Why these 5 Decorating Mistakes Turn Buyers Away

There was a television special about the 25 biggest decorating mistakes people make in their homes.  Everyone has made a few of these and some are more obvious to home Buyers than others.  Of the 25 here are 5 of my favourites when it comes to selling / show casing your home: 

  1. Toilet rugs – for the family who want to keep their feet warm – good on you BUT for the Buyer this is just a trap for bodily bits and fluids.  This one has a high yuk factor.
  2. Packed Foyer – for the family this is the first catch all station of book bags, boots, shoes, garbage going out, groceries coming in and dropped outerwear.  For the Buyer – this is about getting inside the house and part of the first impression of the house.  Let the Buyers have room to navigate getting their own shoes off and stepping into the living space.
  3. Lack of traffic pattern for furniture placement – for the family where the furniture sits becomes known and members can navigate in the dark around all the pieces.  For the Buyer – clear room to walk in and around the space is needed.  Keep big things away from doorways.  Less is more when you remove furniture to make room for Buyer traffic.
  4. The room purchased in a box (where everything matches).  For the family this is a simple way to decorate – get the bedding, wallpaper, border, pillows, lamps and rug all in the same pattern (the same would go in bathrooms with towels, shower curtain, paper, border, vanity accessories).  For the Buyer this is a nightmare.  
  5. Floating area rugs – For the family, the small rug under the coffee table is perfect.  For the Buyer, the eye sees this as making the room smaller and chopped up.  The solution is to get a bigger rug and anchor it with the legs of the couch, armoirs, etc.  

These are five of my favourites.   There will be others in later blogs.  Remember, if you are not selling, who cares how you live.  When you are selling, you are selling a product – an image – a lifestyle.  Stage your home to show off its best.

Photo credit:“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” Albert Einstein @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha/4526272937/

Zingers #101 – Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Did you ever light a wood fire and have black soot billowing everywhere?  Do you have black greasy soot building up on the fireplace bricks?  Not all soot stains are permanent.  Clean off as much as you can before selling your house.  Do you want the Buyer to think the fireplace is a hazard?

Don’t let soot put a damper on your sale.

Selling and Decluttering – The Deck and Patio

Even if you never go outside, declutter and stage your deck and patio. Think simple.  Think clean.  

 

If you are thinking of selling sometime in the future and it is summer, get your camera out and take as many pictures of the decluttered deck and patio as you can.  You may have to sell in winter and these pictures will be invaluable to have on your listing or to leave for Buyers to see when they are looking at your house. 

 

You are selling a package – the house and the yard.

 

Photo credit:  Patio @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailyinvention/33941672/

Zingers #99 – More about abundance

No one wants to appear cheap.  Buyers don’t want to buy a house where the owner may have made the wrong economies. When showing your home, make sure that there are full rolls of toilet paper, kleenex in the boxes and the jars visible on the kitchen and bathroom counters are full.  You want the Buyers to refer to your house as:

House Bountiful

Selling and Decluttering – “But it won’t be my house”

When agents ask their Sellers to declutter and take out personal items they often hear the Seller say “But it won’t be my house.” and the response (inside the Sales Representative’s head) is “And that is the point.”  I have been asked to visit Sellers’ homes to give them an opinion of what they have to do before they put their homes on the market.  I often say that the house is perfect for them while they are living in it but…..  things will need to be done to make it a marketable product.

When a house goes on the market for sale, it should no longer be treated like your home.  Think of it as an object to be sold at its best price.  It is commerce.  It is the same concept when you clean up your car and shovel out the trash in the back seat before trading it in at the dealer’s.  If you are selling it yourself, you may even have it detailed.  So why would you not do the same for your house?  Take down personal pictures, remove clutter, clean like there is no tomorrow and make the place shine.  You get the best price for a car in good condition and the same will apply to your house. 

Don’t think HOME, think PRODUCT. 

Photo credit:  @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/pheezy/3749597538/

Things Ottawa Home Buyers May Notice #34 – Open up and let the sun shine in

   At a recent showing of a home, the Buyers noticed that every window blind and curtain was completely closed and drawn.  Although it was a beautiful spring day with plenty of sunshine, the house was dark and cool.  One of the home owners was still in the house.  After I had opened a couple of blinds, the owner came behind me and closed them.  I asked why everything was closed and the owner said it was so that there would be no sun damage on the cupboards and wood floors.  Okay.  I admit that the floors looked brand new as they were so well maintained but……

If you are selling your home – a product – then you need to display it in the best manner possible.  When it comes to homes – open the drapes and, if warm enough, open the windows.  Let light into the home.  Almost all home owners see themselves in a light bright home with sun shining in and a sense of peace and contentment.  Stage your home to provide this feeling.

 Photo credit:  Chair in front of open window @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/72955502@N00/2243422737/

Things Ottawa Buyers May Notice #31- Bathroom Doors

 When you think you have seen everything, there is still more to surprise you.  A few years ago, I was looking for a new house.  I must have seen over 20 homes when lo and behold – a bathroom with a clear glass door.  I thought it was a joke.  Who would want to have the most private room in the house, clearly visible?  My only thought was that nudists lived in the house.  It would be bad enough that everyone can see how clean or dirty the room is BUT it would also be a huge surprise to dinner guests and visitors. 

If you think the clear bathroom door brings light into the rest of the house, you may be right.  However, privacy will always trump light when it comes to bathrooms.  I never went back to that house and thought it was a unique ‘feature’.  Later in my search, I came across another bathroom, this time in the basement, with the clear glass door.  Was this just an Ottawa phenomenon?  Apparently not.  I recently saw a home on a TV make-over show that had the same issue.

If your bathroom door is clear glass or you see a house that you want to buy with a clear glass bathroom door, you have three choices – leave it and learn to live with voyeurism, remove the door and replace with something more standard and private or frost the glass so that it is not transparent.  A bathroom is not the place to play….

Peek-a-boo, I see you.

Photo credit:  bathroom @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/littleghoti/488561616/

Zingers #90 – Five bottles of Toilet Duck

You have found deals on shampoo, deodorant, toilet cleaner, etc and bought several bottles of each.  If you are going to sell your house, stop buying large quantities of products.  A stockpile makes your space look cluttered.  Having two of each is like royalty… 

An Heir and a Spare is enough.

Zingers #89 – Curtains

Did you know that you can wash the plastic liner behind your shower curtain.  After washing it in the machine with a few towels, rehang the curtain.  You know not to put it in the dryer.  Most mildew and spots on the curtain will be gone.  If not, an investment of less than $10 to buy a new liner will be well worth the money.  Boy can those curtains stink!

Why save $10 to lose a $289,000 sale?

Things Ottawa Buyers May Notice #34 – Dining Room Lighting – 3 Reasons to Change or Upgrade

Almost every house that I have taken Buyers to see has had some type of lighting fixture in the diningroom  Every Buyer has inspected the light fixture to determine how much they love it.  Knowing this, if you are putting your house on the market there are three reasons for upgrading and/or changing the dining room light fixture. 

The first reason is because you have a sentimental attachment to the current fixture and want to take it with you.  If so, take it down before the house goes on the market and replace is with something suitable for the home and the price you are asking. 

The second reason to upgrade the fixture is because the one you have now is old, dated and unsuitable for current design.  Go to a lighting store and see what is in style.  Find one within your budget. 

Finally, there are some newer homes where owners have never installed a light fixture.  There is a metal plate in the ceiling covering the opening for the installation.  If you have one of these, please find a nice new fixture and install it before putting your house on the market. 

There is almost nothing worse than a bad fixture except no fixture or the promise by the owner (through exclusions) that the one in the house will be removed before possession.  Good style does not have to cost a fortune. 

Photo credit:  dining room grandma’s light fixture @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/eponabri/2249768758/

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