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Moving On Before Moving Out

by | Sep 12, 2018 | Blog, Home Staging, Marketing, Real Estate

We are thinking about selling the home we have lived in for more than 20 years but it seems like such a daunting task.  Do you have any advice?

If you are like most people who live in their homes for multiple decades, you have undoubtedly collected a lot of treasured memories in the form of physical objects.  Your son’s first “big boy bed,” your daughters first bike.  The furniture from your first apartment that you saved, certain one of your children would want it some day.  Whatever it is, a move to a smaller home means that you are going to have to part with much of what you have collected.

For starters, you need to give some thought to how much you will be downsizing.  If you are planning to move from a 4000 SF home to a 1500 SF condo, you have a lot of clean-out to do.  If you are moving from 3800SF to 3000SF, you will not need to dispose of as much.  I do recommend that you start your clean-out right  away.  Your home will show much better if it is emptied of your “collections” and presents in a more minimalist way.

If you need help, a professional home organizer is your best first step.  An organizer can help you break down the process into manageable pieces and formulate a plan for the coming months.  You should anticipate that the process will take several months, maybe even a year.  Whether you use a professional or not, you should review all of your belongings to determine what you really NEED for your next adventure, and discard the rest.  If you have items that hold treasured memories, consider photographing them and creating a “Memories” book on a website such as winkflash  where your memories of these items can be compactly stored in a photo book.

Even if your move is years away, now is a good time to get started on those areas of your home that you don’t regularly use anymore, such as adult children’s rooms.  Pack up their favorite things in Rubbermaid bins that you can easily send to their new residences someday and re-home the rest!

For all of your “no longer needed” items, there are so many wonderful charities that will take them, and in addition to getting a home ready to sell and easily moved, you will get a tax deduction as well for your benevolence!  If you need help finding these organizations , or a professional organizer to get you started, feel free to give me a call!

 

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I’m ready to answer any questions you have regarding your real estate needs.
Kathe Barge, CRS, ABR, CNE, SRES
Associate Broker
HOWARD HANNA
REAL ESTATE SERVICES
401 Broad Street
Sewickley, PA 15143
Cell: 412-779-6060
Office: 412-741-2200 x238
kbarge@howardhanna.com

Selling Your Vacant Home

by | Oct 27, 2016 | Blog, Home Staging, Listings, Pittsburgh, Real Estate, Sellers, Sewickley, Sewickley Herald

Dear Kathe:

We may move out and leave our home vacant and for sale – is there anything special we should know?

First and most importantly, you must consider your insurance coverage. If you have a loss and you have not notified your insurance company that you have vacated the home, they may deny coverage for your loss. Some companies may not provide coverage for your vacant home and you will need to switch insurers. Some will provide coverage for a limited amount of time, and some will provide coverage as long as you leave your furniture in place. However, most will deny coverage for any loss related to water, so whenever you leave a home vacant for any amount of time, its important to turn the water off at the main. If its winter time, you should consider having a plumber professionally winterize your home.

Second its rarely a good idea to leave a home totally empty. Some homes do show better without the owner’s furniture, but even in those cases its important to leave bathrooms, the kitchen, fireplace mantles… staged so that the home feels loved and inviting to prospective buyers. Be sure to have a few lights on timers – buyers often drive by homes at night and you don’t want yours looking haunted! Of course, there are professional home stagers that can help you with any level of staging, whether its working with your existing furnishings, accessorizing bathrooms and the kitchen, or bringing in new furniture to fill the empty space.

You should have a house keeper who comes monthly to keep the home fresh and bug free and a yard service to keep the yard freshly mown and free of weeds, as well as leaves rank and snow shoveled. Finally, you should be sure to keep the temperature set at a comfortable temperature – in the winter no lower than 60 degrees and preferable 65 degrees.

Leaving a home vacant certainly makes showings easier, but it does require some extra attention to make sure the home does not feel abandoned and remains appealing to prospective buyers!

Should It Stay or Should It Go?

by | Apr 28, 2016 | Blog, Mortgage, Sellers, Sewickley Herald

Dear Kathe, 

My mother recently passed leaving me and my brother a well-maintained but not updated house built in 1960.  It’s full of furniture that is clean but bulky and out of style and almond-colored appliances that work fine but are 20-30 years old and don’t match. We plan to sell the house.  My brother thinks the house will sell better if it has some furniture and appliances in it; I think it would sell better with empty rooms (it has beautiful hardwood and tile floors that have been covered with carpet since the day they were built) and the distracting appliances removed. What would you advise?

First, you absolutely must empty the home – these days young buyers want Pottery Barn, not grandma and grandpa’s house.  Buyers also do not respond well when personal effects of a decedent remain behind after they are gone – so it’s important that it be completely empty before anyone tours the home.

Second, any old carpet should be removed. If there are hardwood floors underneath, that is what buyers want these days and you will do far better in your realized price if the floors are fully exposed. If they are not in good shape, it is possible to buy a Bruce product at the hardware store that does an acceptable job making them look presentable and is easily mopped on.

You must have a stove in the house in order for the buyer to get a mortgage. Therefore, you either need to keep the old one or buy a new one.  Refrigerators, however, do not need to be retained and you may be able to get a credit for turning an inefficient old refrigerator in.

I would also recommend that you and your brother have the home pre-inspected and appraised in order to make the selling process as smooth as possible!