#2 Buyers are Buying Your House Online – Is it Red-Carpet Ready?

Home Staging Tips and Suggestions by Melinda Potcher

http://MAPConsultants.houzz.com

In today’s real estate market, while we are seeing home prices slowly inching up, there are also additional expectations for your property, and those expectations include you and your home putting out your best and being prepared for the red carpet of Multiple Listing Service.

Even after meeting with a local professional home stager (Like Me) and your Realtor, you also need to make sure that the photographs being taken for marketing your property are done by a professional photographer and accentuate the positive aspects of the exterior and interior of your real estate investment.

According to NAR (The National Association of Realtors) Millenial Buyers

want very specific things in a home they are considering to purchase, including;

• ·         Updates in Kitchens and Bathrooms
• ·         Well Maintained Homes (no unfinished projects)
• ·         Technology (for work at home and entertainment)
• ·         And Functionality

When you first start thinking about putting your home up for sale, and for whatever your reasons, please take these items into consideration and sit down for a conversation with your Realtor and Professional Home Stager to prioritize these items as part of the marketing plan for your house.

There are quick and easy updates you can make to kitchens and bathrooms without completely gutting these rooms and remodeling them.  Think lighting, trendy tile backsplashes, updated cabinet hardware and hinges and well maintained or new flooring.

Unfinished projects you may think are minor like replacing broken or dirty switch plates, repainting wood trim around doorways and garages, or even re-caulking or re-grouting tubs and tiles may add up to something major in the minds of first time home buyers who may lack the time and finances to take on to-do lists after purchasing a house. 

Staging one of the bedrooms in your house as a home office (and/or having a dedicated home office) may be a very attractive feature to a millennial buyer who wants the option of working from home. 

Open concept floor plans are another highly sought after feature by today’s potential purchasers – if your home is full of your “stuff” it will be more difficult for buyers to see the flow, which is why it is so important to at least have a home staging consultation by a reputable and professional home stager (LIKE ME) prior to putting the house on the market for sale.

For more demographics on today’s home buyers, please visit; http://www.realtor.org/research-and-statistics

#1 Color Trends for 2016 vs. Colors to Use When Selling Your House

Home Staging Tips and Suggestions by Melinda Potcher

http://MAPConsultants.houzz.com

One of the great things about my job is that I have the opportunity to attend a twice yearly market for interior design and furnishings at The World Market Center in Las Vegas, NV.  It’s a great time to take classes on trends and colors, professional designer panel discussions and be able to walk 5,000,000 square feet between 3 buildings of furniture, bedding, top of table and décor over three days time.  You can see some of the highlights of Las Vegas Market Here; https://www.facebook.com/lvmarket/?fref=ts and here; https://www.youtube.com/user/WorldMarketCenterLV

At Summer Market 2015, I sat in on 3 such color/trend classes, one with Pantone, one with Sherwin Williams and one with HGTV stars and celebrity designers to get their take on what colors we could expect to trend in 2016.  Let me just say this as an aside – I don’t agree with all of their choices, and I think everyone has to receive the information and use their own taste, style and discretion when it comes to colors and styles.  I guess that is why I am the pro, right?  To help you navigate YOUR course in home staging and design.

So here are Pantone’s Color Palettes for 2016;  https://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr/?season=spring&year=2016&from=hpfeatures

And here is the Sherwin Williams 2016 Color Palette;

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/architects-specifiers-designers/inspiration/color-forecast/2016-color-forecast/?WT.ac=/architects-specifiers-designers/color/%20CS1%20/architects-specifiers-designers/inspiration/color-forecast/2016-color-forecast/

So what does any of this have to do with staging your home for sale?  Well, there are a couple of things in my opinion.

You can follow color trends to show potential purchasers that your home is updated and stylish and a place they would want to call home.

You do not necessarily have to use paint to follow a trend, but it is an easy way to update your home and transform how it feels.  I’m not a huge follower of trends, but I do pay attention, and as a professional home stager and design consultant, I can advise you on color trends, how far to push the envelope when it comes to paint, color or even using décor pillows and accessories instead of paint to bring certain trendy colors into your home and the MLS photos when you list it for sale.  It can be as simple as just changing the color of your front door and door trim!

All of that being said, I think Benjamin Moore nailed it on their color trends;

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/benjamin-moore-color-trends-2016#

And for furnishings and decor items, Dot&Bo (http://www.dotandbo.com/collections/mysteriouslymodern)

has a better handle on what colors I like that are trending right now, such as turmeric, cranberry, indigo, cocoa and cognac.  

For more information on Home Staging and Design Consulting in Albuquerque, please contact me.