In the past few weeks, the topic of what to do with pets when selling your house has come up with both Realtors and home sellers.  If you are a pet owner, you know the importance of your pet within your own family.  Unfortunately, not everyone is going to feel the way you do about cute little Fluffy; most certainly those that are not animal lovers, and probably not even those that are fond of animals.

So what is a home seller to do with Fido when the phone rings for a showing or you have an open house scheduled?  In an ideal world, the pet, and all evidence of the pet, needs to be removed.  At the very least, absolutely, positively, the home seller needs to hide all animal bedding, toys, food and water dishes. 

100% of the time a dog should be removed from the home for showings and open houses.  Cats can be a bit trickier.  If you can, pack up kitty and take her with you during showings and open houses.  If this is the case, then hide the litter box.  The litter box is such a turn off to potential home buyers, and you don’t want them to write off your house just because they don’t like animals.  If your cats are like mine, they will go into hiding and stay there when strangers enter.  In this scenario, I would use caution when determining whether or not to remove the litter box; it could create a whole other situation that you don’t want. 

In addition to your house portraying the illusion that no pets exist, it needs to smell that way.  While your house is on the market, make sure your dogs are bathed regularly and the litter box is kept extra clean.  All furniture and bedding needs to be clear of any pet hair, too.  It may be inconvenient, but if you don’t take these steps, you run the risk of your house not selling.

Regarding birds, reptiles, rabbits or any other critters you may have as pets, the recommendations above apply.  Bottom line – the best case scenario is to have your house pet-free while potential home buyers are in it.

So you’ve made all your repairs and spiffed up the landscaping now you’re ready for the spring market!  What’s next?  GET THE WORD OUT!  How are you going to let people know you have this great product to sell?   One of the biggest lead generators and marketing tools is Craigslist.  If you do it right your phone will ring.

Here are a few simple things you can do to make your Craigslist ad stand out:

1. Photos- Take pictures of some of the rooms in your house. Kitchens and bathrooms are most the most important rooms to photograph, but make sure to highlight some other features as well. Fireplaces, built-in’s, hardwood floors, and other things of that sort will entice people to come and see your house for themselves.  The pictures are one of your best tools.

2. Listing- Set up a postlets account on postlets.com. Postlets is an online service which will provide a  nice template to make your own listing to attach to Craigslist.  It walks you through a headline and description area,s and loads your pictures so your ad will look professional.   There’s space to put your contact info so you can get showings and an area to put price information.  Very easy to use and looks great.

3. Catch Phrase- Get them to click on your add by coming up with a great title on Craigslist.  Ask your self who is going to want to buy my house?  Appeal to that market by coming up with a catchy line.  Some of my best phone ringers have been, “Mom’s Going to Love This!”  for a senior living condo listing I had.  Or “Find Your Brother a House!” for a listing I had on a busy road near a lot of industrial buildings.  What are people looking for that might be in your house or area?  If you use something like, “3 bed rooms 2 bathrooms in MN City” your ad will get passed by.  You want potential buyers to click and see your great listing and pictures.

Once your phone starts to ring you are on your way to a potential sale, your first sale is online once they get to your house you can take it to the next level and close the deal! Now its time to show of the improvements you made and let the place SELL!

I’ve said it before, but it is worth repeating: if you are selling your home, you need to get it ready to sell.  This involves the basics such as deep cleaning, de-cluttering, repairing and painting, but you will also need to invest some money to make sure your home is updated. 

Light fixtures need to be current and worn furniture recovered or replaced.  Do not neglect the added touches that make a house a home – decorative pillows, luxurious throws, warm candle lighting, fresh towels, plush bedding and fresh flowers.

So where do I go for these items that won’t break the bank for my clients? 

First stop, HomeGoods®

The first place I always go when looking for new linens, bedding, pillows, throws and decorative accessories is HomeGoods®.  Sometimes it is my last stop, too.  Because they are getting new inventory in constantly, it can be hit and miss on certain items, but they typically have a fabulous selection on vases, pillows, art work, lamps and mirrors.  They also carry a small selection of furniture (chairs, tables, etc.).  What can be hit and miss are towels, throws and bedding.  It is definitely worth a trip though because for the quality, the prices can’t be beat.

Pillows Galore!

JCPenney® is hands down my favorite place to pick up new pillows.  They have a great selection of colors and materials and I would say 9 times out of 10, they are on sale.  Other items I have shopped for here include towels, bedding and window panels because they offer a good selection and decent prices.  Some of the larger stores also have small furniture show rooms.

Why Michael’s®?

Why? Reason #1: they have a phenomenal selection of baskets that are both decorative and useful for storage. Reason #2: they have a nice selection of white and cream candles and tea lights.  Michael’s®  also stocks a large selection of artwork, frames and vases.  Although I prefer living plants and trees, there are times where silk plants are useful.  Michael’s® does carry a small selection of Ficus and other types of trees and plants.  Plants and greenery help to warm up a home, and silks are absolutely required in a vacant home.

The Big Red Bullseye

 Where would our lives be without Target®?  I bet I go there a minimum of once a week to pick up this or that.  I have to say that Target® has upped the ante in the home décor and storage arena.  Not only do their stores carry a nice selection of bedding, towels, bath accessories, candles, storage bins and baskets, lighting, pillows and furniture, but online you can find many, many more options.

There may be some home stagers who don’t agree with me, but I am a firm believer that you do not have to spend a ton of money to make your house look nice.  Keep in mind, it is being staged to sell, so it needs to look crisp and updated.  The purpose is for a potential buyer to want to live in the home and be able to envision themselves there.  This requires the home have a sense of warmth and be visually appealing.

I went to a seminar in mid November about how to utilize ordinary items and odds and ends in creative ways to beautifully decorate for the holidays.  It inspired me to do a few things different from how I have decorated my home in prior years.  In the past I have packed EVERY decorative item in my home away to make room for all my cute and festive holiday things.  This year, I decided to only pack away some of my everyday pieces, and instead use them as part of my holiday decor.

Dressing the Fireplace Mantle

We have a very tall mantle on a very large fieldstone fireplace.  Since our house has such a rustic feel to it, I wanted to give the mantle some sparkle.  It is also the secondary focal point to the tree.  I decided to use glass and silver to get the effect I wanted.  I dressed the mantle in a white-pine rope swag and added glass vases and silver pieces.  This was my result. 

It just wasn’t doing it for me, so I put on my thinking cap.  I decided to place my $4.99 full length, black framed mirror from Home Depot against the back wall.  I then went to our local small town Target-like store and bought three small clay pots and three decorative pine sprigs.  By strategically placing my glass and silver pieces around the clay pots, I created a perfect mix of rustic-sparkle.  I absolutely love the end result!

Mantle Highlights

Glass vases – I love the look of beautifully colored Christmas bulbs in a glass vase.  To add a little interest I first stuffed cranberry colored raffia into each vase prior to adding the various colored and sized glass bulbs.  This is a very simple, but elegant way to decorate.

Clay pots – By turning the pots upside down, I was able to poke the stems of the sprigs through the bottom hole and create a platform and additional needed height for the mantle. 

Use What You Have

If you have some pretty colored glass bowls and vases, why not use them during the holidays.  This amber glass bowl is so interesting.  By wrapping a piece of my pine rope around the bowl and filling it with more of those glass bulbs I had left over and a couple of Santa’s helpers, it is transformed into a really adorable little decorative piece.

The small glass candle jar was cleaned, filled with smaller glass bulbs and tied with a few strings of raffia.  It took about a minute to put together and adds a simple decorative piece to our dining room buffet.

 I also have a couple of clay pots and antique silver pieces that I have on display all year long.  Why not leave them out and fill them with pine cones.  Simple, cute and festive!

I typically keep these clay pears out on our porch in the summer, so I decided to transform them into holiday décor by arranging them in my birch basket and wrapping it in festive gold and berry rope and tying the handle with a gold bow. 

The holidays are right around the corner, but don’t panic if you haven’t decorated yet.  Look around your home and just dress what you have to create some very cute and interesting holiday decorative items.   Happy Holidays!

If you are thinking about selling in the next 2-3 years there are some projects that you should NOT do you won’t see a return on your investment.  If you are planning on staying in your home for at least the next 5 years or longer then these improvements are okay for your enjoyment, but may not ever bring monetary value.

You need to make sure you ask your self these important questions.  How long am I planning on staying in this home?  Am I comfortable with the house as is?  How much is the improvement going to cost?  Is it worth my investment?

Functional Obsolescence in the real estate industry this is something done to a home that changes the function and decreases value.  People do it all the time and when buyers see some of these things they run rather than write.

1. Finishing a lower level. Sometimes finishing a lower level is not necessary.  Unfinished basements are blank canvasas for buyers they can do what they want with it.  As long as the rest of the house has at least three or more bedrooms and two bathrooms leave the basement clean and empty for the buyers imagination.  In today’s market you won’t get your money back when you sell.

2. Putting in a Pool. Pools do not add value and sometime eliminate buyers.  When I work with clients I consider a pool a bonus to a home we are looking at.  There are only about 10% of buyers that specifically are looking for pools.  Pools are very expensive to instal and up keep so only put one in if you plan on staying and enjoying it.

3. Moving a Staircase. Most people wouldn’t do this but I have seen it.  Making strucural changes to a home won’t bring a return in this market it can change the function and can look choppy.  Unless the orginal staircase is not to code or dangerous I wouldn’t make this change.

4. Installing Skylights.  This is another bonus item, they are nice if you find a house with them and they aren’t leaking or have issues but most buyers today are not looking for skylights.  A more cost effective improvement would be to install a light fixture if you have a dark room.

5. Installing a Fireplace. When interviewing new buyers I have never heard any of them say they must have a fireplace.  Again some buyers don’t want the hassle and work with a wood burning fireplace, and gas fireplaces are just a bonus.

Now you know what to improvements to avoid when trying to add value to your home. If you are trying make some improvements that will give added value, read my post on 5 improvements which do add value to your home. Have a question about an improvement? Leave a comment below.