Staging Photos

Here are a few tips that might help you when you finish your staging and want to take photos for your advertising…

When you take your photos you want to use as wide angle lense as you can. It will enable you to get more of the room in the photo at one time. But remember that you also want to take photos of the details that need to be shown. It might be the crown molding in the living room, the banister on the stairs and those extras in the kitchen cabinets.

You need to have the best shot you can get of the front of the house. Take time to look around and make sure it is staged like the interior is. You want to make sure toys are out of the way and yard hoses are put up and out of sight. Make sure the grass is cut.

If you have an exceptional view, you might want to take a photo from both the inside and out. This takes a little more knowledge of photography, but if you can accomplish it, you will have some interesting pictures.

During this time of year, we begin to decorate for the season. Just remember if you take photos with the decorations, that you also have some without. You don’t want a photo of the wreath on the door at Christmas, when it is July. Pay attention to details.

Room by Room-Light and Spacious

Several years ago there was a program on HGTV called Room by Room. They would take a room on each program and change the appearance mostly by DIY jobs and with very little cost involved. I liked watching this program because it was practical and they did things that most people could recreate in their own homes. This is an easy way to do Home Staging.

When a room is filled with light, it just naturally looks larger. It is a great time to check the light fixtures and make sure all the bulbs are there and they are a higher wattage. This is such an easy trick that cost pennies to do and makes a big difference in how the room looks.

Curtains should be pulled open or completely removed to show the most window you can. Tie backs also help with this. Make sure all the blinds or shades are clean and in good repair. Let the sun shine in.

Take a look at the storage areas of the house. Are they packed full? Take some of the stuff off the bookshelves, under the bed, in the closets and just remove it. By showing you have extra storage space it will give a buyer the feeling the house is “big enough” for their needs.

Also, please don’t use back of the door hangers. Box up the extra clothes you have and store them while the house is on the market. Besides looking bad, they imply there isn’t enough room in the home.

Over the past month, I have been listening to people talk about downsizing and living the simple life. These same people are ones that have been in a great real estate market and have the finances to show for it. They can throw away and replace at their leisure.

Memory Keepers

I know staging is an important part of the selling process for a home. That becomes clearer when you enter the home of an elderly person that has their collections all over the house. It becomes a challenge to make the suggestions necessary to help them sell their home faster. So how do you do it? Very tactfully.

You should also know that you will not be able to dispose of anything without them knowing of it. Each piece has a special meaning and even though it is stuffed in a back closet, they will one day want to see  their possession again.

I have not watched the tv program “hoarders” but I have seen the commercials. This is an entirely different problem that involves filth. No one should be subjected to filth.

But there is another group of people that enjoy keeping special parts of their life. They might come from a family that only had money to buy the item once, so they cherished what they had. And they keep track of it, in their own way.

You see, I am one of those people.I am a Memory Keeper. I once had a metal cup that was part of my tea set when I was very little. I only had one cup left and used it in my canister of coffee. Each time I made a cup of coffee, I saw that cup. It meant nothing to anyone but me. And then it disappeared. My husband doesn’t know what happened to it but it is gone. He had put another cup in the canister, but I missed that one. Small thing, big impact.

Remember this when you go into the homes you feel are too cramped with “junk”. It might be junk to you, but it is a memory to them. Be compassionate and help them with a guiding and loving hand.

Debra’s Dozen

Quick and Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Appealing to Atlanta Buyers

1. Clean up shrubbery. It is easy to allow bushes to grow up over the windows and hide the great architectural details of your home, especially in an older home with older shrubbery. Make sure they are trimmed back to enhance the curb appeal of your Atlanta home.

2. Cut the grass and maybe even turn the sprinklers on a few minutes before the showing to make the yard look sparkly and alive.

3. Put a pot of bright flowers out by the door. That extra color is will draw their eye to the entrance.

4.  Install new doorknobs on your front door. A new coat of paint on the door will give it a fresh new look.

5.  Repair any cracks in the driveway. Another idea to freshen the look of the entry.

6.  Neaten the yards by edging the grass around walkways and trees.

7.  Clean up the yard and remove any tools, hoses, or children’s toys that might be laying around.

8. Install a new mailbox. This is an inexpensive trick that does wonders for your home’s presentation.

9. Buy a welcome mat for the front door and upgrade your outside lighting.

10.  Please “do windows”. Clean them inside and out. This will show you care for your home and have taken care of it.

11. Replace the house numbers, or at least paint or polish them. Make them look new and make sure they are seen.

12. Put a wreath on the door appropriate for the season. Now your home is ready to say “Welcome Home”.