If you have read my blogs in the past, you would know that I love to pick up magazines and browse online about articles dealing with homes and real estate.  Just goes to show you that I truly love real estate.  One of my favorite shows, online places and magazines is HGTV.  While I don't always agree with their opinion, they do have a lot of helpful hints that I use personally for my own home.  The latest fun piece that I researched was on decorating which is beneficial right now but also when staging a home to sell.

Here are the 10 Steps on How to Decorate Like a Pro

1. What's Your Style? - Does your home take on the "country" feel or is it modern?  For a long time, I wondered what my style was because I've liked some attributes of every style.  I also, believe that our styles change.  For instance, I tended to decorate "country" but now I'm considered to be a "contemporary" style.  How did I figure that out?  Go check out this link to figure out your style - http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_33320,00.html

O.K. honestly I can't guarantee that a seller will sell in this market, but I can give you some helpful hints based on what I notice buyer's are looking for.  And if it makes you feel any better, I'm getting ready to sell in the Spring market next year so guess what... I have to take my own advice. 

The Absolute Musts

This information probably won't be anything new.  Hopefully, you've already heard from the news or other professionals in the real estate business that in today's market, these things HAVE to be done to get the premium price.

1. PRICE CORRECTLY - If you want to sell in the near future, price is critical and buyers know approximately what your home is worth because they have been in all your competitor's homes.
2. CURB APPEAL - With so many homes on the market, this aspect is absolutely crucial.  Buyers have been known to walk away because the outside of the home left something to be desired.  From their point of view, if you won't keep up the outside of the home, who wants to go inside... it probably looks about the same as the outside... not good.
3. BE FLEXIBLE - Unfortunately, as a seller and if you really want to sell, playing hard ball can cost you more time on the market.  Don't give up the ship but be reasonable.

For a video relating to this view this link: http://activerain.com/blogsview/179720/The-Market-Is-What

Now, For More Detail

Clutter is an issue that everyone deals with, unless you are like my girlfriend who moves every two years and therefore stays more on top of the clutter than the rest of us.  I'm currently "decluttering" my house and let me tell you this is one of the worst projects I've ever done, but I know in the long run it will pay off especially when we move and we don't have to go back through all that junk!

Here's the ABC's on Controlling Clutter

A - A Place for Everything

• Storage areas for the jackets, backpacks, boots, and dirty shoes.  A place to keep it looking neat and tidy.
• First Aid Kit should be readily available and organized for when the "emergency" appears.
• Medical Records should be easily accessible.  Once a year, you should see what medical items need to be taken care of and get them on the calendar.  For example, I know that I'm very overdue for my tetanus shot and was reminded to take care of that the other day.

Forsalebyowner.com - Does it Work?        

I don't know, you tell me?  I do have an interesting story that I've heard about this website that I thought I would share.  The person that shared the story with me was so disappointed with the service and the money that was spent that she swore she would tell others not to use the site.  Obviously, as a Realtor I was very curious.  Here's the complaints she had with forsalebyowner.com:

• She initially paid the money to be on the website, and the listing was incorrect and needed to be changed.
• When no phone calls were coming in, she looked at the website again and found that the number published was incorrect and transposed.
• She called several times about this transposed number to be assured it would be taken care of.  Several times later, they finally got it right.
• After that, her listing would suddenly "not be there".  She would call asking what was going on, it would come back on but would disappear again.

Obviously, this person was very frustrated with the system.