Sellers » Sunset Beach and Beyond Realty

Accent Walls that Add Value

July 23, 2020 by Karen Baker Leave a Comment

As a homeowner one of the things that brings the most pleasure is adding value to your home. This can be done in a million different ways, but the ways that seem to be the most enjoyable are when you can visually see the difference in the upgrade. 2020 has brought many challenges, however, it has given homeowners more time to be at home which has resulted in lots of DIY and home improvement projects. Accent walls seem to be a statement piece that aren’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon, and if done correctly, can add value and visual appeal to your home.

There are hundreds of different styles and ideas when it comes to adding an accent wall to your home, however there are three that are currently the most coveted, and most value boosting within today’s markets.

Reclaimed wood has been a highlight for the last decade, however, the lighter wood finishes have only become more popular within the last few years. Instead of a dark stained wood, try a light finish, or even white washed wood to create a full reclaimed wood accent wall. This statement piece is sure to be jaw dropping and command attention from everyone who sees it. In addition to its beauty, by using a lighter or white washed wood you are also brightening the room allowing it to feel airy and whimsical. This is the perfect addition to any beach home and you can even create driftwood shelving units to play on the wall and add to the wood/beach theme.

External: 4 Important Upgrades Sellers Should Make Before Listing

If reclaimed wood isn’t your cup of tea, exposed brick is becoming more and more popular. Much like with the wood, lighter is better. While some more metropolitan towns are in love with the classic red bricks, beachy and small towns have fallen in love with painted brick walls. Try light neutral tones to not only brighten up the space, but add a one of a kind brick accent wall. This will give your home a rustic chic look that will be coveted by all. Try getting a brick drill and add in some floating glass shelves to give the wall an extra pop.

As with any home improvement, you should always plan out your ideas prior to execution, so be sure to think through the project before starting to ensure you have all the material needed to complete the accent wall of your dreams.

For more information on boosting your home’s value, to browse current homes for sale, or for any real estate needs, please contact my office at any time.

External Related: Top Renovations for 2020

This One Thing Might Decrease Your Home’s Value

May 28, 2020 by Karen Baker 1 Comment

Whether you are purchasing or selling a home, the two main areas of a home to keep your eyes on are the kitchen and the bathroom(s). These two areas of a house are the most likely to either add or decrease the home’s value.

As time goes by trends naturally are going to change, make sure you don’t get stuck selling a home for less because you have outdated bathrooms, and likewise, don’t buy a home that won’t give you equity because it lacks modern touches. So what should you avoid when purchasing, or what should you upgrade when selling? We’ve accumulated a list of the top five things to avoid when it comes to your bathroom(s).

Hollywood Lighting –

I think we all had the round Hollywood dressing room style lighting in our bathrooms at some point in life, however, this popular trend has since expired. By switching to a more modern light fixture above the mirror you can instantly change the whole look of the room! Another good tip is to add a dimming switch, this allows for nice relaxing baths, or bright lighting when needed.

Granite Countertops –

Granite was the most coveted countertop for the last decade if you didn’t have granite, you wanted it! Recent buyers however see no value in granite countertops and would prefer to have Marble or Quartz.

Block Glass Windows –

This trend has been out for quite some time now, however it is still common among many homes. The block glass gives a gawdy look to a bathroom and often can become discolored easily, mostly throughout the grout and seals, which can make your bathroom go from “fab to drab.”

More: Home Stagers Offer 5 Tips to Getting a Home Sold

Glossy Finishes –

The shinier the better seemed to be the way to go, however, in recent years bathroom finishes seem to have shifted to a more matte finish. Regardless of the color, black, grey taupe, or otherwise, try to make sure that you have matte finishes throughout the bathroom, primarily the floors and cabinets.

More: Should you replace the carpet before selling?

Multiple Shower Heads –

While having multiple shower heads might still be a dream for some, a lot of buyers are currently looking for more environmentally friendly options and unfortunately, with multiple shower heads, you aren’t exactly saving any water. Try purchasing an eco-friendly showerhead and market that the bathroom is already outfitted to save water, you’d be surprised how many people want this!

While these looks range from a quick fix of a showerhead, to completely replacing the countertops, bathrooms should always be up to date for the current market before they are ever listed for sale. Ensuring that you have up to date features, flooring, cabinets, and lights can substantially increase the value of your home. Don’t get stuck in the past, look to the future, and enjoy all the features and fixings that come with it.

Related: 5 Steps to Selling a House

Concerned you might have other things bringing down the value of the home? Let us help! We know what buyers are looking for and if you’re thinking about upgrading a room or two in your home before selling, let us help you put your remodeling dollars to the best use.

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How to Improve Your Real Estate Listing Photos

May 6, 2020 by Karen Baker Leave a Comment

Selling a home successfully has many different components that all work together like a well-oiled machine. From the location, school district, proximity to shopping, recreation or parks, and much more, there are dozens of things that a buyer looks for before choosing to view, tour and even buy a home.

One of the best ways to make sure your listing stands out and thus attracts more potential buyers is to ensure you have the best photos possible in your listing. Real estate listing photos should showcase your home’s best features and allow buyers to get a glimpse into the way the home feels and give them the ability to picture themselves living there. A good home can be ruined by poor photos and you may miss out on selling your home for top dollar simply by the quality of photos in your listing. Luckily there are many different ways to ensure your home has high-quality photos that enhance features and attract buyers.

When hiring a photographer, be sure they are seasoned in real estate photos, you can even ask to see a portfolio of their previous work. There is a huge difference in hiring a family photographer and a real estate photographer. While both require specific attention to details and a special set of skills, you want to ensure that you are getting the best quality photos as these are what will ideally sell your home.

There are a few different tips and tricks to taking real estate photos, and some homeowners have opted to try their hand at taking the photos themselves. Whether you are hiring a professional or taking the photos be sure to follow these few tips and tricks for awesome real estate listing photos.

Angles-a beautiful room can be ruined simply by taking a photo from the wrong angle, always try to use a wide-angle lens and get a little height to your photo. Taking a photo from too low can result in the room looking smaller whereas taking a photo from a higher angle can showcase the full room.

Light-natural light is going to be your best friend. Make sure photos are only being taken on a sunny day if possible and open up all the blinds, drapes and curtains to let in as much natural light as possible.

Neutral Tones-while you may like a pop of color or a bold look, most buyers want to see neutral tones. Prior to photographing, paint accent walls back to a neutral tone, remove brightly colored objects from the room and replace them with lightly colored accessories, try sticking to tan, grey, and pastels to have the best looking photos. The exception to this rule is to have a vase with colorful flowers if you want a pop of color or to have a few yellow items, the color yellow appeals to buyers as a “happy” color and thus can draw attention.

Clutter-you want your home to be free of any and all clutter. Prior to taking photos or even showing your home, go through the house room by room to remove any clutter or family photos so potential buyers can visualize themselves living in the home. They want crisp clean photos and clutter will distract them from seeing the features and rooms you are trying to highlight.

Reflections-a beautiful photo can be ruined by a small reflection. Whether it be a window, sliding glass door, mirror, or shower, be sure that all surfaces have been recently cleaned of all smudges or watermarks and position the camera in a way that will allow no reflections to be seen. Having reflections is one of the easiest ways to distinguish an amateurs photo from a professional photo.

Once you have your Real Estate Listing Photos taken, whether by a professional or yourself, go through the photos to find the ones that showcase your home successfully. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when taking listing photos is to “over edit” or overexposed photos. Buyers want photos to look as raw and real as possible and often when they see a photo that has been highly altered it gives off the idea that the room needs work and thus that is why the photo was edited. Lastly, be sure to have a minimum of 10 photos on your listing. Listings with less than 10 photos tend to get less views, the more photos the better! Happy photographing!

More Great Tips for Home Sellers:

Home Stagers Offer 5 Tips to Selling a House

April 15, 2020 by Karen Baker Leave a Comment

Before going to stage our home for the masses, we have to be able to detach ourselves away from the emotional pull that are home gives us. This is a product you are trying to sell. You’re not selling your own emotional attachment to your home but a peaceful scenario for the next homeowner. Here are five tips to selling a house from an actual home stager.

#1. Detachment.

It’s difficult to look at our own homes objectively. We become blind to the little idiosyncrasies, problems, and mistakes that we’ve lived with for years but home buyers will pick up on them immediately! It’s important to take the suggestions of a professional stager and not to take anything personally. You have to stage for the unknown buyer and that means staging your home for the masses, not one particular demographic.

Have trusted friends, family, or a real estate agent go through your home making notes on things that need to be corrected, changed, updated, fixed, or repairs. You’ll want to neutralize the space with a simple neutral color palette and movable color in the form of accent pillows and accessories.

#2. Depersonalization.

You’ll need to remove anything and everything that is personalized in the home including family photos, framed certificates and diplomas, trophies, collections, and memorabilia. You want the potential buyer to see themselves in the home not you. You’ll also want to pack away any religious or political items so that you can appeal to all buyers, not just those that fall in line with your values.

#3. De-clutter

Since you are moving anyway, pack up at least half of the items in closets, cupboards, drawers, cabinets, and any other storage space. You want buyers to feel that there is plenty of space for them to move in and you want the buyers to see the house, not your stuff. Try not to store things in the garage as buyers will see this as less space because these items came out of the house itself.

#4. Cleaning.

Now is the time to do a serious deep cleaning. Buyers want to walk in a house and see it absolutely pristine from top to bottom. This isn’t just vacuuming, this is professional carpet cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, sanitizing, and cleaning everything from the blinds to ceiling fans, baseboards and window and door tracks. You’ll also need to focus on the outside with pressure washing the deck, pavers, driveway, and trimming flowerbeds and doing some serious landscaping.

#5. Attention to details.

Buyers look at everything and little things really can make a difference. A clean, minimalist approach can work but a staged home doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is removed. You don’t have to spend a lot of money but you do want things to be in their place, clean, even, symmetrical, warm, and inviting. Taking everything out and then putting a few things back, you can find out where the arrangement looks the best. Take a look at some staged homes on Pinterest and home and garden websites to get inspiration and ideas for your particular layout.

We want to help get your home sold and even though these times are a little uncertain and shaky, buyers still are on the hunt for the perfect house. Let’s help you get an offer quickly and help you move on with your life. Call us today for information on what your home is currently worth and how to stage it for today’s buyers.

Why COVID-19 Could be Good for Selling Your Home

April 10, 2020 by Karen Baker Leave a Comment

With the current pandemic spreading across the globe, it is only natural that some people are experiencing a sense of panic, especially those who were planning on buying or selling a home. Luckily despite the current situation we are facing, COVID-19 could actually be good for the housing market. If you are planning on selling your home in the near future, or maybe already have it listed, there are things you can do now that you may not have been able to do before. Related: How to Feel Safe Buying and Selling During the Virus

Curb Appeal – When buyers are searching for a home, the first things they see matters tremendously. With being stuck at home now is the perfect time to grab a shovel and a rake and spruce up your yard. The best part is that most of the time you don’t need new materials to make a big difference. Simply cleaning up and maintaining your current yard is enough to give you the extra push you need to sell your home for more! In addition to yard word, pressure washing can make a world of difference when it comes to curb appeal, whether it be the driveway, the fencing or the garage door, a good pressure wash can turn drab, to fab! Oftentimes a buyer may miss seeing the perfect home simply because of the lack of curb appeal. Don’t let this be you! Get more buyers through the door by giving a good first impression.

More: 5 Things to do if your home won’t sell

Virtual Tours – Do you hate having strangers in your home? Then you’ve hit the jackpot! With the current COVID pandemic, many buyers are not wanting to tour homes in person as they do not want to risk any additional contact or potential for the virus to spread. What does this mean for you? Many real estate agents have switched to virtual tours of homes, which means that you don’t have to open your doors to as many in-person buyers. Make sure that you have up to date and professional photos of your home in your listings so you can showcase all your home has to offer, virtually!

Recession – Just seeing the word Recession can make us cringe. However, our economy is not faltering and we currently are not in a position to say a recession has hit. A lot of homeowners are worried that now may not be the time to sell your home, however, as of now our market is still hot! We can’t see the future and don’t know what the next 3, 6 or even 9 months may look like, but for now, the housing market is still moving just as well as it was 3 months ago. The risk you may be taking by NOT listing your home is that by waiting, you may not know where the market will be, come the time the virus slows and life returns to “normal.”

With the right team by your side, selling your home now is still not only possible but doable. Don’t wait to take the next steps into getting your home on the market, now is just as good a time as any!

Start below to find out how much your home is worth!

Should I Replace the Carpet Before Selling my Home?

February 4, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

There are a lot of things to consider when you are preparing to put your house on the market. Some of these decisions can significantly impact how quickly your home sells and the final sale price.

Some of the biggest things to impact how easily your home will sell are the pre-sale repairs. It can be tricky to decide which repairs are necessary. The best strategy to use when deciding which repairs to make before listing your home is to calculate the value each repair would make to your home and determine if it would outweigh the initial cost of repair.

Often homeowners wonder if they need to or should replace their carpet before they sell their home. Here are some things to consider when deciding to replace or clean your carpet:

Reasons to Replace the Carpet

Replacing the carpet in your home before listing it can come with many benefits. One thing that sells homes quickly is that they are in pristine move-in ready condition. The idea that everything is in great condition and nothing needs to be done after moving in will attract buyers.

If your carpet is:

Visibly worn and even matted in several areas
Is 10 or more years old
Stained beyond the help of professional cleaning
Frayed or Ripped near the baseboards
Is Outdated/ Out of Style

You should consider replacing the carpet with new carpet or alternative flooring.

Walking into a home with tired, dirty, or super old carpet is a turn off for almost every buyer. If it is not a turn off for a buyer they most likely will offer less money to cover the cost of repairing the floors if the price does not already reflect and acknowledge that the home may need some repairs.

Reasons to Have Your Carpet Professionally Deep Cleaned

Though your carpet may seem dingy or tired, all it might need is a professional deep cleaning to bring it back to life.

If your carpet is:

– Less than 10 years old

– Due for a professional cleaning because it has been a while

– In fairly good condition, just seems like it could use a refresh

– Has a stubborn stain or two you haven’t been able to remove

– Dirty only in high traffic areas

You would be surprised at how much a professional carpet cleaning can do for a carpet. Many times when homeowners believe they need to replace the carpet, it maybe they just need to invest in professional carpet cleaning. There are some carpets that are past the help of professional cleaning, but many just need a little TLC to bring them back to life. Some carpets look nearly brand new again after just giving them a good clean with high-quality equipment. So, if your carpets are not old and in fairly good condition, you may want to consider a professional deep cleaning to save some money.

If you are unsure about what would be best for the carpet in your home before you list it, give us a call! We’d love to offer honest, unbiased advice on preparing your home for sale.

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