What you REALLY need to know when selling your next home

IF you plan on selling your home this year, February and March are the very best time to start thinking about it. With spring right around the corner, it's time to begin working on your property and make it look it's very best! If you really want to know how to sell your home fast, then keep reading!

First, selling your house is about competition. One day you wake up only to discover that a next-door neighbor or someone down the street has also decided to sell their home. Keeping that in mind, you are now faced with a decision; what is the first thing I should do and what will help my home sell at the best price?

Second, selling your home is about seduction. I’m sure you’ve heard, “You had me at hello” right? When a potential buyer sees your house and walks in your front door, you want them to fall in love. I said this in an article last year; location helps tremendously, but appearance sells! Why? It’s the ONLY thing you have control over. You don’t control the realtor or the buyers who seek them out and you don’t control the neighborhood you live in. So, what is a savvy seller supposed to do? Ask yourself these questions:

How important is it to sell my house? What I am willing to do to reach this goal?
Does my house look like our family or does it look like other houses on the market?
If I were a house, competing with others in the same market and price, who would win the competition and have a better chance of someone falling in love with it?

Let’s review the most effective ways in which you can compete and seduce potential home buyers this year.

Control the flow! If you have a problem with traffic flow, bump into things and do not like the way your rooms feel, then a potential buyer will FEEL the same thing. Proper placement of furniture is essential when buyers are looking at square footage. Remember why you bought the house and try to change what doesn’t work.

Organize! If you haven’t thrown out, donated or repurposed items in the last year, then you’ve got too much clutter. On the other hand, you may be so well organized that you don’t have enough furniture or accessories to fill the space. Potential buyers want to FEEL good about the home they buy and if it doesn’t feel good, they might walk away from the sale. An organized space is a clean space in the mind of a buyer.

Clean! No one wants to see your dirt or the products you use in your bathroom. They want to see a clean, well lighted space because they are looking for a home to buy. Clean floors, carpets, windows, trim, countertops, windowsills, closets. Most important areas? Your kitchen and bathroom(s).


When in doubt, ask help from a real estate home staging professional with experience or ask your realtor who they know that can help you sell your home faster. Make your home sought after instead of never thought of™ in 2007.

Inside Redesign and make your home sought after instead of never though of are trademarks of Inside Redesign,LLC.
All Rights Reserved. 2004.

What is Real Estate Home Staging?

Home Staging is huge right now. Home Staging is in the news. Home Staging helps sell your home faster. That's what you're hearing right? Here's a recent article I wrote published in the Paducah Parenting and Family magazine that might help you understand better.

If you redesign your home to sell, they will buy!

Do you know the three things that sell a home the most? Location, location, location, right? Wrong. In real estate, the three (3) factors that affect the sale of a home are price, location and appearance. If you really look at it, appearance is the only thing you have control over, that is unless you have the perfect home, in the perfect neighborhood and with the perfect interior and exterior. Do you have a home like that? To sell your home at its best you need to understand how the market works. Here is why:

· In a Buyers market the available listings exceed demand. Higher inventory of homes mean that houses for sale tend to sit for longer periods. House hunters take their time and become more demanding about what they want. The house that shows the best sells more quickly.

· In a Sellers market, the available listings are lower with less buyers chasing down homes. Buyers cannot afford to take time to make a decision as homes sell faster and often with multiple offers. A home that shows the best sells more quickly.

Therefore, in either market, appearance is vital to a profitable sale. Since the early 90’s, professionals, trained in the art of redesign, have been helping homeowners bring out the best, their home has to offer. Therefore, it you are going to sell your home this year, here are a few 1Redesigned to Sell™ Quick Tips for you.

· Create the right look from the street. Walk out to the street and see how others see your home.

You can call it whatever you like, but what you see from the street is the biggest part of what sells your home. 1Seventy-eight percent (78%) of prospective buyers drive-by or log onto the internet before even viewing a home. Be responsible with the picture that you or your agent takes and make sure it is up-to-date and the best it can be. Get an opinion from a Certified Interior Staging Specialist.

· Distractions. Stand at your front door and open it. What is the first thing you see? A prospective buyer can get distracted within the first 60 seconds of walking into a house for sale. If there are too many "things" in the way, they begin to lose interest. Editing your space is essential and if you can’t do it, call a Certified Interior Staging Specialist to help you through the process.

· Room Arrangement. Prospective buyers have a hard time seeing themselves in your space. Why? Their furniture or style is different from yours. You are selling square footage not your family photos. Good flow and arrangement of furniture is essential when selling a home. Call a Certified Interior Staging Specialist.

· Interior Appeal. When was the last time you painted, patched, cleaned the carpet or floors or just cleaned the house? Houses have to be spotless and if they are not, prospective buyers see it. Clean your house like your going into surgery! A clean home that is properly set up by a Certified Interior Staging Specialist will show the best.

Your time and money are valuable and when you want your home to be sought after instead of never thought of™, consider hiring a Real Estate Staging Specialist to help when selling your next home.

1. Information from an Internet Survey published in 2004.

Redesigned to Sell and home sought after instead of never thought of are trademarks of Inside Redesign, LLC. Copyright. All Rights Reserved. 2006

What is Interior Redesign?

Interior redesign is a fabulous decorating philosophy. Simply stated, trained and certified Interior Redesign Specialists can show you how all the necessary ingredients for a well-designed space exist in your home already. The approach that Interior Redesign Specialists take is based on tried and true techniques and the concept philosophy: You can have a beautiful, comfortable, and inviting home that is easy on your wallet and you can have it in just one day. Your rooms undergo a stress-free transformation with the finished product being a stunning new look - at a tremendous savings to you!

Interior Redesign Specialists do not judge your belongings and do not try to sell you products. They combine a unique skill and professional training with an eye toward balance, scale, texture, and color, interpreting your lifestyle into the design. Attention to detail, along with an interest in enhancing the architectural elements of a room, is what creates the look that makes your house a well-designed home.

To find a trained and certified Interior Redesign Specialist near you, visit http://www.InsideRedesign.com or http://www.We.Redesign.com.

Text or changes to text about Interior Redesign were provided by Interior Redesign Industry Specialists (www.WeRedesign.com). All Rights Reserved.

This article is one of 6 published in 2006 in a Regional Magazine.

Holiday Memories
By Dana Dickey, Inside Redesign, LLC.

My article this month is about the holidays and when I began writing it, I had to ask myself what it was I truly enjoyed about this time of year and what was memorable for me.

I thought about Christmas Eve at my grandparent’s home. My grandmother decorated very much the same way every year. She would hang these large, bumpy, sparkling ornaments in each windowpane in her dining and living room, and then spray around them to make it look like snow. She would place these wonderful ornaments and lots of lights on her tree and then top it with a bright-lighted star. This is what I remember most.

Christmas was about family, plain and simple. We surrounded ourselves with food, laughter and made the most of our time together because we knew it was short. Things are the same at my house today; cooking, visiting with friends and family and enjoying the moments together.

To help make your holiday season memorable, here a few simple decorating tips:

· Think beyond your fireplace mantle and add some interesting touches to your windows or window treatments using a fresh pine garland with a sprig of berries.
· Go outside, find pinecones and other natural elements, and place them in a basket near the fireplace. Go on a pinecone hunt with the kids and make your own treasured memories each year.
· Add your favorite ornaments to a treasured dish to add punches of color and lots of sparkle. Set the stage with music.
· Less is better. The eye can only handle so much. Create vignettes in areas that display your favorite holiday collectibles. You want your guests to behold the beautiful site of your valued pieces, not pass them by.
· Use acorns, pine or tree branches wrapped in silver or gold ribbon as an added touch to your place settings.

This holiday season, remember why you are together, and remember the laughter, the food and the celebration of life. Deliver a kindness to someone you do not know. Create a memory for someone else to take with him or her. Savor the moments you are all together and decorate with new style!

Published in the December Issue of Paducah Parenting & Family Magazine. 2006. Copyright. All Rights Reserved.