Home Decor | Housing | Real Estate

Here’s a tip for anyone selling a home in Nassau or Suffolk County. While this information can apply to homes in other areas, the density of housing in Nassau and Suffolk means that there will probably be many homes on the market at any point in time, all competing with each other.

Staged Homes sell faster and/or for more money!

Now that you know this, here are some steps to take to prepare your home for sale. They are all quite easy:

Clear all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. Keep decorative objects on the furniture restricted to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items. In general, a sparsely decorated home helps the buyer mentally move in with their own things.

Rearrange or remove some of the furniture in your home, if necessary. Many times home owners have too much furniture in a room. When it comes to selling your home, thin out overcrowded rooms to make the rooms appear larger. If you need room to store extra possessions use the garage or rent a storage unit

Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it has not been used for three months, put it away! Clear refrigerator fronts of messages, magnets, pictures, etc.

In the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from the countertops, tub, shower stall and commode top. Keep only the most necessary cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc., in one small group on the counter. Coordinate towels in one or two colors only.

Take down, reduce, or rearrange pictures and objects on walls. Patch and paint all walls, if necessary.

Review the house interior, room by room, and:
1. Paint any room needing paint.
2. Clean carpet and draperies that need it.
3. Clean the windows.

When buyers visit the home:
Leave on certain lights during the day (your agent will show you which ones). During showings, turn on ALL lights and lamps.
Play light FM music every day in the house, for all viewings.
Make sure the home smells wonderful – try baking some fresh cookies.

Certain home improvements that are useful to almost everyone have proven to add value or speed the sale of houses. These include adding central air conditioning to the heating system; building a deck or patio; finishing the basement; doing some kitchen remodeling (updating colors on cabinets, counter tops, appliances, panels, etc.); and adding new floor and/or wall coverings, especially in bathrooms.

On the other hand, improvements that return less than what they cost are generally ones that appeal to personal tastes that not everyone may share, like adding fireplaces, wet bars and swimming pools, or converting the garage into an extra room.

The challenge that comes with any home improvement designed to help sell your house is recouping your investment. There’s always the risk of over-improving your house – that is, putting more money into it than neighborhood prices will support.

So how much is too much? Professional renovators have found that, no matter how much you improve any given house, you’re unlikely to sell it for more than 15 percent above the median price of other houses in the neighborhood, whether you do $1,000 worth of work or $50,000.