7 Ways to De-Clutter Your Home by Heather Lanoue

Thinking about putting your home on the market this spring?  It’s never too early to start planning the sale of your St. Louis home.  And there is a lot to think about.  Perhaps one of the most crucial pieces to finding that perfect buyer is staging your home properly.  And that means…..de-cluttering.  Having a lot of clutter lying around the house tends to tell prospective buyers that “this house is your place, not theirs”…..never a good message to send.  Removing clutter will not only make your home appear clean, well maintained, and move-in ready, but will also give you the added benefit of helping you relax after a stressful day of work.  Here are seven tips on how to de-clutter your home.

1. Prepare for a de-cluttering marathon.  This is a big, sometimes emotionally draining task and is best tackled in small bites.  You’ll want to gather some de-cluttering tools before you begin.   Garbage bags, boxes, and dusting cloths can be most helpful.  If you find yourself having trouble staying organized throughout the process you may want to start three piles labeled “throw out”, “put away”, and “charity.”  This approach will keep you from throwing out things you want to save, and saving things you want to throw out.
2. Throw out old, unused stuff that tends to find itself on counter tops and shelving such as junk mail, bills, receipts, etc….  Outdated paperwork can also find its way into drawers and closets.  Potential buyers want to see your home, not your mail or last Sunday’s paper.  So don’t let the junk mail keep you from receiving an offer.
3. Sort through closets to find extra storage space.  If your closets are overflowing with “stuff”, it may be time to do some closet purging.  Potential buyers love to see storage space when they open closets.  If the buyer’s eye goes directly to the boxes, cloths and clutter, they won’t notice all the great storage space you have.  Overflowing closets also have the habit of telling buyers that your home doesn’t have enough storage.  But not to worry, there is an easy fix to the full closet…..  If you haven’t used something in a year, throw it out.
4. Clean off book shelves to give your room an open, lighter feeling.  Again, buyers are looking for storage space and if your shelving is packed with stuff, buyers will assume your home doesn’t have enough storage.  Maintaining well organized, half-full book shelves also gives the appearance of space and can make a room feel larger than it actually is.  And don’t forget to pack up the majority of your personal pictures when staging a  home for sale in today’s St. Louis real estate market.  You want potential buyers to see themselves in your home, not see you in your home.
5. Maintaining clear kitchen counter tops has the potential to visually double the size of your kitchen.  Always a good thing.  The golden rule for counter tops is to have no more than two appliances sitting on the counter.  Homes for sale that feature vast expanses of counter top space will have a competitive advantage in today’s St Louis buyer’s market.  And it would be a shame to miss out on an offer because kitchen clutter overshadowed your fabulous counter top space.
6. Clean out bathrooms with the goal of making them appear “hotel clean.”  Nothing turns off potential buyers faster than a dirty or cluttered bathroom.  Make sure counter tops are clear, towels are hung neatly, and the shower and tub are clear of excess bottles and shower supplies.

And last, but not least, celebrate! If you’ve managed to de-clutter your entire home, then you deserve a pat on the back.  You’ve just completed the most inexpensive remodel of your home possible.  Potential buyers will see the value in your work and you will, quite possibly, be rewarded with a higher offer than you would have received otherwise.  And remember, you’re not alone in this task.  If you have any questions about the home staging process, don’t forget to contact Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335 your St. Louis Realtor’s for extra tips and advice.  This is one step in the selling process that you won’t want to leave out.

Occupying your home while it is on the market is sometimes necessary and can be stressful.  Make sure that if you will be living in the house that it is always kept tidy.  You never know when someone will want to take a peek inside.  And remember, first impressions are everything, so you may want to put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher before you leave for work in the morning too.  Another consideration is how flexible you can be with showing times.  Are you willing to accommodate someone else’s schedule?  The perfect buyer may ask for a showing right when you sit down for dinner.  Being flexible with showing appointments will make it much easier for potential buyers to see the home and make an offer.

Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335, for an appointment.

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How do you feel about making some minor repairs or cosmetic upgrades to the house?  It could help the house sell faster or for a higher price.  If there is a lot of competition in the neighborhood, having the home professionally staged will help it stand above similar homes for sale in the St. Louis real estate area.

Want help getting your home staged and ready to sell? We work with the areas leading professional home stagers. Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335,  for an appointment.

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 Let’s face it, not everyone can sell and come out ahead in today’s housing market.  It is important to know your financial boundaries before you dig too deep into the sales process.  Your homework at this stage is to find out what you currently owe on your house, what the closing costs for selling your house would be, and what price you are honestly willing to accept for your house.  Sharing these thoughts with your Realtor will help him understand your goals and how to go about the sale of your house in the St. Louis real estate market

Want help getting your home priced to sell? Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335,  for an appointment.

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Timing can be everything with real estate.  You need to know upfront how much time you have to sell your house.  Are you strapped for time and need to sell it fast?  If so, you’ll need to develop a strategy with your Realtor for a quick sale.  If you can leave the house on the market until you receive the perfect offer, then you will need an all-together different strategy for catching that perfect buyer.  Homes for sale in the St. Louis real estate market can sell in a day or a year. 

How much time are you prepared to spend in order to meet your goals and sell your home?

Want help getting your home ready to sell? Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335,  for an appointment.

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Use this report  to compare your homes current value to an annual 4% growth.

Do you want more specific detail about your home, make an appointment right now with Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335.

What is my goal in selling this house? 

Selling your house in the St. Louis real estate market can be a stressful event if you are not fully prepared.  Starting the process with a clear goal in mind will help eliminate a lot of the unnecessary confusion.   You should ask yourself what you want to accomplish with the sale of your home.  Is your goal to have a great selling experience that will allow you to move forward with your life?  Or perhaps you are looking to sell so that you can purchase a larger home.  Writing your primary goal down and sharing it with your Realtor gives you a reminder of why you are going through with the sale in the first place, and will also help your Realtor better understand your needs.    

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This time with a new twist thanks to broker/agent Klaus Bank from Keller Williams Realty St. Louis.

We will feature a new school district every week or two. They will be randomly selected. Go ahead and give me a call 314.640.1778, if you want to twist my arm to move your school district to the top of the list.

Lindbergh School District

Click here to view the embedded video.

Waxman-Markey. . . it’s that Cap and Trade thingy!

Waxman-Markey’s intended or unintended consequences, will bring the Real Estate recovery to it’s knees.

“That bill contains 397 new regulations. One of them would affect almost everyone who buys or sells a home. If Waxman-Markey becomes law, homes for sale that qualify as “federally related transactions” — which is almost all of them — would be required to undergo an environmental inspection.”  read more - Politico

How’s that Hope and Change thing working out for you?

I would love to hear from you!

Anybody get excited when the news came out that there were 5 million mortgages in default because loans were issued to illegal aliens?

So the media does its thing. . . something like shouting “FIRE” in a theater and fear takes over.

That was last week. Today, last week is just a memory to the media . . . however . . .

I’m a fan of  John Hussman, President, Hussman Investment Trust, I think his news letter this week is worth sharing with you. Here are a few excerpts with a link to the entire article.

“The only thing we have to fear is the fearmongering of Wall Street itself.”

“Look – a few weeks ago, there was a $700 billion pile of money on the table, but the only way for Wall Street and bureaucrats to get their paws on it was to scare the public out of its collective gourd. They succeeded, but created the psychology that the U.S. was on the verge of depression if the bailout wasn’t passed. Having created that psychology, the crisis took on a life of its own. ”

“Property appreciation should be traded for mortgage reductions.”

“The proper way to address homeowner distress is not for the government to buy troubled mortgages and simply reduce the principal. That idea is utterly insane. If that policy was enacted, every homeowner in America would have an incentive to immediately go delinquent on their mortgage. Rather, Congress should provide for a relatively modest alteration in bankruptcy laws, allowing judges to write down mortgage principal but at the same time provide the mortgage lender with what I’d call a “Property Appreciation Right” (PAR) that would give the lender a claim on some amount of future price appreciation of property owned by the borrower. In that way, the mortgage lender would have the prospect of being made whole over time, homeowners who have faithfully made payments on their own mortgages would not be discriminated against, and homeowners in trouble would surrender some future price appreciation for immediate reduction in their monthly payment burden. ”

Read the entire article Four Magic Words: “We Are Providing Capital”