Home Buyers

What’s in, what’s out with Homebuyers illuminates what’s popular or what sours homebuyers in both the home purchase or sale transaction and home decor. Compiled annually from-the-trenches, it offers a spectrum of tips that cover reality of buying a home and design no-no’s for home sellers and buyer must-haves.

What’s IN

Sidelined home buyers. Family or lifestyle additions or changes made in buyers households in the last three years are forcing those waiting out the market transition to finally get off the fence and say, it’s time for our family to buy the new home that suits our new needs.

Home uplifts. Not a big renovation, but some new finishes that can visually holdover stay-put home sellers. Not a gut rehab to the studs new kitchen, but new flooring, countertops and appliances.

Collaborative home pricing. The old days of home sellers configuring a homes price are out. What’s new is that the seller with their agent look at closed comparables, set a price, then the buyer and their agent agree or disagree, but in the end, a mortgage lender and their appraiser will set the price, as they are assuming the most risk in the transaction.

Balanced reporting by real estate and personal finance journalists. Consumers learned in 2008 that the ‘doom and gloom’ residential real estate market headlines don’t apply to all markets. What’s been lost in the foreclosure hype is that there are still stories of homes selling in short market times (in as little as 3 days), homes selling at full price and some selling with multiple contracts on the table. Existing home sales will be 5.02 million versus 5.652 million for 2007, a decrease of just over eleven percent, considerably less that the recent correction in the U.S. stock market, plus a realistic view that over five million people purchased a home despite the headlines in 2008.

Creative home seller financing. Exhausted home sellers are turning to self-financing to move properties. Installment sale contracts and lease to own are the most popular and effective ways for sellers to begin to receive income from a property that has languished on the market in 2008.

Property tax appeals. With home prices dropping, many savvy home owners are appealing their property taxes. This is especially attractive to those looking to sell their home in 2009. With a competitive marketplace, those with the most realistic taxes are more likely to offer buyers an overall lower expense in home ownership.

House therapists. Divided partners in a home are increasingly relying on an independent third party (house therapist or coach) to bring household relationships to common ground on such prickly issues such as to stay or move, how much to spend on remodeling or decorating, or spending nothing at all. Third parties can outline the benefits and pitfalls of over-spending on a new larger home or weighing in on a spouses desire to over-improve for the neighborhood. With less equity and with the financial stakes higher smart couples hire a home therapist to wrangle concessions and agreements out with their significant other instead of doing damage to their relationship by going head-to-head with them.

Architectural overhead garage doors. After years of bland vanilla garage doors, the architecture has permeated the door most people look at the most. Traditional styling has arrived with mullioned windows, faux wrought iron hinges and latches that provide the original non-overhead garage door look. Contemporary looks now include the adjacent siding applied over the door for a seamless look, much like the panels installed on refrigerator doors to complement cabinets in a kitchen.

Loveseats. A pair or trio is gaining acceptance as the functional way to rearrange a living or family room. Consumers appreciate the ease at which they can rearrange them, move an extra one to another room, or provide long-term furniture flexibility in future homes. Plus, they’re tired of sitting miles away from others on over-sized sectional sofas.

The master bed as a throne. With consumer spending down and more nesting at home, home owners are focusing on making their bed like an at-home luxury hotel experience. Posh linens, pillows and mattresses create a getaway without leaving home.

Older war-horse appliances. Collectible, working appliances form the 1940′s through the late 1980′s have found a new niche among homeowners who appreciate their rock-solid construction and durability. Harvest gold double ovens from the 1970′s have been repainted a metallic red and go from boring to bold. Cold spot refrigerators from the 1950′s refinished in sky blue perks up the butler’s pantry in suburban home. And, the early 1960′s dryer that looks like it’s from a Jet son house painted pink to match punches up the in-unit laundry room in a condominium.

Dining chairs that don’t match. With consumers watching their non-essential spending closely and electing to stay home to entertain friends, many have found a quick pick-me-up for their dining room suite, mismatched pairs or single chairs. Feedback from friends or family has been favorable to this easy and cost effective way to say welcome to my cutting edge table.

What’s OUT

Fixer-upper homes. With larger down payments required by mortgage lenders and consumer credit cards mixed out, home buyers want a home in move-in condition. The DYI days are on the wane as buyers want to inherit new kitchens and bathrooms.

Foreclosure fluff. The foreclosure rate nationally in 2008 was just under 3 percent. In the Great Depression it was just over forty-percent.

Home buyers endless “circling” prospective short-list properties. Overly optimistic thinking by buyers to circle a preferred property indefinitely, often for months, waiting for further price reductions or to wear out long weary sellers. This practice has backfired for buyers who practice this style of pre-negotiating. They often loose their short-list dream home and frustrate savvy price-right sellers. Ditto the bottom-feeder buyers.

Home staging. A recently over-used low cost marketing band-aid for vacant or occupied homes with longer than normal market times. Buyers have said enough of the non-professional usage of assorted leftover props placed around a for-sale home to make it supposedly homey. Buyers say, market it as it is and clear out the tired silk flowers and stale potpourri.

Indoor-outdoor carpet. The staples of quick-fix home sellers for basements, balconies, screened porches and lanai’s, buyers have said enough. Many have told agents that inexpensive indoor-outdoor carpet is visual pollution and often masks flaws in a home.

Track lighting. Thought of by homeowners to be a quick way to get an art gallery look, many prospective buyers usually take them out and discount their appeal. As one Gen-X home buyer said to me “Why do sellers install them up when they don’t really have any interesting artwork or architectural features to spotlight? They bring undue attention to nothing.”

Written by Mark Nash as found in Craig Lilly’s newsletter at http://www.lillyteam.com

As a stager I work with realtors and homeowners to market properties. The principles of professional staging create a story about the house and the lifestyle that comes with that house. That story creates the emotional connection that we all want in the place we choose to call home – and that is quite magical when it is created in a place we don’t actually yet live. It is what makes staging a viable and indispensible marketing tool.

So how does green come into that? Today buyers are looking for green features. In May of 2008, NAR published a report that indicated that 9 out of 10 REALTORS® said buyers are looking for green features and that interest would continue to rise.
• And, in a trend that could signal greater attention from institutional investors, Energy Star buildings are selling for an average of $61 per square foot more than their peers, while LEED buildings command a remarkable $171 more per square foot.
• According to a recent study, LEED buildings command rent premiums of $11.24 per square foot over their non-LEED peers and have 3.8 percent higher occupancy.
• Rental rates in Energy Star buildings represent a $2.38 per square foot premium over comparable non-Energy Star buildings and have 3.6 percent higher occupancy.

Obviously, hiring me as a stager is not going to give you a Platinum LEED rating, so what do I bring to the table? First I can take a look at the home and review the already existing features that are green, and then give the homeowner a list of features they can market as green. My knowledge of sustainability, green features and practices, energy and water efficiencies and conservation, and grants and tax credits available to finance eco-friendly repairs and upgrades will serve my client well as we go through the consultation phase of the staging project. During the consultation I recommend repairs and upgrades that will help sell the property and I use my green knowledge to ensure they know the choices which will up their green quotient. I can also provide them with the sources and resources to get this done through my knowledge of green products and relationships with service providers with a commitment to energy efficiency, durability, sustainable products and practices, durability, value and healthier options for the home.

The information we provide during the course of getting the home ready to sell and the environmentally sensitive choices we help the client make is only the beginning of the impact an EcoStagerTM can make for the seller. Many clients use the information we give them during the consultation when they move to the next home to continue moving towards a more sustainable life. And, the changes we help to implement and the information we help the seller provide the buyer can be the beginning or continuation of moving towards sustainability for the buyer as well. The service and knowledge we provide are invaluable and, for real estate professionals, making an EcoStagerTM part of your team is the best value you can provide for your clients.

“Green construction is a construction project built to a standard higher than building codes, they last longer are cheaper to operate, sell for a premium, use fewer resources and have a lower impact on the environment.”Source: Alliance for Sustainability, Mike Holcomb / 2007

Chic Home Interiors does Home Staging, Interior Redesign and Training in Staging, Color and Green Build Science. Our training arena is all of North America, while our design and staging is in the San Francisco Bay Area only. Visit our new Green Website.

“Staging is not decorating. Decorating is optional, staging is mandatory in order to sell the house for the most possible money in the shortest amount of time,” says home staging instructor Joanne O’Donnell. O’Donnell has been teaching courses on how to stage a home to be sold for several years. The concept first became known in 1972 by then-Realtor, Barb Schwarz who realized that homes would sell for higher prices if they were prepared to sell first. Today, hundreds of thousands of real estate professionals, decorators and sellers have come to understand the once-little-known term staging that was coined by Schwarz.

O’Donnell recently taught a course in San Diego, Calif. In the course were two mother-daughter teams, Realtors and even a lawyer. “When we put your home on the market it is no longer your home; it is a product and we’re marketing it,” O’Donnell told the students. Home stagers start by viewing the seller’s home inside and out. O’Donnell encourages the students to walk through a home that they plan to stage with the seller, being sure to take notes of items that need to be moved and/or removed. While home staging may improve the looks of the home, O’Donnell is careful to point out it is not interior decorating. Instead she says it’s much simpler. “You can’t go out and buy new things for every problem that you have with a house,” says O’Donnell.

She tells the students to be problem solvers, reminding them that her clients are selling their homes and they don’t want to spend a lot to do it. Really home staging is about de-cluttering and making a home desirable to the masses. “Clutter eats up equity,” O’Donnell frequently reminds the students throughout the course. “The whole idea of staging is that you want to market to the largest number of people to get as many offers as possible,” says O’Donnell.

There are five key points that must be applied when staging a home. O’Donnell refers to them as the Five C’s of Staging: the home needs to be clean, clutter free, have color, be creatively staged, and finally stagers have to compromise with the sellers, because, of course, many sellers continue living in their homes while they’re being shown. “People don’t see that a lot of things that are in their houses are part of themselves and when you try to sell a house you want to make it as neutral as possible, not necessarily in the colors, but in the way it’s presented,” says Gerin Canin, a lawyer from New York who is transitioning into a home staging career. Canin believes home stagers play a vital role in real estate. “I think that when people sell their homes they don’t necessarily see their house as a potential buyer would see their house. They become attached to things. [The seller] doesn’t notice things that other people would notice. So I do think it’s important to have an opinion from someone else,” explains Canin.

Here are a few home staging tips from professionals.
For the Inside:
• Clear the clutter.
• Put away all electrical cords and extra appliances
• Put away family photos
• Think open space

For the Outside:
• Shutters improve the look
• Paint/Power wash
• Plants, high, medium, low — with lots of color
• Decks — even small ones can be a big improvement

Author: Phoebe Chongchua