The New First Impression in Home Selling

As an ASP Home Stager® I know how important curb appeal can be in making that critical first impression when selling your home. However, with the growth of real estate advertising over the web, there is another first impression that you should consider when marketing your property. Web impression. Does your property have a great one?

Over the past few months I have spoken with realtors and home sellers who have all been saying the same thing. "The listing is getting a lot of web traffic but there hasn't been much buyer interest". They say this without even realizing that they have just contradicted themselves. The web traffic that the listing is receiving actually is buyer interest. If the number of home showings isn't as high as expected compared to the web traffic received, there must be something from the web listing that is turning the buyer off. It could be price. It could be location. But it may also be that the pictures of the property have given a poor web impression.

I hesitate in using the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" but it is. It is also worth something else, in this case. Buyer interest. I've suggested it to the realtors and home sellers that I spoke of earlier and I'll suggest it to you, now. If the photos of your house, which are out there for all to see, are not showing your property at its best, you should re-shoot. Make sure the rooms are dressed and gleaming and then simply re-shoot.

When Barb Schwarz created the concept of preparing a house for sale, she called it Home Staging® because of the similarities it has with setting a movie stage. Imagine you are setting the stage® for your home's movie debut. Be the director of a best seller. Before your cameraman sets up, make sure your stage is set. Remove the clutter, put out your best towels and bedding, turn on all the lights, draw up the curtains and then let the cameras roll, preserving the image for all to see over the World Wide Web.

Of course re-shooting, not only, takes extra time and money, but you may not be able to regain the interest of those who have already passed the listing by. If your house isn't quite ready for its debut, I strongly advise waiting until it is before shouting action.

Staging® is a Federally Registered Trademark of StagedHomes.com
Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) is a Trademark of StagedHomes.com

Amie Walton is the president and founder of Xstream Realty, a Virtual Agent? for managing private real estate sales over the internet. As an Accredited Staging Professional, Amie also operates Xstream Staging, a Home Staging® business located in Nova Scotia, Canada.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.