Monday, August 27, 2012

SEVEN SIMPLE STAGING SECRETS - from Coldwell Banker



When it comes to staging a home for sale, sellers should create a warm, inviting yet neutral atmosphere that will appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. The good news is, sellers don’t need to do a complete design overhaul to get a great result. 

Coldwell Banker offers seven simple staging tips to help boost a home’s appeal and give owners a competitive edge to help sell their home.

·         Stage rooms with one purpose.  Rooms that have many uses can confuse or even deter homebuyers, so staging rooms with one purpose is vital.  Determine who your most likely target market will be, whether its young professionals with no kids, families, or even empty nesters.  Then present your areas to fit their needs.  If you’ve been using a room as a guest room/kids playroom/home office, pick the one use that best suits your buyers. 

·         Tackle the easy “do-it-yourself” projects. In a Coldwell Banker consumer survey of first time buyers, the vast majority said move-in conditions are very important in their search.  Spruce up your home by replacing outdated kitchen and bathroom fixtures.  Add a fresh coat of paint.  Repaint or refinish kitchen cabinets and update with new hardware.

·         Focus on the living areas.  Potential buyers should envision themselves entertaining friends and family in the living areas of the home.  Make sure those areas feel as spacious as possible by removing any unnecessary furniture to allow for easy traffic flow.  

·         Make sure the master bedroom appeals to both sexes.  Remember that the master bedroom is a room that a couple will be sharing, so the décor should appeal to both sexes.  It should feel like a calm and peaceful refuge, not a frilly boudoir.  Remove any feature that seems too gender-specific and paint the walls a neutral colour.

·         Clear away family photos and mementos.  Buyers want to picture their family living in a home, not the previous owners. Put away family portraits, personal collections and knickknacks. Removing these items will also eliminate clutter and ensure that people are focusing on the home, not the photos from the last family vacation.

·         Furnish the home, but don't overdo it.  While an empty house may look spacious, it’s often hard for buyers to visualize their belongings in a home if they’re just looking at bare walls and floors. Leave the basic components that allow the viewer to define each room.

·         Don’t forget the outside spaces.  First impressions can play a key role in a consumer’s decision-making process, so don’t neglect your home’s curb appeal.  Make sure the home’s exterior is inviting by trimming the bushes, mowing the lawn and painting faded window trim.  Buyers will appreciate the seller’s efforts with the yard work, and will tend to assume that the same attention to detail has been devoted throughout the property.  


I am the GUY that will make a difference!

I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.

Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty

C 250.878.3605 O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Friday, August 17, 2012

How to Stage your home to sell

How to Stage your home to sell

Click on the link above to see this video.

I am the GUY that will make a difference!

I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.

Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty

 C 250.878.3605 O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Sunday, August 12, 2012

GROWING FAMILY IS NO. 1 LIFESTYLE MOTIVATOR FOR HOME BUYERS


Coldwell Banker survey finds Sellers are more willing to make changes to increase buyer appeal; Buyers prefer updated kitchens & open floor plans to trendy media rooms 

A recent survey of 700 Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals across North America revealed home buyers are motivated by lifestyle needs, with growing families ranking as top motivator on both sides of the Canadian/U.S. border.  Meanwhile, sellers are becoming increasingly aware of the value of presenting a home with buyers appeal, and are becoming more willing to go the extra mile as they compete for buyers’ attention.  

Sellers More Willing to De-clutter, De-personalize and Make Repairs

Of those Coldwell Banker professionals surveyed:

  • 94 percent say their sellers are getting rid of clutter and making cosmetic updates, such as fresh paint and minor repairs.  This percentage was the same for both Canadian and U.S. respondents
  • 60 percent of Canadian respondents agree that clients are willing to “de-personalize” the home.  This percentage was much higher in the challenging U.S. market, where 76 percent agree.
  • 59 percent of North American respondents say sellers are even bringing in new home decorations or furniture to help make the home more appealing. 
When marketing your home, it’s important to help buyers imagine themselves living in the property. De-cluttering and de-personalizing is crucial to this process.  Sellers should recognize that while demand for homes remains strong in Canada, their home is still competing with other listings.  If a home is presented with a minimum of clutter and distracting personal items, it will appeal to buyers and improve the chance of a sale.  

Buyer Preferences are ‘Back to the Basics’

Sellers, take note: when it comes to selecting a home, buyers are going back to the basics.  They value new or updated kitchens, bathrooms and open floor plans as the most important features for a new home. 

  • 33 percent of agents surveyed across North America say that a new or updated kitchen is the most important feature to homebuyers.
  • 14 percent say the most important feature to homebuyers is an open floor plan, while 12 percent say it is a new or updated bathroom.
  • Only 1 percent of the real estate professionals surveyed say they believe that entertainment rooms or finished basements are the most important feature.
Home Buyers Moving for Babies and Careers

The survey also drilled down into which life events are motivating the most people to buy homes.  According to the Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals surveyed, growing families is currently the biggest lifestyle driver for home buyers in both Canada and the United States. 

70 percent of real estate professionals surveyed say a new baby or growing family is the “most common”, or a “very common” lifestyle reason that North American buyers search for a new home.  Other key motivators include:

  • Marriage - 59 percent.
  • Divorce - 48 percent.
  • Retirement - 37 percent.

While the majority of survey responses regarding buyer motivators were similar between Canada and United States, and although job reasons was the No. 2 reason overall across North America, there was one marked difference.  Fifty-five percent of Canadian respondents cited job reasons vs. 69 percent of respondents in the United States, where the economy and job market have endured recent downturns.  

For most of us, while a home is probably our largest investment, the fact remains that people move for lifestyle reasons.  Regardless of market conditions, buying a home remains an investment in our lifestyles where the emotional and psychological benefits can hold equal value to the pure economic investment.



I am the GUY that will make a difference!


I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.


Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty


C 250.878.3605 O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Tips for a Smooth Move


To paraphrase an old real estate saying – the three most important factors for a stress-free move are: planning, planning, and more planning.  Plan your move at least one month in advance.  Set up an expense log, and start lining up your suppliers – movers, storage companies, delivery of new appliances or furniture.  Don’t forget painters, carpet installers and other services working on your new house prior to your move-in date. 

Now is the time to minimize the number of items you have to move.  Discard unwanted items, hold a garage sale, and collect boxes.  Notify friends, relatives, the post office, and companies you do business with of your change of address.  Don’t forget about those companies you might contact only once a year, such as life or car insurance companies.

Contact your real estate lawyer to confirm who will be handling the changeover of various utilities and services.  Typically, utilities such as power, gas, water, etc. are handled by your lawyer as part of the final adjustments on the sale’s closing.  Other services, particularly cable television, internet and telephone services, you’ll probably be instructed to handle on your own.  Try to schedule utilities and service connections before you arrive at your new house – and book your appointments as far out in advance as possible, especially if you plan to move at month end, or you might find yourself on a waiting list.

Make a floor plan of the new house and plan where everything will go.  Don’t guess - take measurements of room dimensions and major furniture items and then lay everything out.  You don’t want pay movers an hourly rate to move Grandma’s piano four times because it just doesn’t fit!  When you’re packing,  label boxes clearly by contents and by room, and on moving day, provide movers with a copy of your floor plan so they’ll know exactly where to put the boxes for ‘Johnny’s bedroom’.  Remember to provide plastic sheets to protect carpets.

Prepare a list of the items you wish to move personally such as jewelry and precious breakables.  Pack your pillows, a set of sheets and blankets, along with your nightclothes, a towel and toiletries to take with you in your car. Then at the end of a long and tiring day, you can get ready for bed without having to sort through 50 boxes.  You might also pack a lunch complete with utensils, napkins, condiments, (and perhaps a wine opener?) to enjoy your first meal in your home as a picnic on the living room floor.  And if you like a cup of coffee in the morning, you’ll want to pack the coffee maker and all the fixings to take in your car as well. 

These little things can add up to a pleasant adventure on moving day, rather than an exercise in frustration for you and your family.  Ask your Coldwell Banker real estate representative for more advice about hassle-free moves.  They’ve been through this with hundreds of customers, so they’re the experts!
 
 
                                                                                                                                                               
I am the GUY that will make a difference!


I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.


Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty


C 250.878.3605 O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Friday, August 3, 2012

According to a 2012 survey from Coldwell Banker Real Estate of 1,000 men and women, they both rely on how they feel and how their lifestyle fits into a home when looking for a place to live.  The survey found 28 percent of women and 25 percent of men put more emphasis on their feelings about a home than they do on the layout, square footage, or even price. But despite the differences between men and women, there’s at least one thing they agree on when it comes to buying a home -- the majority of women (62 percent) and men (61 percent) know within the first visit if the home is right for them.

For couples entering the home-buying process, here are some tips for harmonious house-hunting:

·       Each person should come up with a list of a few things that are most important to them.  Then, they should come together as a couple to decide on a list of the top three to five things that are important for their home together. 
·       When looking for a home, communication is key.  Consider designating a point person for different aspects of the home-buying process, so that information is not delayed or communicated to just one part of the couple.
·       Don’t get too many people involved; typically more people means more stress and what is most important is that the couple is happy with the decisions being made.
·       Don’t forget to have fun! Remember that this home will be the place to build memories and a life together.

Following these simple, common-sense guidelines can help couples keep the home-buying process fun.  For more helpful advice on the home buying process, you can contact me at any time.

I am the GUY that will make a difference! 


I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.  


Karen Guy, REALTOR® 
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty


C 250.878.3605 O 250.768.8001 
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Kelowna Real Estate Agent West Kelowna Karen Guy Realtor