Session 1 of Fairfax County Adult Education Course - "Fixing up and Staging your House to Sell"

1. Fixing up and Staging Your House to Sell Mike Ford Licensed Home Improvements Contractor Licensed Real Estate Salesperson (703) 589-3848 www.TheModelHomeLook.com mike@themodelhomelook.com

2. 2 Course Outline – 1st Session Introduction Reasons for Improving Improvement Options Buyer Expectations Group Discussion Case Study

3. 3 Who is Mike Ford Northern Virginia Native Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business Administration from Old Dominion University. Licensed Real Estate Agent - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. Corporate Experience – Fortune 500 Companies – Motorola Communications & McKesson Healthcare, National Healthcare Trade Association Entrepreneur – Owner of The Model Home Look Community Volunteer – Youth Sports, Home Owners Association

4. 4 The Evolution to Non-Real Estate Clients We don’t want to sell our house, but would like it to look like a Model Home. Can you help us? YES!

5. 5 A New Approach Home Improvements & Real Estate Sales We offer our real estate clients the opportunity to make improvements that make their homes more appealing to prospective home buyers. We help all of our clients identify the home improvements that will have the biggest impact on their home’s values.

6. 6 The Model Home Look – Real Estate Knowledge is Key Our clients have been particularly pleased with our knowledge of real estate, and appreciate the guidance to improvements that provide the most significant returns when the time comes to sell their homes.

7. 7 Understanding Home Values – Trade License www.themodelhomelook.com We help all of our clients identify the home improvements that will have the biggest impact on their home’s value.

8. 8 The Importance of Project Management Many of our clients believe Project Management is one of the most valuable services that we provide. The Project Management Professional (PMP®) designation is the profession’s most globally recognized and respected credential. We handle of every detail of getting homes ready for sale!

9. 9 Student Expectations

10. 10 Course Objective In this course, we’ll discuss the importance of making cost effective improvements to improve chances of selling in today’s difficult real estate market.

11. 11 Reasons for Improving Your Home Pure Enjoyment Maintenance - Small problems often lead to large expenses Increase probability of selling To appeal to homebuyer expectations To replace the low quality “builder grade” fixtures & amenities

12. 12 Avoid Costly Mistakes Missing out on big money by not making the proper upgrades. Ignoring simple repairs often lead to big problems. A job done right the first time is always less expensive.

13. 13 Improvement Discussion Kitchens Baths Paint Flooring Exterior & Landscaping Furnishing Staging

14. 14 Minimum Expectations of Today’s Homebuyers Reoccurring Buzz Words in Real Estate Advertisements Updated Kitchen & Baths Granite Countertops Stainless Steel Appliances Hardwood Floors Open Floor Plan New Carpet Fresh Neutral Paint Show’s Well Great Curb Appeal Finished Basement

15. 15 Minimum Expectations of Today's Homebuyers What Sellers Can Control Keep a very clean house Eliminate pet or food odors Remove clutter Maintain the lawn and landscaping Keep bushes and trees trimmed Make sure your furniture fits properly in the rooms Clean windows and remove screens Turn on lights Open blinds & curtains before every showing

16. 16 Did you you Know? Within 15 seconds a buyer has developed an opinion of the property they visit. Buyers must say “Wow” when they enter a home! Must reflect today’s homebuyer’s tastes. Must capture the buyer’s emotions!

17. 17 The world is fascinated with interior design. If you have any doubt, you need only tune into HGTV, or visit Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware and other retailers. Public fascination with Interior Design!

19. Quality Cabinets

20. Commercial-look Appliances

21. Natural Wood or Stone Floors

23. 20 Tip Tub & Tile Re-Glazing A fairly inexpensive way to update a bathroom is to re-glaze the tub and wall tiles. Re-glazing a typical tub and shower will cost less than $1,000.00.

24. Paint 21 Buyers spend more time than you would think staring at ceilings. They are looking for signs of a leaky roof, but what you don't want them to see are stains from water, grease or smoke and ceiling cracks. Same for walls.

25. 22 Paint It's the most cost effective improvement you can make! Fix nail pops & cracks 3-color with neutral paint color Hire a professional. A bad paint job will turn off prospective buyers.

26. Wallpaper 23 It's not that all buyers hate wallpaper. They hate your wallpaper - because it's your personal choice, not theirs. And they hate all dated wallpaper. Get rid of it

27. Wood Paneling 24 Even if your wood paneling is not real wood but composite, you can paint it. Dated paneling must go. Older wood paneling such as walnut, mahogany, cedar and pine, it's all gone out of style. Paint it a neutral and soft color after priming it.

28. Textured Ceilings 25 Older popcorn ceilings with the "sparkles" often contain asbestos and if disturbed are health hazards. Say goodbye to it. But even recently sprayed ceilings turn off buyers.

32. Resurface asphalt driveways

33. Plant flowers

34. Caulk windows and doors

35. Replace doorknobs and locks

37. 30 Tip Mulch Dye Applying mulch dye, which can be purchased from a specialty landscape supplier, is a low cost way of making the mulch look new again. Expect to pay about $80.00 per gallon.

38. 31 Tip Your home must be clean! To achieve this level is usually only feasible by hiring a cleaning crew. In fact, having a cleaning service return weekly while your house is for sale is probably a pretty good investment. Get your windows professionally cleaned inside and out too.

39. 32 Tip Eliminate Clutter Clutter makes homes seem smaller and disorganized. Have you ever noticed that the really expensive stores seem to have an expansive, clutter-free layout, while "cheap" stores are often a jumble of merchandise?

40. 33 Tip De-Personalize Remove objects that your potential buyers won't be able to identify with. For example, political and religious items may turn off whole groups of buyers, because they cannot "imagine" your home as their home. Buying a home is an emotional decision, and you want potential buyers to make an emotional connection with your home by being able to "see" themselves in it.

41. 34 Staging Staging is what you do after you've cleaned, de-cluttered, painted, made repairs; it's all about dressing the house for sale.

42. 35 Basement Makeover

43. 36 New Countertops & Wall Tile

44. 37 Granite Countertops

45. 38 Countertop & Paint © 2005 Interior Makeovers © 2005 Interior Makeovers

46. 39 Basement Improvement © 2005 Interior Makeovers © 2005 Interior Makeovers

47. 40 Formal Living Room

48. 41 Home Office

49. 42 Hardwood Floors

50. 43 Kitchen Makeover

51. 44 Kitchen Cabinets

52. 45 Kitchen Makeover

53. 46 Kitchen Makeover

54. 47 Kitchen Makeover

55. 48 Kitchen Makeover

56. 49 Kitchen Makeover

57. 50 Kitchen Makeover

58. 51 Bathroom

59. Bathroom Improvement 52

60. 53 Bathroom

61. 54 Builders have MODEL HOMES – Why? TO CREATE SALES They understand that buyers want a home in near-perfect “model home” move-in condition where all the buyer must do is turn the key in the front door and move in.

62. 55 Reasons Homeowners Do Not Invest to Sell their Home? Don’t have the time Think it is too costly Unsure of which improvements yield the highest return Believe their personal decoration style is appealing to today’s homebuyers Believe that a price allowance can be made when the home is sold