry door. Consider a fresh coat of paint if after cleaning the door still looks drab or dull - or if it is wood then refinishing may be in order. Look around the outside and make sure you apply a tough standard all around. Fill in the holes from the pooch, rake the leaves, remove and store all the toys, garbage cans, lawn mowers etc. Clean all outside windows and make sure anything that is broken or damaged is repaired or replaced.
Go inside, stopping in the entry and looking into the house. What do you see, is it inviting and can you tell what it is you are looking at? In other words if the foyer looks more like a locker room or a What-Not store - then we have work to do.
Go through each room in the house and apply the same technique. If the view from the doorway of any room is blocked then rearrange the furniture so each room is easily accessible. We have all heard about removing ‘clutter' and ‘depersonalizing' and this is the time for that. Pack up and store any items not needed in a storage unit, family members house, friends or somewhere you feel is secure.
As you walk through your house note the condition of the walls, carpets and floors, ceilings, hardware, light switch ~ receptacles and covers, baseboards, wall coverings, corners, doors & frames, closet shelves, lighting fixtures, etc. Everything and anything a buyer will see needs to be in as close to new condition as possible and as you can afford to make it look that way. Don't over spend, make a budget and stick to it. Start from what you have found is the probable actual selling range - subtract the payoff of your mortgage(s), your share of the taxes, estimated closing costs and real estate fees. Hopefully there is a positive number left. Now if you can afford it set a portion close to a monthly mortgage payment aside. This is generally a minimum increase to be realized for going through these steps, however if you can get by spending less then that's all the better.
Take 2 sets of notes for each room in the form of lists. On one set list what needs to be done that you are either willing to do or have done such as:
- Painting a Hunter Green or Chocolate bedroom a more neutral color that appeals to a broader segment of the public.
- Patching the marks in the walls from doorknobs.
- Replacing or clean dirty, chipped or cracked receptacle and switch covers.
- Clean / Shampoo carpets, floors and area rugs.
- Kitchen / Bathrooms probably need caulked and the grout patched and bleached where appropriate and that leaking toilet ~ be sure to take of that too!
- Furnace and A/C air intake probably needs cleaned and filter replaced.
- All light fixtures need cleaned and the maximum wattage bulb the fixture can handle installed, remove and save the new wattage saving florescent bulbs for your new home.
- After the removing the large portrait of the Great Grandparents, is there a telltale shadow left on the wall that the painting of a vase a flowers is not covering, showing the wall needs cleaned or painted?
Go through the house as many times as needed, leaving no area left unaccounted for or not scrutinized, looking for items to repair and or replace. Be sure to check that all appliances and their functions and check that they are cleaned to as close to new as they can be.
Try your best not to hide the defects you discover, please repair or replace as needed or just present the defective item in the cleanest and best condition that can be obtained. Not only is it the honest way, but any inspector that sees things being hid or covered up will dig that much deeper, and so will a buyer and their agent.
This is the process where a prelisting home inspection comes into play. If you really can't afford one, usually around $300-$500 in the Pinehurst, NC area, then pretend you are one. Find everything and place it on the list for each room, then take care of it and check it off. It is time for you to play with all those tools neatly arranged in the garage, then rest.
Remember that you are ‘Positioning' your house so it will ‘be the better value' of those that are similar and on the market at the same time.
Now there is the other list to deal with, and this one is a little harder but doable and only harder because there is no exact or right way to do it but an endless number of wrong ways. This is the list where even if your Realtor is not a former general contractor or home inspector already helping you take care of the 1st phase of preparation, hopefully the Realtor is an ASP, Accredited Staging Professional, and they will help you with phase 2.
While phase 1 may require more of a technical background, phase 2 requires an understanding on how to prepare a house so it shows off the house's features, diminishes its shortfalls and this will be completely different from the personalized way a home is decorated to live in.
This is called ‘Staging' and while this is only 1 facet and phase 2 of preparation, it is still the single aspect least understood even by many who call themselves ‘Stagers'. Remember Staging a Home to sell is completely different then interior design, or decorating, or the newer business called redesign. Different goals and a different mind set are only a couple of the major differences; however both use similar products to achieve their ends.
Staging's focus is on the house or home and how it appeals to the greatest number of people whereas the best of ASID/FASID Interior Designers focus their talent and abilities on reflecting the personalities and tastes of their clients when they work, and each of their creations shows this with only subtle hints left as to who the designer was i.e. a trademarked signature of some sort. (I do ASID an injustice by this limited explanation)
So how do you Stage your own home? You become both the buyer and the artist!
Begin as already stated from the street and work your way into the house. From the front door that needs polished, painted, cleaned or replaced begin viewing your home like one of those old movie directors. With your arms extended, thumbs at right angles from each wrist and brought together so your thumbs touch. Extend your index fingers and point them straight up. If this hurts, stop and just pretend you are looking through a view finder. The point is to focus on what you see. Your view of the room should not be blocked, the room should be easy to enter and navigate, there should be one focal point (and that may change with the seasons), and most importantly you should be able to tell what type or purpose the room has.
Remember less is more, neutral colors are the best all around but if your walls are already a deep red, green, brown etc, and can not paint again - accessorize with light colors or contrasting colors from the appropriate color pallet, including window treatments which are better when used to frame a window rather then covering it.
If bedrooms have a view - consider placing the bed at an angle to take advantage of it.
Open up your furniture arrangements and define areas, small groupings are best in most cases. Remove furniture from any room that is unnecessary or that crowds the room. Either use it in another area or store it.
Remove those personal collections and as much as I hate to say this, remove those religious symbols or similar symbols that define specific groups.
Use center pieces made from apples, greenery from the cuttings made in the yard and platters, cake holders and other household items. Dress them up and use imagination.
Remove family pictures, and balance shelves as a unit or as a whole, not on a shelf by shelf basis.
Remember to make anything look larger then it is put less on it or in it.
Kitchen and Bathroom counters should be cleared and cleaned with small vignettes of anything you have suitable to draw the eye to the depth or length, resist placing articles of the cabinet upper units.
A small closet half full will not seem nearly as small while a large walk in closet stuffed to the ceiling may seem to small for a buyer ~ use this theory everywhere.
If you chose a stager that is in addition to your Realtors fee, be careful. Many want to charge like a frustrated interior designer that could not pass the test. No matter how many examples they have of their work there is never a way to see if the previous sellers actually gained anything by using them. The best stagers to use usually will agree to hold costs down and do their best using what you already have. A vacant or new home of course requires inventory but that would be expected.
Remember your goal is to position your home at the top of the other homes that are similar to yours in the same market area. Spending more on repairs or staging will blow you out of the water. You'll feel you have to charge more then your homes attributes (size, type, age & location) can possibly justify. Stay and work within your homes price range.
The suggestions in the presale home examination and repairs and the suggestions for home staging are only representative and are not in any way the totality on how to do either and are only basic explanations to help demonstrate how to ‘position' your home for sale properly.
Having researched home values and the number of homes similar to yours on the market, the asking price of these homes and the selling prices taken from your local government web site or the courthouse, the home examination and repairs and with the staging complete, we are now ready to price your home for the highest justifiable amount and place it on the market.
Don't start at this phase ~ but if you already have, go though these steps as if your home wasn't on the market. If your home needs adjustments in repairs, staging, or pricing consider removing your home from the market and get this done quickly before placing your home on the market again.
Currently the greatest influences on whether your home sells quickly or not may not be controllable but reflections of general market conditions. In a hot market ‘positioning' is important because as a seller you want every penny your home is worth in as short a period of time as possible. In a tougher and slower market, like what we are dealing with now, ‘positioning' is even more critical and may be the difference between selling or not selling at all.
Least I end before I finish I will say the ‘marketing of your home' while crucial, in my opinion is the most overstated aspect. I simply mean that if you have taken my advice and have hired a Realtor ASP, Accredited Staging Professional, then more likely then not your home will be placed in the local MLS, on Realtor.com and on the real estate firm's web site. Hopefully the real estate firm's web site is highly ranked, and they have multiple web sites. This is best to ask the Realtor at the beginning ~ but the point is that most ads placed in real estate magazines and newspapers are ineffective for selling a specific property whereas most properties are sold by a buyers agent who have agreed to search the entire real estate market for properties for their buyers.
Place your home in front of those agents you will also be placing it in front of the most serious buyers. Your buyer will likely come from an agent from another office and agents from other offices will in keeping most likely be showing your home more then your Realtor.
This is the way it should be as your agent represents you, and the buyer's agent represents only the buyer in this case. This arrangement actually increases your protection and shifts much of any liability to the other real estate firm and the buyer's agent. As a matter of fact ~ in the Pinehurst Southern Pines Area Association of Realtors MLS ~ it appears that more and more firms representing the seller do not offer compensation through sub-agency meaning they represent the home seller too, but only offer compensation to buyer agents, in order to give the highest degree of insulation and protection to their respective clients and for the real estate firms in a transaction.
Yard Signs, listing in the MLS and placing properties on the web so they can be found and perhaps a couple of Open Houses and most of the time you can forget those expensive ads in print. If you feel strongly enough that your home needs to be in print then you can always suggest that you will pay for the cost of the ad. If an agent attempts to sway you to list with them simply because they advertise in all the print available, then these firms are shopping for buyers in general - not looking to just sell your property. Don't let this ever be your deciding factor over placing your home on well ranked web sites, providing home examinations, staging and positioning are more important because you can easily and quickly add print advertising ~ but you practically have to pull a home off the market to accomplish everything else.
Remember even though you have painstakingly completed every facet of positioning listed here, if you over price your home you probably will have a bad experience trying to sell your home. The market dictates the eventual sales price and you will realize the greatest return on your investment if you follow the market's rules and these guidelines.
The market doesn't care if you are going to make money or lose money. The market doesn't actually care about replacement costs or rent to value formulas. What the market will always show is what an able buyer is willing to pay for your home or a similar home, that is if homes are selling at all. Your home needs to be that house.
Follow up now with reading more about home staging. There are numerous books published on this now ~ you'll see how each attempts to define satging like it was the authors invention. Truth is staging has been practiced for centuries, you can find out a lot information for free by performing a Google search on this subject. Feel free to email me for help or to find someone to help you.
Practically all home improvement stores have tons of free information about how to do the projects that will come up. Take advantage of the free pamphlets and training demonstrations offered at both Home Depot and Lowe's. Buy everything from Lowe's though ~ I own some Lowe's stock and it is down right now. Need help ~ email me and I'll see what I can do.
I would be glad to help anyway I can, email me and I'll help find you a Realtor ASP or at least an experienced Realtor stager. I'll interview them for you if you wish and only recommend the ones that pass the sniff test.
And of course, If you are planning on placing a home on the market in Moore County, NC or the Pinehurst, NC real estate market ~ email us or call us. We were the 1st real estate staging firm in Pinehurst, and the only real estate firm that has a former licensed general contractor and licensed home inspector available for free consultations in addition to free staging advice and help.
Why an ASP ~ because only the ASP can place your home on the StagedHomes web site.This alone probably won't get it sold ~ but it is one more resource that will aid in the sale.
Don Price, ASP
Owner/Broker
Advanced Real Estate Services & Staging
Pinehurst, NC
910.603.7445
http://www.pinehurstlistings.com/
DonPrice@PinehurstListings.com
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