Neutral Appeals to More…Even If It Doesn’t Appeal To You
Part 2 of a series: Guide to Getting Your House Ready for Sale
Perhaps you love red and perhaps your living room is painted in a delicious shade of red. A shade that makes you feel like someone is giving you a big hug. A shade that sets your heart to thumping when you look at it. A shade that you, well, love! Wouldn’t everyone else?
Unfortunately, no.
I will admit, there will be some people who also adore that same shade of red and have plans of slapping it up exactly like you did when they get the keys to their new home. And when they see your house has it already beautifully painted on the walls, they just might say “SOLD!” But the majority of home buyers will look at your lovely red walls and run.
Many see red as a difficult color to cover up with light paint. But what if your walls aren’t red, or black, or dark brown, or some other difficult to cover-up color. What if they are bright sunny yellow? Or baby blue? Well even those might not appeal, but the painting over issue isn’t always the main problem.
Bright or dark colors can make a home seem smaller, can make a home owner who dislikes the color dislike the whole house, and means that, more-than-likely, the new homeowner will have to paint just to match his or her furnishings. A neutral color will not only create a sense of spaciousness, it will also go with nearly every color scheme. And this means that even if Joe Smith wants to paint his living room a dark blue to “match” his yellow leather sofa, chances are he can wait a while without living in a clashing jumble of color.
So take some good pictures of your wonderful color, make sure you know what the paint number was so you can paint your new home with the same shade, and then head to your favorite paint store for a few gallons of something like “Bleeker Beige” or “Silken Pine.” The selling price of your home will be your reward.
Next week…Clean sells for more!
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie or elsewhere in the Minneapolis area, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466.
Begin your home search at BraceHelgeson.com.
“Less is More” When Selling Your Home
Part 2 of a series: Guide to Getting Your House Ready for Sale
You have decorated your home to suit your needs, which may have a cozy, homey feeling with lots of family pictures and knickknacks. While these appeal to you and make your house a home, it can seem cluttered to potential buyers and may even make them feel like they won’t be able to fit their things in.
This is when the adage “less is more” shows itself to be true.
Unless your home is sitting empty because you have already moved out, chances are you could thin out your décor and personal belongings. You are going to be moving anyway (especially if you do this process right!), so now is a great time to start packing up some of those knick-knacks and family photos. It’s ok to store them neatly in the garage, but it’s better to rent a storage unit away from your home.
Are there things you won’t want to move? It’s a bit cold this time of year for a garage sale, but consider posting the stuff you don’t want on Craigslist or eBay or, if you have enough, perhaps you could rent a booth at an indoor flea market or try a consignment shop. If you try selling the online way, small items could be sold together as “lots” to bring a faster sale. This works for nice unwanted clothing as well.
If you don’t need the extra cash and don’t want to bother with selling, or if you have leftovers after a month or so, consider donating the items. Freecycle is a great choice and you can probably give it all away in one lump group or break it up. Another option is to contact a local charity thrift store. Some of them may be willing to come and pick it all up and you will know the proceeds of the sale will go to a good cause. Make sure you get a receipt for your donations since it can be used as a tax deduction.
You will, of course, end up with things that are simply just plain old trash. Whether they are broken or otherwise not usable, please consider finding an option other than simply filling a trash bag and setting them on the curb. Items like this don’t necessarily have to end up in a landfill. Recycle what you can. Think about any other alternatives that someone could do with them. Again, Freecylers can be amazingly resourceful!
Once you have gotten rid of the stuff you don’t want and packed up the things you can temporarily live without, it’s time to take another look at your house through a home buyer’s eyes. How’s the paint? Does it need toned down? Find out next week in “Neutral Appeals to More.”
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie or elsewhere in the Minneapolis area, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466.
Begin your home search at BraceHelgeson.com.
Guide to Getting Your House Ready for Sale
Paint is one of the simplest ways to improve the appearance of your home.
With the new home buyer tax credit creating an incentive to get your house spruced up and on the market, I figured it was important to pass along some advice on a necessary part of getting the best price for your home: Staging.
Staging is basically interior design and exterior landscaping in a manner that is not intended for your own preferences or lifestyle, but rather to appeal to a large proportion of home buyers.
There are several aspects to staging your home for sale, but basically just remember “more”…in most cases less is more, neutral appeals to more, and a clean house needing no repairs sells for more!
As pretty as this is, it would overwhelm your on-the-market house. Save it for next year.
Staging is a relatively simple process that just about anyone can do. If you want to step it up to the top level, you can hire a professional stager of course. Stagers are professionally trained in interior design and know exactly what sells a house and how to make your house stand apart from the other houses in your local price range. If you are interested in finding a stager, give me a call and I’ll help you get in touch with one.
But don’t worry, you can probably handle the majority of staging yourself. It just takes some diligence, a small amount of cash, and a great deal of elbow grease. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be giving you detailed information about different aspects of staging your home. Following each of these steps will help your home sell faster and hopefully for a higher price.
Let me just say one thing now about holiday decorations. This time of year many people choose to decorate their homes for one or another holiday. If you are among them and your home is on the market, please consider keeping your holiday decorations to the minimum and, above all else, keep them tasteful. You don’t want to sell the decorations; you want to sell the house.
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie or elsewhere in the Minneapolis area, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466.
Begin your home search at BraceHelgeson.com.
Want to sell your home and buy a new one? Here are some tips
Selling your home is never an easy task, especially in a buyer’s market. But maybe that house of yours is just not what you need now. Whether you are wanting bigger, smaller or just different, it’s time to move. And the Home Buyer Tax Credit sure looks good too.
Before you can buy a new home and take advantage of the credit, you have to figure out what to do with your current home. Should you sell it? Should you rent it out? Should you just leave it on the market whether it sells or not? Should you turn it into a vacation home?
Assuming your finances are in order, you owe little or nothing on your current home, and you have the funds to do necessary repairs, any of these could be a valid option for you. But which one will work for you and how?
Sell Your Home–Quickly
Wouldn’t it be great if you could list your house and have an offer in hand tomorrow? Sometimes this happens, but more often than not it can take a few weeks or months, or even longer. There are some things you can do to speed up the selling process.
- Find a Realtor who will market your home effectively. (That would be me!)
- Get a professional inspection.
- Repair problems that come up on the inspection and things that have been bugging you for a while.
- Clean up your yard, landscape as appropriate for the season.
- Keep any holiday decorations at a tasteful level.
- Reduce clutter—begin packing stuff that isn’t essential.
- Rent a storage unit and move boxes and extra furniture into it until moving day.
- Brighten up your walls with a fresh coat of neutral paint.
- Wash windows, inside and out.
- Replace burned out light bulbs.
- Replace old or worn flooring with something new and modern; refinish hardwood floors if needed.
Become a Landlord
This may be a good option if you have been considering getting into this business anyway, or if you have had your home on the market for a long time with few bites. If your long-term goal is to sell your home, perhaps you will have success with a lease-purchase option. Either way, you should still perform needed repairs on your home.
Leave it on the market
Many people find themselves moving into their new home without selling or renting the old one. While this could make it easier to sell, especially if you have pets or young children, it can be a risky gamble. If you go with this option, be sure to fix problems and stage your home well. If you have extra good-looking furniture you can leave for now, do so. Consider renting some furniture to use for staging. Empty rooms are harder to sell.
Turn it into a vacation home
Current interpretation indicates this option is available for the home buyer tax credit also. Perhaps your home is in the woods or on a lake and ideal for weekend getaways or long summer vacations, but the commute to work is a bit too far for your tastes. Turning it into a vacation home could be ideal.
Give me a call today and we can review your options, both for selling and for purchasing your next home. For the alternatives to selling your home, consult your tax specialist before making a final decision.
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie or elsewhere in the Minneapolis area, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466.
Begin your home search at BraceHelgeson.com.
The Time is Right to Sell your Home
Many financially stable home owners have wanted to sell their homes for various reasons over the past year but have either had no luck or just decided to wait. If you are one of these homeowners you should seriously consider putting your home on the market now. Why? There are a variety of reasons:
- Lower inventory. Everyone knows that the housing market has been flooded with short sales and foreclosed properties, but the first time home buyer tax credit had a significant impact in the number of houses on the market. Just about every first time home buyer who qualified for the credit and was able to purchase a home has done so. This has helped to lower the number of available properties, making it more likely that your house will sell.
Extended tax credit. Most of the first-time home buyers who were going to buy have already done so. But some haven’t. The tax credit has been extended until April which may be just enough time for those who weren’t quite ready to be so.
- Expanded tax credit. The credit was not only extended, but expanded to include first-time home buyers with higher incomes and current home owners. This opens up a whole new group of people who will jump at the chance to buy a home and cash in on the tax credit.
- Low prices. Perhaps you have been concerned about selling your home for less than it is worth. This is a valid concern and has kept many financially stable home owners from listing their home. But consider this: your new home will cost you less as well. It’s quite possible that you may be able to find a home in your price range that you will not be able to afford when its value increases.
- Expanded tax credit. (Again) The expanded tax credit might include you! If you were to purchase a new home before April, then you will qualify for the $6500 tax credit, if you meet the requirements. This just might help to offset any loss you could incur based upon lower property values. Add it to your down payment and you could afford a more expensive house.
- You probably have the funds to correct problems. Home buyers hoping to find a house ready to move into with little more than a change of paint color, have been rather dismayed by the condition of many foreclosed homes. Even homes qualifying for short sales could be in need of major TLC simply because a distressed home owner does not have the funds to make repairs. This makes buying a house from a financially secure home-owner a much more attractive to most buyers.
- You have more flexibility than a bank. Another problem that home buyers have found when trying to buy a distressed property is the time it takes for a bank to respond to an offer. You may find a home-buyer who needs to close in two weeks, or one who low-balls an offer and needs several back and forth offers to agree on a reasonable price. You have the flexibility to handle this situation, whereas a bank may not be able to meet their needs.
Now tell me, can you think of a good reason not to list your home? Give me a call and we will get things started.
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie or elsewhere in the Minneapolis area, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466.
Begin your home search at BraceHelgeson.com.
Planes and Trains: Transportation is Expanding in Eden Prairie
Transportation into and out of Eden Prairie is getting easier. Flying Cloud Airport and the Southwest Light Rail Transit Project are both expected to increase the amount of business and commuter transportation serving Eden Prairie.
Proposed Southwest Transit Rail Lines
While the Southwest Light Rail Transit is still several years from completion, it is expected to add to the growing passenger rail system connecting the Twin Cities to its suburbs. Earlier this month the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority approved Route 3A for recommendation to the Metropolitan Council for the 2030 Transportation Plan.
Don’t worry; you won’t have to wait till 2030 to ride the train from Eden Prairie to Minneapolis. The Southwest rail project is projected to be completed in 2014. Route 3A will start in Eden Prairie, and head east through Eden Prairie Town Center before turning north through Hopkins and St. Louis Park, ending in Minneapolis.
If your travel plans take you further, you can now consider flying a business jet in or out of Eden Prairie’s Flying Cloud Airport. This week the airport’s expanded runway opened for air traffic. At a cost of $17 million, an additional 5000 feet was added to the south parallel runway. Prior to this a modern business jet loaded with passengers, baggage and fuel would not have been able to land or take-off at Flying Cloud.
Eden Prairie is looking better than ever for business owners and suburb loving Minneapolis workers. Combine this with quality schools, great neighborhoods, exciting recreation and friendly people and you have a community that you would love to call home.
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Minnetonka, Chaska, or Bloomington, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466. Start your online search here!
It’s time to Get Those Spring Bulbs in the Ground!
If you have delayed planting your spring bulbs, delay no more. The University of Minnesota Extension Service recommends planting of most spring bulbs in Minnesota by the end of October. Early November may not be too late though, especially for tulips which can be planted as long as the ground isn’t frozen too hard.
Here are some tips to remember:
- Bulbs should be firm with a papery skin. If soft or moldy, throw them away.
- Bulbs need to be able to grow roots once planted in the fall, and they need the cold winter to break their dormancy cycle in order to bloom in spring.
- Bulbs will need warmth and light in the spring to trigger their growth. Choose a site that will not be shaded in early spring.
- Bulbs can be planted under trees as long as they will receive enough light before and just after their blooming season. Full shade in summer is acceptable.
- Soil near southern and western exposure foundations could start to grow too soon, risking cold damage. It’s better to plant in an area that is sheltered from damaging winds but that will not warm up before other areas.
- Bulbs need rich, well-drained soil. Avoid areas that tend to fill with water during rain storms.
- New bulb beds should be cleared of rocks and matted roots, and some organic matter should be tilled in to a depth of 10-12 inches. Add some fertilizer in when tilling, but do not add it directly to the bulb holes.
- Plan to plant the bulbs in odd numbers or mass plantings. Put the bed where it will be enjoyed from a window or the road.
- The basic rule for planting depth is 2 ½ times deeper than the diameter of the bulb. Sandy soils should be a bit deeper, and heavy clay soil should be a bit shallower.
- Always plant the bulb with the pointed end facing up, cover with a portion of the soil and water well. Add the rest of the soil, smoothing the surface, water again and add 3-5 inches of mulch. Leaf material, grass clippings and straw work well. (You will remove much of this mulch in the spring.)
Then sit back and wait for spring!
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Minnetonka, Chaska, or Bloomington, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466. Start your online search here!
Change Those Batteries!
Tonight is the night! Not just for trick-or-treating, but for setting your clocks back! And of course, the most important, yet least enjoyable, part of that routine is changing out the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
A quick battery change will keep your detectors working and could save your life.
According to an article on the Eden Prairie News website, 75 percent of residential fire-related deaths in Minnesota occurred in homes without working smoke detectors. Nationwide 96 percent of homes have smoke alarms, but a third of them either have a dead battery or no battery at all. This results in many needless deaths each year, often of children or elderly.
If by chance your home doesn’t have any smoke detectors, not enough, or you think yours may be getting a bit too old, you can pick up a new one from just about any hardware or mass-retail store. Fancy or inexpensive, they all must meet certain guidelines so you will know you are protected.
Don't get trapped inside a fire in your home. Keep your smoke detectors working so you can get out quick!
The frugal-minded among us may think that the batteries are still good, so why change them…but this can be a deadly decision. If you really want to get the last of the power from the batteries, find some other household use for them; perhaps an alarm clock back-up or a child’s toy.
Be sure to check your smoke detector once the new battery is in to make sure it’s working correctly, and then keep checking it on a regular basis. Soon enough it will be spring and time to change them again!
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Minnetonka, Chaska, or Bloomington, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466. Start your online search here!
Schools Serving Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie is home to a school district which has ranked among the best in the United States for the past several years. For parents looking for a place to call home, Eden Prairie is certainly a good choice.
Below is a list of the public school districts and private schools serving this community.
Public Schools
- Eden Prairie School District, serving the majority of Eden Prairie.
- Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion School
- Cedar Ridge Elementary School
- Eden Lake Elementary School
- Prairie View Elementary School
- Forest Hills Elementary School
- Oak Point Intermediate School
- Central Middle School
- Eden Prairie High School
- West Metro Education Program (WMEP) Magnet Schools
Private Schools
Want to find a home near the school of your choice? Let me know and we can take a look at what is available.
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If you would like help buying or selling a home in Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Minnetonka, Chaska, or Bloomington, contact me, Brace Helgeson, by email or at 952-974-3466. Start your online search here!
