Get Top Price for Your Home By Decorating It to Sell...

Real Estate Corner

Get Top Price for Your Home By Decorating It to Sell
From Coral Nafie

- Set the Stage for a Quick Sale - The process of showing and selling your home can go much more smoothly if you get everything ready. Find out how to get your home ready to impress buyers for the best offers and the top price for your home. Preparing your home for sale is a bit like designing a stage for a play. Everything is in just the right place, perfectly arranged, and comfortably set.

- There are television shows like Designed to Sell focused exclusively on, not decorating a home, but getting an otherwise drab, cluttered, boring house ready for a quick and profitable sale. Homes that are properly prepared sell faster and at a higher price than similar, unprepared homes.

- The professional organizaton, Staged Homes trains real estate professionals and other interested individuals in the art of "Home Staging" and issues a certificate as an "Accredited Staging Professional ™." Just what do "Home Stagers" do and how can their theory help you sell your home? Get out the cleaning supplies, boxes, and get ready to sell your home fast! You'll love how easy it is to transform a languishing, slow-moving home into a quick sale with just a bit of elbow grease and an eye for beauty.

- You may be lucky and just need to do some long-neglected simple home repairs, get rid of clutter and add fresh flowers. Or you might have to repaint or recarpet your home to give it a fresh look. If you're handy, you'll be able to do most things yourself. But you may need to hire a plumber to install a new faucet in the kitchen or other professional to replace outdated light fixtures or window treatments.

- You need to keep in mind that you're not going to make the changes to live in your home. Your only goal is to show your home at its very best to potential buyers. Without being distracted by clutter and dirt, they'll be able to picture themselves in the home you're trying to sell. They will find it hard to resist making an offer. If you're skeptical about the benefits of going to all this work or doubt that it will make any difference in selling your home, put yourself in the place of a home buyer.

- Have you ever toured through a development of model homes? The paint is fresh, appliances are shiny, there is artwork arranged around the house, and fresh flowers stand on the kitchen counter. Mirrors are sparkling, towels fresh, and there are no toys on the floor. The rooms look spacious and the furniture comfortable. For the complete article visit the link below:
http://interiordec.about.com/od/moving/a/a_homestaging.htm

Room-by-Room Safety Tips

Bathroom
1. Keep space heaters, radios, and other electrical products away from bathtubs and sinks.
2. Keep medications, cleaning products, and other poisons away from children and pets.
3. Make sure that you have ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets installed in the bathroom as well as in the kitchen, laundry room and workshop.

Kitchen
1. Store all portable and small appliances and their cords out of the reach of children and always keep them a safe distance away from the sink.
2. Keep all portable and countertop appliances unplugged when not in use.
3. Never use or attempt to repair a damaged appliance; always consult a qualified technician.
4. Every home should have working, UL Listed smoke detectors and fully charged UL Listed fire extinguishers strategically placed in the kitchen, garage, and workshop.

Nursery/Bedrooms
1. Install UL Listed smoke detectors and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms outside every sleeping area and near fuel-burning appliances.
2. Place halogen torchiere lamps in locations where they cannot be tipped over by children, pets, or a strong draft from an open window. Do not allow curtains or other combustible materials to come in contact with torchiere lamps at any time.
3. Use a tape measure or ruler and look for strangulation hazards and areas where an infant can become trapped. There should be no more than 2 3/8 inches between crib slats, corner posts should not extend more than 1/16 of an inch above the end panels (unless the corner posts extend at least 16 inches high for a canopy), and headboards and footboards should not contain cutout areas.

Family/Living Room
1. Use outlet plug covers to prevent children from inserting objects into outlets.
2. Never run an electrical cord under a rug or carpet, or drape it over a hot surface such as a radiator or space heater.
3. Make sure that all portable lamps and fixtures are equipped with light bulbs of equal or lesser wattage than that recommended by the lamp or fixture manufacturer.
4. Unplug all extension cords when not in use and never use an extension cord that is cut or damaged.

http://www.ul.com/consumers/home.html

~deirdra