Inspired Real Estate For Today

When they called to inquire about marketing their home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, they were understandably concerned.  They had heard the stories about how houses were not selling and were well aware of the large number of homes for sale around them.  They had very different approaches to the process.  He was more methodical and had laid back charm about him.  She was practical and realistic; she wanted to focus on getting things done quickly.

They had been referred to us by their friends who had successfully sold their home with Audu Real Estate. Before I booked the appointment, I clearly spelled out what would be involved in a listing appointment.  My marketing plan is very thorough and the listing presentation would involve a detailed review of their home to Stage it correctly.  They needed to anticipate a 2-3 hour time frame.  They were a little surprised but checked their schedules and we agreed to a date on the calendar.

Today, less than 65 days after that first meeting, their smiles of joy lit up the room during their Closing.  Their home was sold in less than 30 days!   I think in retrospect that 2-3 hours spent at the beginning was worth it's weight in gold....or at least dollars.  

Marketing a home and creating a strategy to Sell and Stage a home is not an easy task. Prior to our presentation, our client specialist Ed Vogt and I spent several hours in painstaking research to determine the best possible pricing strategy for their area. 

After  the listing presentation, we re-toured the house with the home owners to show them how to "put the show on the road" from a Staging Perspective. Our final act before we left, was to ask them if we could ask for the Grace of a Blessing on their home.  We explained that our best efforts could not yield the results that God's blessing would.  We all joined in a simple request for grace.

The home was placed on the market and an Open House scheduled.  The Open House yielded one Mortgage Broker who intercepted a potential buyer and apparently sent her fleeing.  This is a trend that we are seeing more of in Grand Rapids...Mortgage lenders arriving unannounced at Open Houses to solicit real estate agents.  We weren't really pleased by the prospecting tactics of this one.

Thankfully we explain to all our clients that you don't need 100 people to walk though your house to sell it.  You only need one person...the right buyer!  In this case this was especially true.  After one canceled showing...the right buyer showed up and wrote an intelligent offer.  And today, our seller's had solid cash in their hands from the Sale of their home!

After the papers were signed, we gave each Important Participant a box of Godiva Chocolates.  This tradition is our way of saying Thanks for Making it Possible for Us to Succeed in Our Job!  The other Realtor was shocked.  She said that in decades of doing transactions, NO ONE had ever thanked her with a gift!  She immediately began to think of how she could incorporate this into her business. 

Sitting at that table I was struck by how far a little kindness can go.  Simply being polite during a transaction and following through on your word can make a world of difference.  Simply Telling the truth about what it will take to sell a home can save a lot of heartache.  Simply Being willing to go the extra mile in preparing a home owner can make the difference between a sale or no sale.  Simply Responding to professional counsel can determine success or failure.  It's these vital, yet Simple things that make a big difference.  And then again perhaps they are not Simple things at all!

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

 Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

If you enjoyed this article on Home Selling, Check out these Related Links:

homes for sale: Lessons Learned From the...Second Chance Listing.

homes for sale: A Place to Scamper & Roam With Abandon...A Place to Call Home!

homes for sale: Why Chasing Down the Market May Be A Bitter Pill to Swallow...

home staging: Successful Staging Strategies 101

 home staging: The Talking House...What Your Home Might Say To You If It Could...

home staging: How to Successfully Sell Your Home During the Holiday Season!

The nature of Customer service within the United States has changed.  How often do you interact with a machine prior or instead of talking with a human being?   

We are being trained to bypass "humans" unless absolutely necessary.  And, for many of us,  the necessity of human interaction for many tasks is diminishing. Even a trip to the grocery store has us checking ourselves out and bagging our own groceries.

This trend towards automation has serious implications for any business that relies on interpersonal communication.  On one hand, we all need and desire human interaction.  But, the trade-off is that human interaction is highly unpredictable and machines are while non-personal are fairly dependable...until they break down.

Furthermore, many jobs that do require human interaction can often be outsourced to other countries for much less than the average American worker expects to be paid.  Did you know that many banks are now outsourcing their customer service inquiries to overseas call centers to handle the deluge of the foreclosure crisis.  While Americans are loosing their homes... Customer Service agents from Asia may be your first human contact about basic inquires which may be required when negotiating a short sale. This, of course is only after you've interacted with the machine!

Real Estate Professionals need to gain a clear understanding of the elements which make their jobs unique.  Providing Homeowners with a Value for their property is no longer unique!  Creating and Perfecting a Pricing Strategy which interprets and responds to the changing dynamics of a volatile real estate market is!

There are many companies seeking to bridge the gap of professional expertise regarding property values.  This should serve as a challenge to re-define our role and value to the consumer.  Zillow and Redfin and other on-line service providers are renegotiating the contract the consumer has with the source of their information.  This process will accelerate in the future.  Do NOT expect it to go away!

Real Estate professionals have the most hands-on real life experience of local real estate markets. However if consumers are not convinced about the superior value we can provide, they will understandably feel it prudent to pay much less, if at all, for services they can find elsewhere at a better value. So while a computer or individual overseas cannot provide local expertise it really doesn't matter if consumers don't BELIEVEthat you can. If you have succumbed to the tendency to define your real estate career by your proficiency in routine...you are in the process of becoming irrelevant.

Many industry's have faced this challenge in the past are successfully re-inventing themselves.  I can remember the days in which secretaries typed, took notes and answered phones.  Today, I can hire a service to do that for much less than the wages I would pay to a secretary.  However Administrative Assistants now operate in a fashion far more sophisticated than early practitioners of the craft.  Today, an Administrative Assistant  may be involved in book keeping, scheduling and coordinating meetings and researching...a far cry from the routine involved in answering phones all day. 

We need to wake up to the fact that real estate practitioners who are NOT re-defining their roles will be DEFINED by the narrow constraints of the market.  This instinct, like a herd mentality will drive hard towards the lowest common denominator, until and unless, it is convinced that to do so is not in it's best interest.  This question must be addressed if we expect to have a Future for Work as Real Estate Professional.

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

     Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

In the latest edition of Business Week (August 20th), the topic is The Future of Work.  This special edition is  devoted to a fascinating and far ranging discussion about the future of work.  It's a topic that has true relevance for real estate and mortgage professionals.  What is the future of our work in the real estate industry?  And perhaps a more troubling question...Is there a future for our work as real estate professionals? 

The real estate industry is not the same as it was a decade ago. New models and new methods are dramatically transforming the real estate landscape.  In addition, a bewildering and complex entanglement of exterior scenarios such as the lending crisis, declining real estate values and the Internet are impacting the very underpinnings of what defines a real estate transaction. 

No, longer gate keepers of information nor even necessarily the primary providers of information about the real estate process, real estate practitioners are faced with a potentially life altering question. Is There A future for the job of of a Real Estate Agent? Many are choosing to ignore it.  Others cannot contemplate a future beyond the promise of the paycheck from the next transaction. But it's a New Frontier we must explore if we intend to survive.

In his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink talks about the 3 A's which will re-define the shape of American industry in the next decade.  He lists them as Automation, Asian and Abundance.  It's a book well worth putting on your reading list for this year. 

His insights about what will be important about work in general are echoed in the recent article from Business Week  which references research being done at MIT & Harvard.  Economist at these institutions are  studying changes in the economy within the past decade which are making some workers indispensablee and others totally irrelevant.  Take a moment to contemplate question posed below.  Think about how this issues impacts the real estate industry. 

1.  Can your job be boiled down to a routine?

This is a serious question for the real estate industry.  Most MLS systems have standardized forms.  And there are agents who think that selling real estate is largely about being able to:

1.  Complete the blanks in a standardized template form

2.  Write a standard, bland non-descriptive advertisement

3.  Stick a manufactured sign in the yard

4.  Make a simple brochure from a Microsoft Publishers template

5.  Fill out routine paperwork

6.  And sit through a closing. 

If this sounds like how you would describe your current real estate job...this study indicates you are very replaceable!  ( I have emphasized certain words to draw attention to the fact that these functions are easily replicated by a machine, program or with the assistance of an individual who is marginally compensated. What's most significant is that if a home owner or seller has completed a few transactions or is willing to so some research...THEY can do most of the items listed above!

If you looked at the list and felt a little queasy, you will want to continue reading about how Customer Service is changing and to learn about some steps we can take to make our real estate career "machine & out-sourcing proof" in the future. Continue Reading Part 2... coming soon!

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

Do your customers recognize your brand?  For many in the real estate community, this may be a strange question. The concept of branding involves more than simply creating a logo and a promotional brochure.  It is a complex by-product of perception, nuance and perceived benefit through interaction and experience with a person, product or experience. 

We have long associated branding with well known products of the marketplace such as Coke or Pepsi.  But, do you understand that our contacts with our customers and clients over time have the power to build a powerful brand association?

What has emerged within the past decade is the concept of Personal Branding.  Branding is increasingly a significant aspect of personal marketing for successful entrepreneurs. 

For a brand to be successful, it must differentiate itself and provide a uniquely, identifiable experience or interaction with the consumer. While many real estate agents provide personalized service, few understand the mechanism by which they can create a brand to solidifiy client loyalty.

Diane Brady writes an interesting article in Business Week entitled "Creating Brand You."  Brady highlights some  excellent points which can be utilized by real estate agents to turn a transaction based module of real estate into an experience which customers and clients remember, relate to and want to replicate again!

• #1: Develop a Saying.

• This may seem really corny.  After-all jingles are the stuff of television commercials.  Precisely...and that's why they work!  People remember them.  Although you may not want to associate your "saying" to music, you can attach it to all your marketing materials, place it on your voice mail and on your e-mail.  Make sure your phrase promotes a positive association with who you are and what you do. Eventually, people will begin to make the connection.

•   #2: Hone a Distinctive Look

• The example Brady gives in the article "Creating Brand You" is Donald Trumps hair!  The point is we all know exactly what that looks like regardless of whether we like the haircut or not.  People gravitate towards brands because they know what to expect when they interact with the product.  Brand name products represent less risk.  Do your clients know what to expect when they meet with you?  Are you well dressed on some days and on others frumpy and forlorn?  To build your personal brand, strive to be consistent in your personal appearances and interpersonal interactions with clients.

• #3: Get A Cause.

• Get involved with something that has a higher purpose.  Real Estate affords so many wonderful opportunities to be involved with our communities.  Helping others through organizations like Habitat for Humanity or Fair Housing and other issues that are dear to your heart will not only make you a better person, they will provide a deeper dimension to your practise of real estate. When we demonstrate the ability to care deelply about something other than simply our own personal welfare, others can more easily trust that we care about them as well.

• #4: Link Up with Better Brands!

• Association is a very powerful thing.  Brady's example about Trya Banks is very interesting. "Trya Banks was just a supermodel on TV until some dubbed her the next Oprah."  Find out who is doing what you want to do well.  And then express genuine interest and appreciation.  One of the most powerful branding tools available to real estate professionals is blogging. 
• Visit bloggers who you admire regularly.  Learn from them and express your appreciation with a comment.  Right now, most real estate blogs are being read by real estate professional, but consumers are rapidly developing a fascination with the inside information that a real estate blog can provide.  Build your audience where you find it, learn how to cultivate their loyalty.  Eventually, the wider market will come to recognize what your loyal following has always known to be true!

picture of the Coca Cola Mural is courtesy of Rockateer from Flickr.com

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

 Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

Today I was in court in Grand Rapids, Michigan to witness a birthing ceremony!  Individuals from 51 countries convened at the US District Court Western Region SD which was hosted on the lovely grounds of the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. They were gathering to become Citizens of the United States of America...this was their First Birthday as an American!

Although the ceremony was scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m., people began lining up well before 8:00 a.m. in the morning.  The new citizens were supported by friends and family members who gathered to join in witnessing the event and the Celebration.

It was a Very Special Birthday for one New Citizen, my Mom, who becomes an American Citizen almost exactly 15 years to the date of the birth of her grandson.  So, we're Celebrating two Birthdays...one for the New Citizen and One for a Special Young Man!

After the Celebration, all the Brand New Citizens were invited to tour the Gardens for FREE by David Hooker, President & CEO of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.  The flowers were in full bloom.  The early thunderstorm showers having given way to bright clear skies. 

When we all joined in the pledge of allegiance and in singing the Star Spangled Banner, it was an emotional moment for many in the crowd. Witnessing the American Dream come to life is Awesome!

It feels as though autumn is making an early arrival in Grand Rapids,Michigan .  The days are unseasonably temperate for what we have come to expect at this time of the year.  August is usually a steamy, sweltering portion of the summer which chases you to the beach to bear your arms and thighs to the sun.  Altogether the entire summer has been downright pleasant.  But, the later portion of August has played out with calm drizzling rain which has turned parched lawns into verdent patches of green.  My umbrella and a light sweater have been standard accessories for the past several days.

I don't mind this flirtation between the seasons.  Summer deciding to merge with Autumn a little early.  It's fine with me because I love fall.  I love the changing of the color guard that transforms the trees into a glorious profusion of artistry so extraordinary that people drive for hours just to take in the show!  To enjoy West Michigan's best tours for the fall season, you may want to bookmark this site.  Although, conventional wisdom says the best color does not peak until October...nature may decide to welcome the harvest just a little earlier this year.

One of my favorite spots to stop in for a snack while driving around Grand Rapids, Michigan during the temperate fall season is Robinettes Apple Orchard.  (The website is undergoing some major reconstruction at this time, but you can bookmark to check it out later and to view their gift selections on-line)  Robinettes Apple Haus has been in business since 1911 and is family owned. Robinettes is famous for fresh donuts, delicious cider, tasty pies and of course...great apples!  I also love their freshly baked breads.

Fall is also a time for harvesting the contacts made in business throughout the spring and summer months.  It's  a great time to visit clients who have moved into new homes in time for the start of the new school year or to pick up the phone and make an appointment for lunch.  This is the time to dust off old contact lists and write a letter. 

Fall is a time of expectation.  Expect good things to happen.  Expect to see results as a reward for your labors.  And NEVER GIVE UP!  This past week, two calls brought in business deals from sources that were totally unexpected. 

One individual had decided to use another company in-spite of having several recommendations to use Audu Real Estate.  Well, unexpectedly she called back, the deal had fallen through and she used us to buy her home!  We also received a referral from an individual who said she had been given our name from a sources that I have little present contact with.  If nature decides to enter the harvest a little early this fall...well, perhaps so can you.  Here's to prosperous Prospecting & Harvesting this Fall!

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

 Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

The fact is that almost all of us are messy in some area of our lives.  For some, it's an extreme problem.  But for the vast majority of us, our version of messiness carries a unique message if we care to listen and observe. 

Messiness may be about an area over which you feel you have no control and therefore fail to organize.  Or it may be a means of exerting control.  I have come to the conclusion that some teenagers bedrooms manifest this kind of chaos to protest against the freaky neatness of their parents!

How we choose to reveal our messiness also says something.  A desire to maintain a certain appearance can be about neatness and cleanliness, but it can also be about controlling a perception and image.  Neither of these is necessarily bad, it just helpful to understand the nature of our intentions.

The nature of our messiness may change over time.  Sometimes elderly people who have been neat all their lives become increasingly messy as dementia or Alzheimer's take their toll.  It is important to be aware of changes in lifestyle patterns, such as house keeping habits, as these may be first indicators of changes that are taking place deep below the surface.  This type of progressive decline can sometimes be observed when individuals are feeling overwhelmed or dealing with depression. 

Cleaning up a mess can serve many functions.  Clearing excess clutter out of one's life leaves space for new things to enter.  New ideas, new people, new opportunities, new situations.  Sometimes the most toxic type of clutter has no physical manifestation.  It is the clutter of old worn out ideologies, prejudices, fear and traumas.  This type of clutter can be far more crippling that anything that stuffs up a home.  Emotional baggage can be carried around for decades, creating a dead weight of junk in the home that we all share in common...the human body. 

Emotional clutter needs to be regularly cleared for our human bodies to remain clean and healthy.  Developing a practise of meditation that includes releasing emotional clutter on a daily basis can serve as a vital link to maintaining good health.  Many forward thinking health practitioners are indicating that psychosomatic illness, which results from unfinished emotional issues, is one of the primary underlying reasons for serious disease in our country.

Examining the nature of our clutter and dealing with the underlying issues is an important step in moving forward.  When excess clutter leaves your life, in whatever form it manifests, it's like a weight has been lifted off.  It's like the exhilaration of breathing fresh air with clear lungs.  Excess clutter has many important ramifications in our lives.  The benefits of examining it and dealing with getting rid of it when appropriate are huge! This is critical not just for selling a home, but in moving forward to create a productive life.

You can contact us to talk about decluttering your home for a Faster Sale!

*This post is a part of a Series.  Click here to Read part 1... and part 2... and part 3.

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

 Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

Some of the most intriguing cases of messiness I've witnessed had nothing to do with piles of junk.  I once listed a home that stank.  What was peculiar about the home was that it was beautiful.  The living room featured white Italian leather sofas.  The burnished wood floor was in excellent shape and tasteful pictures and decorative accessories adorned the wall. 

However, due to the fact that there were some large dogs that did their thing in the basement each day, the odor had permeated every room in the home.  The owner no longer noticed the smell, but everyone else did.  When I came back from the listing appointment, I had to hang my clothes outside.

The junk in this case was not physical, it was literally a foul odor! Underlying the odor was an inappropriate emotional attachment.  Although everything looked beautiful on the surface, the owner had not come to terms with the fact that it was not healthy or appropriate to leave animals locked downstairs in the basement for long periods of time. This was not a love for a pet...it was driven by warped desire and fear that their pets would be stolen. Their lifestyle did not support the animals they were trying desperately to keep. 

As we worked through the process of the listing, they began to become aware of what everyone else could clearly smell.  They finally understood that if they wanted to keep their pets, they needed to move to an environment where the animals could roam free outdoors.

How we display our messiness can reveal a lot about what we feel we need to control or protect.  My sentimental oldest child hates throwing things out.  But he becomes overwhelmed by the mountain of stuff that forms a claustrophobic shell around him.  We finally came to terms with this trait by agreeing that when anything new was purchased, this would serve as an opportunity to evaluate what could be released from his closet.  While this did not make him a neat freak, it has served to provide a vehicle for evaluating what is important to preserve and what can be put to better use elsewhere.

For many of us, clutter will not be obvious.  It will remain hidden away in various drawers, nooks and crannies. For instance, if you were to come into my home or office, you wouldn't immediately be aware of my clutter.  That's not entirely because it's not present.  Rather it's a function of it's concealed location.  While I dislike junk laying around, I seem to have much less aversion to junk stuffed away out of sight.  I'm often amazed about why I keep certain things.  I've learned to sort through drawers and closets at least once a year and ask myself these questions:

1.  Why Am I Keeping this?

2.  Is there a Better Use of Higher Purpose for this item elsewhere?

3.  Do I still enjoy and have use for this item in my life?

4.  Have I worn this item within the past year?

5.  Is this stuff related to an old assignment in my life which needs to be released?

Re-visiting Clutter and evaluating the role it is playing in you life can be very beneficial.  Clutter holds memories and old attachments.  These can be powerful even if they are not readily visible.  It is important to appreciate the fact that clutter and messiness are not insignificant areas in our lives...they may be carrying messages that are simply waiting to be heard and addressed.

You can contact us to talk about decluttering your home for a Faster Sale!

*This post is a part of a Series.  Click here to Read part 1... and part 2...

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

 Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

Apparently, messiness is a topic of interest and concern to a lot of people.  It is interesting to view the number of entries on google devoted to "self help" for messy people.  An inability to keep things neat has long been regarded as problematic for many reasons.  These include difficulty in maintaining order and organization as well as concerns for health and hygiene. 

However, I think the manner in which we maintain a mess can tell a lot about an individual and offer some insights about what may be going on inside. This is a conclusion I have come to; Messiness is a highly personal issue and serves different purposes for different people.

I've observed several types of messy people.  In one of my first jobs, one of the managers I worked with literally had a pile of stuff, one foot high, on his desk at all times.  I never understood how he found anything.  I think that in mock protest, I would always make sure that my desk was totally clean when I left work in the evening.  My efforts made absolutely no difference!

But, in fairness to him, he always seemed to be able to locate whatever was necessary when he needed it.  So, even though it looked disorganized to me...there was a peculiar method to his madness. I'm intrigued by how often messy people are also extremely intelligent people! I wonder if the process of physical chaos somehow enhances the creative process in their lives.

When I do a Staging Appointment to prepare a home for sale, one of the most common issues I address is clutter.  Most people have the opinion that clutter is a function of too much stuff.  While this may be the case, I have  found some other compelling reasons that clutter accumulates around homes.  Sometimes these issues have little to do with the stuff taking up square footage space and more to do with the clogging of the arteries feeding the inner space within the human soul.

Preparing to move can force an awareness of items and their role in our lives.  For years I carried around old college text books.  Yes, they had represented a small fortune to me when I bought them, but I had not read them for years.  Yet, I continued to lug them from home to home...until, one of our friends who was helping us move groaned while hoisting the books from the truck..."Lola, I really hope you're going to be reading these books."  It was a wake up call for me to begin to examine why I felt the need to haul these books from basement to basement as we moved.  Were they somehow a crutch that I was using to validate the fact that I'd earned my degree?  Shortly after this, I finally donated the books to a library.

Over the years, I've listed homes where there was so much junk that the owners seemed to be peering over a prison wall of their own making...all their junk!  Renting a dumpster has been one of the most important and profound decisions people in this trap have ever taken.  When there is this much junk, most people have long lost touch with what is going on in their lives.  Through the action of releasing the stuff, the opportunity of reconnecting with their goals and dreams has a chance to begin. 

Some Questions to Ponder:

1.  What does my Junk Represent to me?

2.  Why do I feel the need to Move it?

3.  How is my attachment to my Stuff impacting my life? 

You can contact us to talk about decluttering your home for a Faster Sale!

*This post is a part of a Series.  Click here to Read part 1...

photo of shopping carts is courtesy of moby74's photo stream on flickr.com

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

 Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan

As I drove into the parking lot of the large grocery store chain, I actually hesitated about parking my car to walk inside.  It was about the parking lot.  Navigating my vehicle to find a slot, I observed stray papers and miscellaneous bits of trash dancing around the ground...skipping about with the wind as though they had not a care in the world. 

Although, I had been told that the store had recently undergone a major remodel, I questioned how nice it could be on the inside if the outside looked like this.  Anyway, I finally decided that maybe the guy who did their parking lot sweeping had lapsed on his duty, so I parked my car and ventured inside.  I was glad I did. 

Gone was the dingy lighting and older displays.  The atmosphere was neat, bright and the store had been reorganized entirely to highlight the new look that the chain was obviously trying to project.  I shook my head wandering why they had neglected the exterior first impression.  If I had not gone into that store, they would have missed out on a $90 purchase!

We are all subject to some degree to the impact of judgments made from "first impressions."  Even when they are completely wrong!  There have been numerous times in my life where my first impression would have me running in the opposite direction, sometimes for very fickle reasons.   This, in spite of the fact that I usually regard myself as someone who has good discerning capacity.  

The fact that human beings tend to make snap decisions which influence their choices is critically important in any marketing effort which involves trying to sell a home.  There are two primary sources of first impressions when buyers first view a home.  For 90% of potential home buyers, the home will be seen on-line, in cyberspace. The visitor brought figuratively through the door by the click of a finger on a computer mouse. 

The expectation for the on-line buyer is that pictures of a home will be showing off its best form.  When a click reveals dark, dingy, smallish rooms and clutter on every frame of the photo's landscape, many potential buyers will determine they don't want to venture any further to see the real thing.

When a buyer takes the time to drive by a home, this indicates a high level of interest in the home or the community.  While the digital image may not reveal the poorly kept lawn or the hose sprawled haplessly around the flower beds and the children's toys littering the lawn and sidewalk, a drive by most certainly will. 

Curb appeal is the blessing and the bane of the suburbs.  Your home must look at least as nice as everyone else's.  But, to really attract the attention which turns a looker into a buyer, your home must have something which stops their tire tracks right smack dab in the middle of your driveway.

Failing to achieve this feat is costly.  Far more costly than investing money in some good landscaping.  So many times, homeowners invest a lot of money in the interior of the home, updating and redecorating and seem to forget that if people never stop long enough to get out of their cars, the efforts placed in beautifying the home's interior will never be seen.

Here are a few simple things you can do to give your home the benefit of a Good First Impression.

1.  Clear all trash from the front of your home.

• Sweep the street and your neighbors sidewalk too if necessary.  Now, that includes your personal belongings.  Bikes, toys, lawn equipment, old cars, and some types of  lawn ornamentation are your personal treasures but rarely achieve the same status with your potential pool of buyers.

2.  Simplify, Beautify and then Amplify. 

• Sometimes, landscaping is more a function of what's on sale at the local Flowerland than any well thought out plan about what is truly appropriate for your home.  It is also easy to give in to the the temptation to plant way too much stuff in the yard.  For a home, this ends up with the effect that is sometimes observed with women who wear way too much make-up.  They may be gorgeous, but excess make-up has a way of obscuring this fact. 
• To create good curb appeal, Simplify by letting only grass grow in your yard.  Get rid of those unsightly weeds!  Simplify by removing some plants and allowing the good rich darkness of the earth to frame and show up the profusion of color.  Beautify by getting the best plants you can afford and planting them in clusters to Amplify the effect on the eye when observed from a distance.

3. Paint and Spruce. 

• Dirty siding may not be visible on a digital picture, but it sure shows up when your home is seen with the naked eye.  Power washing the exterior of the home is an inexpensive way to boost the curb appeal.  Then, invest $25.00  - $50.00 in paint and a paint brush!  Paint the front door and all window frames.  Paint anything on the exterior which shows signs of wear and tear or which is peeling. Speaking of frames, one of my pet peeves are torn screens.  These are so easy to fix.  Just do it!

All of these tips combined may cost a few hundred dollars.  But if they get your home sold, you would have gained thousand more in the value of your investment.  It will also SAVE Thousands of Dollars spent making House Payments for a Home that you're ready to move out of. Don't allow simple, readily fixable issues like these to make your buyer drive away without letting them step over your threshold for a Value Added Showing.

This is part of a 3 part series.  In the next post, we will talk about creating a Memorable Showing and Exploring how different forms of messiness Manifest in our homes and lives. You can contact us for a detailed analysis designed to enhance your homes' Curb Appeal.

photo of shopping carts is courtesy of ShutterCat7's photo stream on flickr.com

Copyright 2007 Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

 Click Here to Read More about Grand Rapids, Michigan