3 Quick Home Staging Tips
In selling a home, creating the proper atmosphere is just as important as pricing your home properly. Elegant furniture can enhance a room, or stifle buyers’ ability to envision themselves there if the placement is incorrect. Depending on presentation, beautiful flowers can appeal to a potential buyer or detract from the mood of the showing. Simple yet aesthetic additions can sometimes make all the difference.
When consulting with sellers, I help them determine what their home is worth in Yardley, Newtown or anywhere in Bucks County. I can assure that a more inviting home will result in a quicker sale and a better price. Here are three easy do-it-yourself ideas to quickly add some eye-catching appeal and dollar value to your home:
Proper furniture placement
There should be just enough furniture in each room to give the room a purpose. Remove all redundant furniture and move the large pieces away from the walls when possible. Make sure the furniture is the proper scale for the room (e.g remove a king size bed and replace it with a queen if it is too big for the bedroom.) Create appealing vignette groupings with furniture, plants, and artwork to create a mood and attract the buyer’s eye.
Use appropriate plants and beautiful pots
Add vibrantly colored flowers to a neutral-colored room to add some flair, and flowers with more subdued colors to a room that already has a bold color scheme. Use flowers and plants that match the décor of your home. Place plants or flowers in high quality containers near the outside entrance and in the foyer to welcome your buyers. Strategically placed greenery can guide the buyer’s eye as they navigate through your home. Plants can bring life to your home, but be sure to choose quality placement over quantity.
Add small tastes of home
Small details added to your simplified décor can stand out and give buyers the warm fuzzy feeling of home. Eye-catching bowls of shiny fruit on the dining room table, colorful cookbooks on the counter, a creative basket of bath salts and spa treatments in the bathroom all entice the buyer to make themselves at home. Try to focus on items that will universally affect the largest potential group of buyers. Sometimes the things that we think of as “homey” may not be for someone else.
Sometimes just a few small staging changes in your home can mean the difference between a quick sale and a long wait on the real estate market in Yardley, Newtown or Bucks County. Talk to your realtor or a staging expert to decide what changes might benefit your home. Depending on your budget, you can opt for some free or low-cost adjustments like the ideas above, or invest in the professional advice of a staging professional. Contact me for more information if you are interested in an evaluation of your property.
Continue Reading > Add a Comment |
Is It Time for Solar in Yardley?
Have you seen solar panels around Yardley? They’re on roofs, and even in fields! Solar panels are becoming part of America’s energy-saving culture, by converting the sun’s radiation into electricity. And while solar power still accounts for less than one-half of one percent of the electricity produced in the state, today there are 30 times more solar panels installed right here in Pennsylvania than there were just three short years ago!
Part of the tremendous growth seen in solar installations is due to a rebate program run by the state, the PA Sunshine Program, that started in the summer of 2009. The program’s goal was to stimulate the solar industry in the state, and give it the jump start needed to reach a critical mass. Although this program is being phased out now, it was very successful in accomplishing its goals.
As the industry has grown, the price of solar panels and the cost of installation have both plummeted – an average installation costs less than half of what it did two years ago. The lower cost more than makes up for the loss of the rebate. The return on investment by an average homeowner is in the 12% range – and is mostly free from income tax.
In June of 2004, my friend Mark Bortman moved his family from Bucks County to Costa Rica for a year. There, he apprenticed with a pioneer in the solar industry and learned the
business from the ground up. When he returned in 2005, he founded Exact Solar. Today, Exact is the only company in the Bucks County area with extensive experience designing and installing all three major types of solar energy systems: solar water heating, solar electricity and solar pool heating.
One of the keys to Exact Solar’s success is Mark’s hands-on approach. “We offer a personal level of customer service,” says Mark. “I give my cell phone number to my clients at the very first meeting, so I’m easily accessible.”
In addition, Mark is involved in every project to ensure the job is done right. He makes sure all permit paperwork is filed quickly and correctly, and he works on-site during every installation alongside his installers.
To start saving money while helping to make your planet a cleaner place to live, call Mark with Exact Solar for a free consultation at 267-825-0918. For more information, visit www.exactsolar.com.
Continue Reading > Add a Comment |Bucks County Tools For Design : Visualize Your Home In Different Colors
In home design, the exterior is as important as the interior. The exterior are your home’s first impression while performing the double-duty of protecting living space from damage and Mother Nature.
And, occasionally, you may want to make upgrades.
For some people, visualizing changes to a home’s exterior is easy. For others, though, there’s the Better Homes and Gardens Color-a-Home tool.
Color-a-Home is a website via which homeowners can test different exterior home designs and color combinations. Using a series of drop-down menus and mix-and-match swatch colors, homeowners can build home exterior mock-ups featuring:
- New roofing
- New siding
- New windows
- New shutters and doors
Better than a mental picture of your home — get an actual picture.
The Better Homes and Gardens site requires basic site registration to use its Color This! product suite. Color This! is also available for home interiors and window treatments.
Continue Reading > Add a Comment |