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Make the interior of your home inviting. Inviting. That's the word that should pop into your mind when you look at each room in your home, your garage or outbuildings.  If not, then you need to get to work. Consider the work you do to fix up your home to sell not as "chores," but as deposits in your bank account. The way we live in a house is often different from the way we need to live when we have our homes on the market. If you've ever seen model homes at new developments, you'll remember how tastefully and neat everything looked. Well, you may not be able to make your home look like a model home, but it will be worth it to you if you try. 1. Start by walking through the house and making a list. Do your carpets need cleaning or replacing? If you're going to replace them be sure to pick a neutral color and avoid any shade of blue or dark colors. Do your wood floors need a fresh coat of wax? Dust all ceiling fans especially the blades and wash light fixtures. 2. You're going to have to pack when you move anyway, so go through all your closets and pack up everything you don't need for the next couple of months. A closet with only a few neatly arranged items creates an impression of abundant storage space. 3. Thin out overcrowded rooms. Ever notice the model homes sparse furnishings? They make the rooms look larger. Consider renting a storage facility to store excess lamps, tables, and large items that eat up space in a room. 4. Go through and pack up most of your family pictures, your collectibles, quilts, or anything that might cause a buyer to stop and look at your stuff instead of your looking at your house. 5. Check all light fixtures to make sure all the bulbs burn. Use the largest wattage bulb that you safely can to give off more light. 6. Wash all your windows inside and out and make sure window treatments are clean and in good repair. Keep the window coverings open whenever possible to let in more light. 7. With a good degreaser, wipe down everything in the kitchen so it feels clean to the touch. Clean your stove and oven; replace stove eye pans if needed. 8. Go through your kitchen cabinets and pantry to make sure they're neat and tidy; give any food that you don't plan to use right away to the local food pantry. 9. Make sure your sinks are clean at all times and free of dirty dishes and utensils. Also, be sure to store your dish drain racks. 10. Remove all excess items from your counters to give the impression of lots of work surface. 11. Pleasing aromas add to the appealing atmosphere we're trying to establish for your buyers; consider keeping a saucepan of cinnamon potpourri on the stove to give off an appealing scent. 12. Clean all light switch plates by taking them off and washing with soap and water; replace if necessary. 13. Make sure the bathrooms are spotless at all times. Display fresh towels and decorative soaps. Make sure all fixtures are shiny, scrubbed and in good repair. 14. Check all faucets, shower heads to make sure they're spotless and free of leaks and drips. Check the water lines under the sink and at the toilet to make sure they aren't leaking. If they are, repair immediately. 15. Repaint interior rooms where needed with neutral colors. Remember: neutral colors like off-white, beige, tan, vanilla help to sell your home, while blue is a hard sell color. 16. Don't forget your ceilings too; years of living in a home with cooking, smoking, and other everyday activities can stain ceilings. Repaint the ceilings, if needed. 17. Don't have large, space-eating house plants sitting around; give them away or ask a neighbor to store them until you move. 18. Hide prescription drugs, money, jewelry and valuables. Also do not leave small objects around that can be knocked down and broken. 19. The more light you can let into a room the more spacious the room will appear. When you leave for a showing, turn on lights in all the rooms, including the bathrooms and make sure the window coverings are open to let in natural light. 20. An old decorator trick to bring in more light as well as make rooms appear larger are mirrors; either hanging on a wall or on a stand. 21. Pack away and store out of season clothes. Get rid of extra hangars. Straighten up your shoes (consider buying some inexpensive shoe racks to help reduce the cluttered closet look). 22. When painting don't forget the interiors of closets and the closets doors; make sure all closet and interior doors open and close correctly. 23. Check where ceilings meet the walls and clean all cobwebs, this is a commonly overlooked area when cleaning, along with tops of tall furniture items such as hutches, entertainment centers, etc. 24 If you have a pet make sure there are no odors. You may not notice odors since you live with your pet every day, have a neutral third party give your home a "sniff" test for objectionable odors that may turn buyers off. 25. Also, when buyers come to visit, keep your pet under control, or better yet, get a friend or neighbor to "pet sit" for you while the buyers are looking at your home. 26. It's important that you leave the house for all showings. Buyers feel less inhibited if you're not around and will usually take a closer look in closets and in kitchen cabinets, as well as voice any objections that your agent can then deal with. If the buyers won't make comments because you're following them around pointing things out, then your agent can't deal with any potential problems that may hinder them making an offer. 27. If you have several vehicles make sure they're not blocking the front of the house. Park them down the street when you know your home is going to be shown. 28. Freshly baked or even store bought cookies and little snacks along with an appropriate beverage (hot in winter, cold in summer) along with a sign saying "Please Sit Down and Enjoy a Treat While You're Here" will make your home more memorable even if they don't take anything. Remember little things can go a long way towards getting your home sold quickly for the best price. Make your living room Inviting An inviting room evokes a desire in buyers to stay a while.  The longer buyers stays in a home, the better your chance of them deciding to buy it.   A kitchen should show off its space, not its clutter. Sell the room.  Put your belongings away and minimize clutter so buyers are not distracted.  Feng Shui Decorating Feng Shui Basics Feng shui has quickly evolved from a new age trend to a decorating phenomenon widely practiced by professional decorators and amateurs alike. The practice of feng shui, pronounced .fung shway,. is part of an ancient Chinese philosophy that believes the way you position your furniture and decorate can impact all aspects of your life, from personal health to economic prosperity. Many feng shui principles . like keeping rooms clutter free to facilitate the flow of energy . are easy to implement. Others . like choosing a level lot that is square or rectangular . must be considered early on in the design and home building process. Joanne L. Gardiner, Broker, e-PRO Realtor "For Old-Fashioned Service in Cyberspace" Advantage Realty Advantage Mortgage Associates 3205 Whipple Road - Union City, California 94587 (510) 429-4800 San Francisco Bay Area  San Francisco East Bay Real Estate web site: http://www.joannegardiner.com Our primary services in the San Francisco Bay Area are: East bay real estate,  Hayward real estate, Castro Valley real estate,  Danville real estate,  Dublin real estate,  Fremont real estate,  Newark real estate, Niles real estate, Pleasanton real estate, San Leandro real estate, San Lorenzo real estate, San Ramon real estate, Sunol real estate and Union City real estate.  The types of real estate in which we specialize are:  houses, homes, condominiums, townhomes, garden homes, PUDs, single family homes, manufactured homes, mobile homes, modular homes, duets, residential income property, duplexes, tri-plexes, four-plexes, small apartment complexes and special use properties.

Staging & Decorating For Professional Staging help Barb Schwarz's organization StagedHomes.com is a valuable source.  See how staging pays off. Prepare your home for sale offers Before and After Staging Photos and good down to earth information on staging your home. HGTV also has an excellent section on Selling Homes  Decorating Secrets from HGTV's Pros The Art of Home Staging - Home-Staging - How to design a home to sell or create a comfortable environment for little or no money at all. Remodeling that pays off One of the smartest things you can do with your home's equity is to put it right back into your home. It's a clear win-win: You enjoy the benefit of an improved living environment and tangibly enhance your home's value at the same time. But not every project will increase the resale value of your home. It's best to stick with the ones that will give you the biggest return. Here's how Remodeling Magazine rates top jobs in terms of one-year return on investment (ROI): Remodeling Pay Backs Project ROI Average Price Tag Minor kitchen remodel 88% $8,655 Second-story addition 83% $73,553 Bathroom remodel 81% $9,135 Bathroom addition 81% $13,918 Family room addition 75% $30,960 Major kitchen remodel 71% $31,090 Deck 55% $8,022 Home Improvement Tips: Don't over improve. It's difficult to recover the investment in a home that is already more valuable than most others in the neighborhood. Keep whimsy in check. Eclectic tastes likely won't appeal to mainstream homebuyers.    Feng Shui Tips   Here are some feng shui concepts to consider when decorating: Keep demons from entering your home by ensuring the path to your home is not a straight one. Avoid rock gardens or tall hedges near the front door. These are seen as places for evil demons to hide. Place your sink and fridge away from the stove, but not across from one another to keep clashing elements from causing fighting within the family. Placing something green between the two appliances, like a carpet, can also help reduce conflict. Position beds in a way that allows you to see people as they enter the room. Do not put a bed against a wall with doors or windows. Avoid long corridors and cramped floor plans. Choose a floor plan with clean lines and open spaces. Design your home office so your back does not face the door. Avoid placing your desk directly inline with the door where energy enters. Avoid excessive overhead light. Chose warm or full-spectrum lighting instead. Keep sharp-cornered objects to a minimum. Place healthy plants throughout the home. Plants with round leaves are preferable. Arrange couches and chairs in a way that allows people to see the door. Throw out anything you don.t use to keep energy flowing properly. Decorate the kitchen in a way that evokes a bright and sunny feeling. Feng shui recognizes the kitchen as one of the most important rooms in the home: the place where energies are nourished. Remove shelving over the bedroom door and on the wall beside the bed. Shelves placed this way can have an oppressive effect that can cause headaches, poor sleep and low energy. Be wary of knick-knack overload. An overabundance of .stuff. can create a visually overwhelming feeling. Store exercise equipment anywhere but your bedroom. Bringing the energy of hard work into your romantic space will make relationships seem more difficult. Feng shui is a fascinating way to improve your life, your prosperity, and your health through good home design. Incorporate techniques on your own, or hire an expert- ready to get the energy flowing smoothly in no time.