Now, in this buyer’s market, it’s hard enough to sell most homes, but when an investor is working on a timeframe to get it sold so they can move on to their next project, it’s our recommendation that they take the time to:

• be sure they have a budget sufficient to finish the project and
• have a decorator and/or home stager as part of their team

I saw two homes in nice West Bank neighborhoods that had great bones, but were clearly not up to snuff in the finishes department.  Missing baseboards, mismatched wall colors, too many different flooring choices that all collided with each other in openings and doorways, cheap faucets, no bathroom mirrors….the list goes on and on.  To top it off, curb appeal was non-existent in both of these homes too, with no shrubs, no flowers, no door mats, no welcoming touches that would make a buyer feel like they needed to get inside and see more.

According to the listing agent, money for the projects ran out before the work was finished.

I know from personal experience that a home renovation always, always, always goes over budget in at least one area and having a cushion to deal with those overages is critical if the house is going to turn out as planned.

As to choices made, no offense to the renovators is meant.  But, a feminine touch is not a bad thing.  When a couple is buying a home, if the wife thinks that a house is “ugly”, you don’t make a sale.  Also, with almost 20% of home purchases being made by single female buyers, appealing to women should be one of the top priorities when selecting those finishing touches.

I applaud the investors who have confidence in our local economy and believe that there is a market for a well done renovation.  Let’s just be sure they actually are well done before you put a sign in the yard.

SEARCH NEW ORLEANS HOMES FOR SALE

If you don’t have an updated bathroom in your home, what can you do to make that room show at it’s best?

We asked Amie Chaney with Home Staging by Amie for her recommendations on how to make a bathroom show ready and she offered the following staging tips to help you make your bathroom more inviting.

1. Clean out your bathroom medicine cabinet and drawers.
2. Remove all personal items from around the bathtub such as shampoo, razors and shaving cream.
3. Update show curtains and bathroom rugs.
4. Use fluffy white towels in your bathroom that won’t be used on a daily basis.
5. Repair leaky faucets and runny toilets.
6. Replace light switch covers with new white ones.
7. Peel and stick tile that looks like natural stone is an inexpensive easy fix for a bathroom floor that is worn or damaged.
8. Repair any cracks in the caulking around sinks and tub.
9. Curtain panels make great shower curtains and add a luxurious feel to the bathroom.
10. Use items in your bathroom that resemble what is used in a spa to promote a feeling of relaxation.

For more professional staging advice, visit Amie’s site.  For professional real estate advice when buying or selling your West Bank home, please contact the West Bank Living Team.  It would be our pleasure to assist you whether you are buying, selling or leasing on the West Bank of New Orleans.

Your Agent is Not Trying to be Mean

Before we list a house, we try to look at it objectively and through the eyes of a buyer. It’s easy for an agent to do, because we not only go in and out of hundred of homes a year, but when working with buyers we hear their feedback and pick up on the most common objections they have to some homes.

That’s not so easy for a home owner to do. Most of us are proud of our homes, our decorating and our curb appeal.  We get used to the little things that might not be perfect and tend to overlook them.  That’s why listing agents usually have to give sellers a list of things to do before going on the market and opening their home to the prying, critical eyes of today’s home buyers.

Common Buyer Objections

While schlepping through house after house after house in their search for the one that screams “buy me!”, buyers will usually share what they don’t like with their agent.  Some of the most common objections are:

Kitchens and baths that have not been updated. Yes, there are people who will love your retro, pink tiled bathroom.  But, there are not very many of them.  And the 1980s country kitchen?  It may be completely comfortable for you, but keep in mind that you are selling a home in 2010 and if a buyer senses that a major update is needed, it will be reflected in any offers you receive if you are not priced right.

Dirty or worn flooring that needs to be replaced. If a steam cleaner doesn’t take care of spots and stains on your flooring, you need to either consider replacing it or adjusting your asking price to accommodate the buyer’s need to do so.  Hint: most buyers will ask for much more off of the price than it would cost to go ahead and replace the flooring.

Personal paint color choices that don’t fit their taste. There’s a reason that agents preach neutral, neutral, neutral.  Lots of buyers don’t mind having to do a little painting to make a home their own, but it’s easier for them to envision that when they are starting with a neutral color.  Any bright wall color is just too personal when selling your home.

Poor curb appeal or landscaping. Peeling paint or missing siding should be addressed immediately.  Those are big red flags for FHA inspectors and appraisers and not taking care of them can eliminate your home from consideration by the majority of buyers today.  Your curb appeal is the first thing that people see and no matter how spectacular the interior of a home might be, pulling up in front of a house that obviously needs some front yard TLC can be a turn off that leads to not even getting through the front door.

Odd floor plans. When marketing, we call these “unique”.  The bottom line is that if you have a floor plan that leads to questions about what a space is used for, home staging might be the best thing you can do to help a buyer make sense of it.

Too much work for the price. There are a lot of buyers who are looking for something they can put their personal stamp on, so they don’t mind some of the things listed above.  However, the price of a home has to reflect that.  You can’t price at the top of the market and expect the do-it-yourselfers to come flocking to the door.

Overpriced for the neighborhood. I hope that when you are deciding on an asking price, you are looking at not only what homes have sold for recently in your area, but also what homes are currently priced at.  If your competition is all priced below recent sales, you’ll have a hard time justifying a higher price.

Need an honest, objective opinion on the condition and value of your West Bank home? Contact the West Bank Living team today.  We’d be happy to help you determine what improvements will give you the most bang for your buck in today’s real estate market.

While we’ve found that public open houses no longer attract many visitors in the New Orleans area, agent open houses are still alive and well attended.  Preparing for the agent open house is no different than preparing for a public one.  As a matter of fact, agents tend to be even more critical of condition than buyers do, so the proper preparation can mean the difference between them bringing a client for a showing or not.  If you can get an agent excited about a home, they will show it again and again.

Recently, I attended an agent open at a house in Algiers.  The floor plan was pretty good and the location is great, but it was obvious that the seller either isn’t really interested in selling or didn’t heed their agent’s advice about pricing, cleaning and de-cluttering the house.

We scope out open houses to know the competition for our listings and to see if a particular home might work for one of our buyers.  Finding a home that is overpriced and dirty and cluttered shouldn’t happen on these tours and we were in and out pretty quickly, making mental notes of what information we would pass on to our own clients.

Here are a few recommendations to prepare for your open house:

Clean, clean and clean some more.  Everything should be sparkling, from the floors and baseboards to the ceiling fans and everything in between.

Remove all indicators of pets.  Food and water bowls, doggie beds, litter boxes – all of these should be stored out of sight.  Do a sniff test as well.  Nothing will turn off buyers and agents alike as much as a smelly house.

Tidy up.  Make the beds, hang fresh towels in the bathrooms, put away all of your personal toiletries and be sure that any children’s bedrooms don’t look like Toys R Us exploded in them.

Think curb appeal. Cut the grass, weed the flower beds and make sure that the porch is swept clean.  If it’s a rainy day, provide a good door mat to keep visitors from tracking wet and mud into your home.

What’s behind closed doors matters.  Don’t make an area of your home off limits during the open house.  If there are family members that sleep during the day, then an open house may not be for you.  Also, visitors will open closet doors, pantries and cabinets to check out the amount of storage you have.  Clearing out and pre-packing some items will make all of these spaces appear even larger.

More home selling tips

It’s that time of year (before the heat sets in) that everyone is out in their yards and gardens, sprucing things up and showing off their curb appeal. The petunias I planted earlier in the year are in full bloom and I’m enjoying them while they last…soon it will be time to replace them with something a little more heat tolerant.  The black eyed Susans came back on their own, the salvia gave me a little surprise when it started sprouting up too and the first of the irises bloomed this week.

Are you ready to start working in your West Bank garden? Here are some recommendations for local nurseries that can not only provide you with a selection of plants and flowers that will grow well in our zone, but can usually give you a little free planting advice to go along with them.  You won’t get that at a big box store.

• New Orleans Garden Center and Landscape in Algiers
• Rose Garden Center in Marrero
• Banting’s Nursery in Bridge City
• Patio Gardens and Landscape in Marrero
• Nine Mile Point Nursery Farm in Westwego

No space for a garden? Plenty of plants do well in containers that can fit in even the smallest of spaces.  Or, you could search for homes for sale on the West Bank of New Orleans and find the perfect place to plant your own roots.

For more information about home buying or selling on the West Bank of New Orleans, or relocating to or from NAS JRB New Orleans, please

Why, you ask?  Because while holiday decorating is fun and festive, too much can leave buyers unable to picture themselves at home in your house – not exactly the tone you want to set when selling.  Not everyone has the same beliefs and customs that you do and your job, when selling, is to make your home appeal to as many potential buyers as possible, including the ones that do not observe Christmas.

When I sold my last home, I deliberately waited until after the holidays to put it on the market.  Showing activity slows down dramatically the closer you get to Christmas, and yes, I know that the buyers that are looking at this time of year are motivated.  They are also bargain shopping, assuming that sellers absolutely have to sell if they are on the market at this time of year.

If you must have your home on the market and you insist on decorating for the holidays, here are a some dos and don’ts to keep in mind:

Don’t fill the front yard with inflatable snowmen, 8 mechanical reindeer, Santa’s workshop and a blow up  globe filled with penguins ice skating in the snow.  Remember all of those lectures we’ve given you about the importance of curb appeal?  This is not what we had in mind.

Don’t be sucked into the newest trend of blinking, strobing LED Christmas lights…unless you really want your house to resemble a dance club on techno night.

Don’t put out the musical holiday door mat that yells HO HO HO when anyone steps on it.  It scares the bejesus out of Terri when she’s showing houses.

Don’t buy the biggest tree that you can push, pull and cram into the door…unless you really want your living room to resemble the Grinch’s heart and look two sizes too small.

Don’t cover every inch of every end table, coffee table and bookshelf with your collection of international Santas.  They are almost as creepy as that room full of dolls with eyes that follow us everywhere.

Don’t ring your tree with your heirloom train set  unless you want to get that phone call from your agent asking if you can find replacement parts on eBay.

Do use fresh greenery to decorate.  It’s simple, tasteful and makes the house smell good.

Do set out a plate of cookies for potential buyers to make them feel welcome.  Leave a small card to let them know they can help themselves (don’t forget napkins!).

Do use pretty wrapping paper with matching bows to make your gifts part of your home staging.  Color coordinating your packages and ribbons may seem a little too Martha Stewart for you, but it makes an impression on buyers that carries over to their perception of how you have maintained your home.

Do remember to turn on some quiet background music before leaving for a showing.  Light jazz or classical is perfect, but if you want to play holiday music be sure that it’s instrumental.

Do consider a smaller tree this year with fewer ornaments.  Remove a piece of furniture to create space for the tree and avoid making the room feel cramped.

Do remember that your knick knacks can be attractive to small children when they are visiting with their parents.  Put away anything that you would be heartbroken to lose.

More staging tips from West Bank Living

• Home Staging Tips Video | Toy Storage
• 10 Easy Ways to Prepare Your Kitchen When Selling Your Home

Home selling tips from West Bank Living

• Why Do An Inspection Before Selling Your Home
• A Home Improvement That Pays for Itself
• Selling Tips for Vacant Homes

As we’ve been going through vacant homes recently, we’ve seen a lot of mistakes that sellers are making.  If you are trying to sell a house that is empty, here are a few tips for you that might make that process a little easier and a little faster:

Keep all of the utilities on

Water, gas and electricity are not optional for a few reasons:

1. With the summer temperatures approaching, we will be trekking through houses that have no power, no air conditioning and no chance at a buyer staying in the sweltering heat long enough to actually be able to picture themselves living in them.
2. If your utilities are off for an extended period of time, the city or parish may require an inspection before turning them back on.  If anything is not up to current code, you’ll have to make repairs or improvements before the power/water/gas can be restored.
3. When an offer is received, one of the first things that buyers do is schedule inspections.  Hint: we can’t inspect if you don’t have the utilities on, which will lead to delays in your closing.

Maintain the lawn and gardens

One of the big to-dos on everyone’s list before attempting to sell is making sure that your home has curb appeal.  All of the work you put into doing that will be for naught if you move out and don’t make arrangements for someone to keep up with the grass and gardens.  There are reasonable lawn care services that can also take care of pulling weeds, planting seasonal flowers and freshening up the mulch and borders.

Have the house cleaned periodically

Believe it or not, just because no one is living in a home doesn’t mean that it stays spotless. Even after you are gone, dust collects on window sills and baseboards, the air gets a little stale and toilets get rings from standing water.  If your home has been vacant for over 60 days, it’s probably time to get someone in to do a clean up and freshen up.

Keep up with pool and pond maintenance

I’ve never seen a buyer say “Oh look…a big green pool.  It’s perfect!”.  Pools and ponds are wonderful features, but only if they are kept clean and functioning.  If they are not, you will be adding to the days on market before you get an offer or setting yourself up for very low offers.  Neither one is worth what you will save, and it will keep the neighbors from complaining about the mosquito breeding pits in your yard.

Consider staging

While staging homes hasn’t really caught on big in Louisiana yet, it’s an option that more people should be exploring.  A professional home stager can bring in a few key pieces of furniture and some accessories that showcase your home in it’s best light.  Not to mention that a furnished home always photographs better than an empty one and it’s the photos that are drawing people in from the internet advertising.

Related reading:

• Spring Home Selling Tip #1:  Curb Appeal
• Spring Home Selling Tip #2:  Clean, Clean, Clean
• Spring Home Selling Tip #3:  Clear the Clutter
• Spring Home Selling Tip #5:  Neutralize

When you are ready to make a move, the West Bank Living Team provides local, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military relocations to and from NAS JRB New Orleans. It would be our pleasure to assist you with all of your real estate needs.

Home Selling Tips

When showing homes to buyers, one of the most common complaints that we hear is that sellers don’t seem to be serious about selling – that if they were, they would at least clean up before their home is shown.  Don’t let your house be the one that the buyers are talking negatively about.  Nobody wants to be remembered for being the “dustballs the size of a cat” or “smells like last Friday’s fish fry” house!  Read Home Selling Tips: Clean, Clean, Clean

Most of us overlook the clutter in our homes.  We see it everyday and it just becomes a part of our lives.  Now that you have committed to make your home “show ready”, you must be prepared to tackle it and part (just temporarily) with some of your treasures.  Read Home Selling Tips: Clear the Clutter

Don’t let your lack of curb appeal be the reason that buyers pass you by.  Remember, a picture of the front of your home is going to be the first thing that online shoppers see.  If it doesn’t catch their eye, they will move on to one of the many other available properties for sale.  Read Home Selling Tips: Curb Appeal

The goal of all of this preparation is to get the buyers to be able to imagine themselves living in your home.  In order to do this, you need to appeal to the most common things that buyers are looking for and get rid of the most common things that turn a buyer off.  This is often easier said than done, since it hard to look at our own homes through the eyes of buyers!  I usually tell my sellers to think back to the model homes they have been in…they look like anyone could just move right in…that is the feeling you are trying to impress upon purchasers.  Read Home Selling Tips: Neutralize

Staging your home can be as simple as a low-cost consultation with a professional stager who can  provide you with a list of things to do on your own to make your home shine.  Or, it can be as extensive as furnishing a vacant home to give it a lived-in and warm atmosphere.  No matter which route you take, home staging can pay off in the form of a quicker sale.  Read Home Selling Tips: Staging Your Home and Getting Your Home Sold in This Market – 10 Steps to Success According to Professional Home Stagers

At the end of the day, you don’t want buyers to go home thinking that you made one of the 10 biggest mistakes home sellers make.  Instead, you want to be on that short list of houses that they go back to see again before writing an offer.

The West Bank Living Team is available for free, pre-listing consultations.  Contact us today to schedule a confidential review of your home and how we can help you get ready to sell.

• Algiers homes for sale
• Belle Chasse homes for sale
• Gretna LA homes for Sale
• Terrytown and Gretna homes for sale
• Harvey homes for sale
• Marrero homes for sale
• Westwego and Avondale homes for sale
• Find out what’s going on in your West Bank neighborhood with a free online market analysis

Providing professional real estate services across the West Bank, it would be our pleasure to assist you in buying or selling your next home.  Call Lisa at (504) 616-6262 or Terri at (504) 258-5178 for help with any of your West Bank real estate needs.

You couldn’t be more mistaken.  Is the market tough right now – yes it is.  But homes that are priced right and in excellent condition ARE selling and will continue to sell.

While you may be thinking to yourself that you don’t want to "give away" your home at today’s prices, apply that same logic to your newer, larger dream home. 

As an example, a decline in price of 10% on a $150,000 home is equal to $15,000.  That same 10% discount on a $300,000 is $30,000.  Hmmm….looks to me like in the long run you may realize a savings by taking advantage of the current buyer’s market.

Of course, before you jump into the fray, there is the tried and true advice that every seller needs to follow about getting their home ready to sell and choosing the right person to help them do it.

• Home Selling Tips: Curb Appeal
• Home Selling Tips: Clean, Clean, Clean
• Home Selling Tips: Clear the Clutter
• Home Selling Tips: Neutralize
• Home Selling Tips: Staging Your Home
• What to Expect From Your West Bank REALTOR®

Need more information about selling your West Bank home?  Contact Lisa Heindel for professional real estate advice from a local expert.

Copyright 2008.  Lisa Heindel and West Bank Living.  All rights reserved.

So, I’ve put together this list of FAQ articles to help you when buying or selling your New Orleans West Bank home.

Don’t see your question here?  That’s OK.  Send me an email or give me a call and I’d be happy to get an answer posted for you as quickly as possible.

General Real Estate Questions

What Does That Mean? Real Estate Listing Statuses Explained

Who Pays the REALTOR Commission?

What is a Back-Up Offer?

How do I choose the right West Bank REALTOR?

You Might Need A New Agent If…

Choosing a Tech Savvy REALTORR to Sell Your West Bank Home

5 Steps to Choosing Your New Orleans West Bank Real Estate Agent

How to Find a Professional Buyer Agent

How do I get my West Bank home ready to sell?

Professional Home Staging Tips | Keeping Things Tidy

Home Selling Tips | Selling A Vacant Home

Getting Ready to Sell – Home Staging Tips Part I

Getting Ready to Sell – Home Staging Tips Part II

Getting Ready to Sell – Home Staging Tips Part III

Make Your Home the Star of the Neighborhood – Stage It!

Spring Home Selling Tip #1 – Curb Appeal

Spring Home Selling Tip #2 – Clean, Clean, Clean

Spring Home Selling Tip #3 – Clear the Clutter

Spring Selling Tip #4 – Neutralize

What do I have to disclose when selling my Louisiana home?

Louisiana Property Disclosures Part 1 – Yes, You Have to Disclose That!

Louisiana Property Disclosures Part 2 – Bugs, Bugs and More About Bugs

Louisiana Property Disclosures Part 3 – Structure

Louisiana Property Disclosures Part 4 – Plumbing, Water, Gas and Sewerage

Louisiana Property Disclosures Part 5 – Electrical, Heating and Cooling, Appliances

Louisiana Property Disclosures Part 6 – All of The Rest of The Things We Need to Know About

Seller Questions

What Happens If My West Bank Home Doesn’t Appraise?

Why Do A Pre-Inspection When Selling Your New Orleans West Bank Home?

You’ve Accepted an Offer! Now What?

What Is a Real Estate Absorption Rate?

What Closing Costs Does A Seller Have to Pay?

Why Isn’t My Home Advertised in the Newspaper?

Do Fair Housing Laws Apply to For Sale By Owners?

When and Where Do We Close?

How Do I Prepare for an Open House?

Buyer Questions

What Is a Buyer’s Agent?

How Much are Property Taxes on the West Bank of New Orleans?

What Do I Need to Get Approved for an FHA Loan?

Can I have my own agent or do I need to call the name on the sign?

5 Steps to Buying Your New Orleans West Bank Home

Your Offer’s Been Accepted – Now What?

Do I Need to Have An Inspection on New Construction?

When and Where Do We Close?