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Real Estate Advisor: December 2012
While you are looking to buy or to sell a home, life goes on - parties
and holidays, life-events and out-of-town guests happen. Simply living
in your home can be a challenge while you are showing it; keeping things
neat and tidy, clean and inviting is not something everyone thinks of
or can achieve with ease. So entertaining and decorating for special
occasions might just seem impossible - but here are some
tips and tricks for ensuring your success in showing a home and having
fun, too. Celebrating holidays and events with festive décor can make
your home more memorable to potential buyers, and this is the time to
control those memories and turn them to your favor. There might even be
a plus side to entertaining or hosting events in a home you are selling
with the increased exposure.
What a time to host a party! In addition to all those things you've done
to show it to perspective buyers, now you and your friends get to enjoy
it, too. With each room looking great, your guests might get a last
chance to see you in your old place. All those fine features of your
home can shine under the warm glow you bring to your special event.
From where you place focal features of the season or event, to showing
your great dining area or garden feature in all its glory, this can be
the time to stage your home with a bit of glitz.
Décor: When "Less is More"
The splendor of each holiday, regardless of your customs or heritage,
can bring quantities of clutter into a home, making rooms feel smaller
and more crowded. Be aware of the scale of items you bring in, and
consider taking other items out. You can redecorate again after the
events are over. Remember, this is still your home, and you can have
the fun while also making smart choices to sell it.
Choose decorations to showcase great features of the home - if you have a
high ceiling with crown molding, following the lines of a holiday tree
can illuminate this asset. However, if the room is small, ensure that
the tree you choose does not overpower the space; consider a tasteful
table-top tree with smaller ornaments, it will be easier to set up and
to take down, too. Home-made decorations may be beautiful, but consider
the over-all look before unpacking everything. You get to be strategic
as well as nostalgic this year. An unusual home-made item might be just
the thing that keeps your home in people's mind, but make it a favorable
memory for them as well as for you.
Hosting events in your home, especially around the holiday season,
creates a natural time for good smells. People won't laugh that you are
luring them in with cookies, because many people really do a lot of
baking during the season. However, watch out for overpowering smells of
other food and scented candles that can make it seem like you are
masking odors.
During the winter months, live greens are wonderful smelling, but
present issues if your home is dry and warm - the browning needles may
drop from trees and garlands, so ensure you have a broom or vacuum handy
and keep that live tree watered well. Each activity or decorating
choice will be more important because the space is essentially open to
potential buyers.
If you are selling your home during a busy season of entertaining and holidays, here are the key things to watch out for:
- Timing of the party - Weekends are prime time for showing a home -
having a party at the beginning or middle of the week allows for time
for decorating and clean up, with potentially fewer showings being
impacted by your plans. When this is not possible, you must decide if
having the party in your home is worth giving up the weekend showings.
Consider consulting with your real estate agent to find out trends in
your area when choosing time of the day or week for entertaining. You
might find that doing a luncheon mid-week makes sense; if you can be
flexible, look at options for the timing of your event - there are
trade-offs and advantages to each.
-
Guest List - managing the impact to your home sometimes comes down to
managing the size of your event. When possible, it is a good idea to
look critically at the guest list. In addition to deciding if the event
needs to be small or large, plan the party around the people, as well as
the event you are celebrating. Not only is this good entertaining
smarts, but practical, too. If the guests are young, they might not be
so worried about their surroundings and would be happy in a decked-out
garage. or outside - saving worry about spills and mess on carpets. Some
guests might have special needs - they have to avoid stairs or require
certain seating, dictating what rooms will need to be used. As you see
to the needs of your guests, do a mental check about how their needs
will impact your preparation and cleanup.
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Overnight Guests - if you cannot book them in a hotel, making some
simple changes in advance to reduce the impact of their stay, and
encouraging them to be co-conspirators in your efforts to keep things
tidy will keep things flowing smoothly. Provide small covered hampers
for soiled clothing, baskets for sundry items on dressers, empty drawers
and closets so they can stow items easily will aid your efforts. When
guests have to sleep on couches or hide-away beds, plan to have helpers
tidy the room in the morning and set up accommodations again each night.
Explain in advance that you might be doing this, if your guests are
used to being able to spread out without a care; an honest word of your
desire to host, while stressing the importance of selling your home can
make a lot of difference. But beware: when guest items are stowed out
of the way, things might get left behind. You can help your guests (and
yourself) by going through the area carefully before they leave, tidying
up as you go.
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Birthday and other Bashing - let's face it, the wilder the entertaining,
the harder it is to rein things in and the more likely to have messes.
Knowing and accepting this in advance is key to having a successful
event while showing your home. Consider toning it down, or embracing it
by making some changes to the décor and the way you normally do things.
It is one of the trade-offs when entertaining during the showing
period of selling your home. Here are some tips from the pros:
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Clear surfaces and cover them with protective decorations - placemats,
table runners, trivets, coasters, and throw rugs can make a home look
festive, while being easy to remove (gather them in a big laundry basket
when you are done with the event).
-
Party-proofing can save some worry. You will be able to clean easier if
you pack up some of the more breakable items, and when you do so, you
can decide what to put back. Consider it a second chance to remove any
clutter and to actually re-stage your home.
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Hire a helper - having a responsible person (or two!) in the kitchen who
can take charge of garbage, dishes, pots and pans, ensuring food is
stocked and plates are cleared. Or even consider having the event
catered, and then your kitchen won't be impacted by cooking. After the
party, help with cleaning and returning your home to show-able condition
will be most welcome.
- Serve food and drink that are easy and less messy - chocolate, red
wine and tomato sauce may be favorites, but consider that messes and
accidents can be tough to clean up. If the menu has to include items
like this, consider where and how you serve them. Keeping the chocolate
fountain on an easy to wipe surface, in an area without rugs, might
just make it all the tastier. Or, go for pre-dipped treats
where the chocolate is still delicious, just hardened and less likely to
stain something. Have clean-up supplies handy, and be ready to use
them with a smile.
- Catering services or bringing in pre-made food from restaurants
enables you to keep the kitchen clean and aids in reducing odors in your
home. If specific family recipes must be cooked, consider cooking them
in a friend's kitchen, or hiring someone who will cook from a family
recipe.
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- Decorations that can be put up and taken down easily score big
points. Balloons can make a big splash, and deflate to nothing, plus
guests love to take them away. Streamers everywhere might look pretty,
but tape and ladders can be an issue. If you must go this way, have a
plan and create the time to take them down in a timely manner.
- Maybe that piñata is not such a great idea - or how about breaking
it in an area that is easier to clean? Oh, and confetti? If tradition
dictates practice, then you probably know how to get it up quickly and
efficiently with a high-powered vacuum. But do you really need it? Soap
bubbles might seem fun, but they leave a sticky residue that tends to
attract dirt to carpets. Nix bubbles, too, if you can.
All good things must come to an end: be timely in taking things down.
If you can't avoid going over the top with the party trimmings, have a
plan for how and when things will return to normal. If you are keeping
decorations or lights up throughout a season or holiday, do a quality
job with them. After all, using hooks you leave in place all year long
so that putting up the lights is easier can be a benefit to someone who
notices detail. And those same tasteful decorations can add glow to the
best features of your home.
While your event might cause you to improve lighting on the outside of
your home, balloons and excess cans for trash pick up don't improve your
curb appeal. Ensure that you have a plan for dealing with recycling
and garbage - both during and after the event. It is important that it
doesn't look like there's inadequate room for you recycling or trash.
Plan to remove it promptly, even if your city pickup is a few days away.
So in the end, holidays and events that are well planned and executed
might be just the thing to do. You don't really have to stop
entertaining - you just have to be smarter about it.
Enjoy your home,
show it off to groups of people, and still live a life you love while selling your home during the holidays. Keeping
the tips in mind, you are guaranteed to be off to a great time.
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