Pineapple Interiors

Buyers have become increasingly finicky and detail oriented when viewing homes for sale, making it that much more important to not overlook the details of your home…because buyers certainly won’t!  Often times, sellers feel overwhelmed with the amount of tasks to be completed before placing their home on the market, and focus on big picture things, like furniture placement or lawn care (both of which are important), but overlook the little things they imagine the buyer just won’t notice, or have failed to notice themselves, which turns out to be a mistake.

Preparing your home for sale is just like selling any other product.  Your product needs to stand out from the others out there, be the very best of the best, and leave buyers with a feeling that something about your product was better from all the rest.  Surprisingly, it’s easier than it seems to help your home rise above.

With just a weekend’s time and a little elbow grease, these easy projects can help your home become the total package:

1. Clean and repaint baseboards and trim:  Cleaning up and brightening the white on your trim and baseboards will allow your home to feel more unified.  Crisp trim will draw the eye toward the architectural detail of your home…something you want to show off!

Here is a great tutorial for help getting started…

2. Give your front door a face lift: When buyers approach your home, the “sales pitch” begins right away.  Buyers want to instantly feel cozy and at home, and a peeling, old front door is anything but welcoming.  A quick, fresh coat of paint will easily do the trick.  Adding seasonally appropriate and maintained potted plants to your front porch will add to the charm.  Don’t neglect your house numbers either, make sure your address is not only visible from the street but visually appealing, too! This great site allows you to browse through thousands of fonts, and choose materials, as well.

3.  Wash your windows and screens: Maximize the views from your home by making sure buyers can actually see through them! Dirt and grime build up over time, so its important to wash windows, inside and out, and don’t forget your screens!

4.  Update fixtures and pulls in kitchens and bathrooms: For very little time and money a huge impact can be made by replacing outdated fixtures and pulls with current updated hardware.  Changing out brass for oil rubbed bronze or brushed nickel fixtures can instantly make a space feel new.  Coordinating pulls, found at any home improvement store, will make your home feel high end, without the high end price.

From this…

To this…

5. Re-caulk or re-grout tiles, tubs and sinks: When living in your home it’s easy to overlook small cracks in grout or that one spot near the tub you keep meaning to re-caulk.  Buyers will notice. If necessary, scrape away existing grout then re-caulk or fill the holes.  It will surprise you how much nicer and cleaner the new layer will look.

Try to view your home from a buyer’s perspective.  Every detail is important. Work hard to create an atmosphere in your home that feels well maintained and loved.  Buyers want to feel that the home they are interested in will hold up for them, and has been well taken care of,  little things go a long way to ensure that feeling. So contrary to popular belief, when preparing your home for sale, it IS time to start sweating the small stuff!

(images courtesy of google images)

Have you found yourself at an open house and can’t seem to find that male love-of-your-life to show him your dream kitchen?  Consider starting your search in the garage…he may have gotten “lost”,  just like he does in the tool section of a department store.   While you are sizing up the appliances and layout for easy cooking and entertaining, the all-boy in your life is likely sizing up the garage to make sure there is plenty of room for the family truckster, snowmobiles and kids bikes.

A potential buyer’s critical eye is certainly NOT left at the steps of the garage.  In fact, the image of a well maintained garage will excite your male counterpart to dream of HIS tools and toys in that space, ultimately adding to a quicker sale.

So, is your garage sexy enough for those discerning buyers?   The good news is, the space does not have to look like a catalog ad  with epoxy-flecked floors and perfect custom cabinetry, but there are some key steps to ensure they don’t run to your competition.

• Make sure the space  shows it can fit as many cars as it’s designed for. This may mean storing those extra items off site while selling your home, such as bikes, wagons and extra yard equipment.  If you have a three car garage, that must show clearly.
• If it is dimly lit, add a few extra utility bulbs or lights.
• Clear as much as possible off the garage floor. This includes yard equipment, the boxes you may be pre-packing, grandma’s rocking chair, etc.
• If the garage has storage shelves, use them and keep them tidy. Plastic bins can make a world of difference for a small investment.
• If possible, store trash cans outside (but out of sight) to avoid odors .
• If there are lots of stains on the floor, consider concrete paint, available at your local home improvement store.
• For showings, park any large vehicles off site.
• Store boats, trailers and RVs off site.

Sellers often ask if they should drywall the garage. It likely depends on the price point of the home. For an “average” priced home, we say save that for your new garage. It will likely not make or break a sale, or bring higher offers.

Not sure if your garage is sexy? Take a picture and you will get a better idea of how buyers will see it.

Use these steps to get your garage ready for sale and have buyers deciding on the perfect spot for the permanent bottle opener…already imagining themselves enjoying that first cold beer with the guys!

It is always our pleasure to work with Infinity RE and this remodel in the Historic Baker District was no exception! As always, the kitchen was completely remodeled as were the bathrooms. This updated home was priced right and is in a great location. Staging the home to show just how it lives completed the puzzle. With all those pieces in place there were multiple offers within days of hitting the market! Congratulations to both Infinity RE and the lucky new homeowners.

At Pineapple Interiors, we do a lot of Home Staging Consultations in the Denver Metro area.  A staging consultation consists of walking the home inside and out with the homeowner; and making recommendations as to what needs to be done to prepare the house to go on the market. As part of our consultation, we make every attempt to leave “no stone unturned” or in this case, no closet door unopened.

Whether you live in a grand home with super spacious closets, or an average home with small or even adequate closets, you have to CLEAR THEM OUT!! When closets are filled to capacity, whether they know it or not, the *not enough storage and closet space* alarm starts going off in buyers’ minds.

During one home staging consultation this summer, we opened a guest bedroom closet door and an ironing board literally scared us! It looked like it had caught on fire at some point. We had a good chuckle with the homeowner as we explained the need for a new ironing board cover.

Here are a few pointers for clearing out your closets:

• Pre-pack all off season clothing and if that is not “enough”, clear out more!
• Clothes on closet shelves should be neatly folded or placed in bins and baskets. When we say neatly folded, think department store.
• Any loose items should be placed in bins and baskets (socks, undergarments, ties, belts, etc)
• Floors should be completely clear with the exception of a laundry hamper and one or two shoe shelves
• Upper shelves should be very neat with minimal items

You might be saying, “How do I live like this?” and we feel your pain, but we also are experts when it comes to getting your home ready for sale. The bottom line is, selling your home and living in your home are two completely different things!

As a Stager or Realtor recommending vacant staging to a client, how often are you asked, “Why does a beautiful, new home NEED staging? Don’t the finishes and quality of the home speak for themselves?” While buyers may agree that the home is beautiful and the finishings impeccable, the majority of home buyers are unable to actually ENVISION themselves living in the home. Where they will gather around for family game night?  What it would be like to eat in the breakfast nook?  What an oasis the master bedroom could feel like?

Oregon based stager, Margaret Oscilia said in a recent AgentGenius column, “properties that appeal to home buyer’s emotions sell quicker and for more money. While buyers shop with logic – it is the one they fall in love with that gets the offer”.

In 2010 we helped buyers fall in love! The average DOM in Denver were 90-100 while the average DOM for homes staged by Pineapple were about 50! Check out some of our latest “love stories”…

22069 E Arbor Drive, Aurora, CO

It was Tuesday when we received a familiar call from one of our Realtor clients in somewhat of a panic. She listed this home a few weeks earlier and had not received a lot of interest. She had two showings scheduled for Friday of that same week and had a hunch it would sell if we could get it staged by then. We pulled it together just in time for her afternoon showings and her hunch was right on.  The home was under contract by the following Monday and has since closed!

Living Room

Great Room

We often hear Realtors and homeowners say they want to “wait and see” what happens before they stage. As you know, new listings see the greatest number of buyers in the first two weeks;  you only have one shot to make a great first impression. Doesn’t it make sense to give every first showing the best possibility to be the last showing?