One thing Canton residents do before zipping out and purchasing new items to decorate for the fall market, is taking a good look around their homes. They find candles, glassware or other holiday items that they received as gifts tucked away in their basements and attics. It is fun to recycle old objects, and you’ll be surprised what a new coat of paint can do. Below are some exceptional tips that can assist in creating those much needed seasonal touches to get your home sold much faster this fall. You might just be relocating faster than you think!
Decorating Your Home for the Fall Market:
Make or purchase new pillows for your sofas and chairs. Textured fabrics in warm jewel tones will warm up your room. Adding a luxurious throw over your couch will provide a warming, comfortable feel to your home.
Add new splashes of color and scent to your rooms by swapping out old candles. Replace the existing ones with great fall scents like pumpkin or apple spice, and try to stick to the warming fall colors if possible. Don’t leave candles lit if you leave your home for a showing!
Modify your artwork and/or decor throughout your home. Vivid paintings and brighter accent colors will brighten up your rooms on dark, dull days. This is very important when people are visualizing themselves living in your home this time of year.
Change your bedding. Replace your summer duvet cover with a warm, cozy comforter, and place an extra woolly blanket at the foot of the bed.
Add area rugs to cold hardwood floors in the living room and bedrooms.
Buy some fancy bath towels and hang them just for showings.
A clean bathroom is a great selling feature. Be sure to keep your shower curtain and bathmat free of mold and mildew -buy new ones if necessary! Also, try adding a few more colorful candles or other cheerful objects to your bathroom and watch things liven up before your eyes!
Add a new fall wreath to the front door, as well as a new "Welcome" doormat.
Place some seasonal plants around your home, as well as in the garden if you can. Adding real pumpkins and other seasonal vegetables of all sizes to both your front porch and inside decor will enhance the warmth of your home this fall. You may also want to add some hay for your pumpkins to perch upon outdoors.
Canton and Plymouth, Michigan home owners learn the value of curb appeal and how it relates to the quick sale of their house. Simply defined, Curb Appeal is a "Common term for everything prospective buyers can see from the street that might make them want to take a closer look at a house for sale." Canton, MI home buyer’s and sellers find the following tips very informative and helpful. These easy, inexpensive fixes will help create that outside appeal and get you one giant step further into a sale in today’s market!
1. Paint or stain the front and garage doors, especially if they show any weathering. These are the first visuals where a potential buyer focuses. If garage doors are metal and dented, they may need to be replaced.
2. Any old, basically abandoned sheds or small structures, must be removed, the area graded and the grass replaced.
3. Change any dated, outside light fixtures.
4.Fix that driveway. If it is blacktop, make sure cracks and crumbling areas are dug out and filled and then the whole driveway sealed. If it is cement, have large cracks filled and repaired professionally. The buyer must at least feel they can drive the moving truck in confidently!
5. Make sure landscaping bricks are in their proper placement. Mowing, weed-whipping sometimes moves them and this is something the homeowner rarely notices, but makes the property look unsightly.
6. Fill in bare dirt under large shade trees. Plant shade-tolerant plants in defined planters or groundcover. Landscape properly for that area.
7. All landscaping beds should be cleaned out and updated for the time of year it is in your region. Place new bedding material down.
8. Have trees and bushes pruned and trimmed. If a bush or tree is looking old or about to expire, remove it and replace it with a similar size and type if you can. If there is a tree limb(s) over the roof, have them removed. Flowers also bring instant curb appeal.
9. If the house needs painting and a full paint job is not in the cards; have it touched up professionally in the worst, most visible spots. Paint shutters and fix them if they are hanging crooked. At least this may help get your client in the front door, even if they negotiate a full paint job into the sale later.
10. If the house is sided, have it power-washed and have gutters and windows cleaned. Window cleaning inside and out makes the house feel updated and fresh, rather than old and dingy.
11. Make sure grass is in good shape, weeds are removed, trimming done regularly. So many sellers fall down on this job the minute the house is listed, and this is critical to selling a house quickly, especially one where the owners have already moved out. In snowy climates, removal must be done regularly, too. If owners have moved out make sure you have an Home Warranty to re-assure buyers.
12. Keep garbage and recycle containers inside the garage, along with all toys and equipment. Make sure the garage is neat and organized. Painted walls and floors also go a long way in this area and are inexpensive to do. Some have found that having their garage floor resurfaced was a huge selling feature.
13. Decks should be washed and repainted or re-sealed; plantings around them cleaned, weed-free and looking good. Patio furniture should be in excellent condition. Even though it is in the backyard, this is the area where the family can envision enjoying the warm days and the new yard.
14. If the roof has missing shingles and they can be replaced inexpensively, suggest this be done as it may save negotiation over a completely new roof. Roof repair needs and costs should be minor or the homeowner might as well replace the entire roof.
15. If you want to do a bit more, other great ideas are solar lights lining the driveway or installing a more attractive front door with lead glass inserts and replacing plain doorknobs with something more custom.
16. If you have an evening showing, make sure lights are on outside and inside the house. This is warm and inviting. Staging your home nicely will gives the potential buyers a better perspective on how they can see themselves living there, and it makes your home really stand out from the rest!
17. If it’s a holiday season, by all means decorate the home! Just like sugar cookies or vanilla scent on the inside of the house, this really says "it’s a home" and "I can really see myself enjoying life here"! In the least, always have some greenery or flowers for the season on the front step or porch; even a birdbath with a little garden around it says home.
Remember, most home buyers cannot visualize even these simple changes and clean ups in a house. The ones who can, will be looking for a reduced price. So, to sell your house at top dollar and quickly, make it "appeal" to the many who will be seeing it rather than the few who are looking for a "fixer upper." These people know what they want, go after it and need less assistance. There are also, of course, some improvements that will give you the best payback as well.
Do you have any curb appeal suggestions to share? Please leave us a comment!
Canton Michigan home sellers find their homes sell five times faster if they pay attention to the little things. This video provides one example of often overlooked items, within the home, that can make a big difference to potential buyers:
Another video provides helpful tips on adding Sweat Equity as well as curb appeal to your home
Besides all the great trainers that coached us on real estate tools and new systems there were other speakers that sent a message of hope.
Jeff Thredgold was one of them. In his new book "econAmerica" he outlines the positive news the media often won’t report. Jeff’s message gave his audience the correct image of our current economy not being as bad as most would have you believe. We are in a slowdown but certainly not in a full fledged recession. "In this political season there are just too many who would exaggerate to make political points or make the other side look bad" he said.
Jeff stayed around to answer questions and autograph his latest book. Most would think of an economist as the kind of person that would put you to sleep with all his dry facts. While Jeff is full of useful iformation he delivered it in such a way as to make economics interesting.
If you ever get a chance to hear Les Brown speak please don’t hesitate. His story is heartwarming, sad, compelling, and upllifting all at once. He had us crying one minute, laughing the next, and finally wanting to get up out of our sets with enthusiasm about the future. "If I can grow up to become as successful as I am, you can too " said les.His story of the mother who adopted him and his brother, worked her heart out for yeas to feed and educate Les and his 5 other adopted siblings, and his promise to one day buy her a home of her own was one that inspired yo to go out and face whatever struggle you have a little more cheerfully.
As many time as I have had the pleasure to hear Les speak over the years, meeting and chatting with him was a thrill I did not expect. Les stayed with us quite a while and continued inspiring us. His meeting with some of the most famous speakers were most interesting. He worked with the likes of Norman Vincent Peale and Zig Ziglar. Since I have just about all of Peale’s and Ziglar’s recording it was especially interesting to hear Les’s advetures with these legends.
Not much when you consider there are over 120 local businesses representing the best of their products that can help you with building projects and save you money.
Summit on the Park Building at 1150 Canton Center Road, Canton Michigan
This year’s expo will be a one-stop-shop for home improvements, project financing, decorating and planning, and a host of other services. Whether you’re interested in decorative tile, garage interior design, kitchen remodeling, siding, outdoor awnings, patio & deck design and install, decorative concrete, or just about anything else you can dream of to do around your home this Home Expo is the place to be.
All this and admission is FREE to all.
The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 1, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 2, at Summit on the Park, 46000 Summit Parkway, Canton Michigan. The two-day event is sponsored by the Canton Chamber of Commerce, the Canton Building Department and the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers.
How-to workshops will be held all weekend on a variety of topics from landscaping to installing brick pavers, patios and ceramic tile. A hands-on children’s project center will also be available for kids of all ages to construct projects made from wood donated by Home Depot.
A special guest appearance will be made by Murray Gula, Host of Murray Gula’s Home Improvement Team on WXYZ-TV Detroit and Joe Gagnon “The Appliance Doctor” will be broadcasting his 1600 WAAM talk radio program live from the Expo.
In addition to multiple raffles held throughout the weekend, Canton Construction along with the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenter’s Union local 1234 Detroit Division will be making planters, benches and picnic tables to raffle off.
For more information or to view a complete list of vendors, log on to www.canton-mi.org or call Canton’s Building and Inspection Services Division at (734) 394-5200.
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Canton and Plymouth, Michigan home sellers know that a few simple seasonal touches can get their home sold faster. Whether you are decorating for the season or to boost your selling potential, home staging doesn’t have to be too costly.
