Home Staging New York: What NOT To Do When Selling Your Home

I couldn’t believe my eyes!

Here was an apartment featured in the Sunday New York Times’ “On the Market in New York City” column.  As I viewed the pictures of this and the other two properties online with my home staging eyes, I cringed at the thought that  someone thought it was okay to photograph and sell these properties in their current condition.

While they are not horror stories, the three featured properties could all benefit from some free home staging advice.

So here it is:

1.  Upper West Side Condo – the personal photographs and wine bottle collection need to be removed.  Buyers shouldn’t be distracted by these and, more importantly, buyers need to envision themselves living in your space.  They can’t do that with your photos of your family, friends, vacations, etc. staring at them.

Also, while the seller and/or real estate agent think the pulley system for suspending the bicyle from the ceiling is an added feature of the apartment, it is VERY distracting.  The buyers’ eyes will immediately go towards that rather than the beautifully renovated kitchen with its unique oval window.

And couldn’t the bed have been made better before shooting the photo?  It looks like at the last minute the comforter and toss pillow were just thrown on the bed.

2.  Upper East Side Co-op – home staging is all about making the house or apartment appealing to the broad range of buyers.  While the homeowner might love the orange walls in the living room, MOST buyers won’t.  It’s okay to keep the orange toss pillows as an accent color, but it’s time to break out the paint and change the color of the walls to something more neutral (not white, but a soft beige).

3.  Clinton Hill Co-op – OMG!!! Is that a dog and a kitty litter box in the photo??  Again, when your home is for sale, it must appeal to the broad range of buyers.  You might love your dog and your cat, but not everyone is an animal lover.  And worse, some potential buyers may be allergic to animals, so they wouldn’t even consider looking at this apartment for their new home. 

This apartment could also benefit by removing the highly taste-specific wallpaper and thinning out the book collection in its wall-sized bookshelves.

Copyright  © 2010 Designed to Appeal, LLC – All Rights Reserved

Home Staging New York: Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Today’s Mortgage Market

According to Rochelle Crespi, Senior Vice President at GuardHill Financial Corp., there are numerous factors today that are making it easier to purchase a home than most people think. 

1.   The first time home buyer credit of up to $8,000 has been extended to July 2010. 

 

 2.  Rates remain at historical lows.  Currently a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is at 4.625%.  A 5-year adjustable mortgage is at 3.75% (interest rate is adjusted annually after 5 years). 

 

 3.   FHA loans are available at up to 96.5% of the property value.  The maximum loan in metropolitan New York is $729,750 for a one family home or condominium.

 

4.   FHA loans are available with a credit score as low as 620.

 

5.   No-income-verfication loans are still available.  You can obtain purchase financing and refinancings of up to 60% of the home’s value.

 

6.   Foreign National loans are still available.  You can obtain purchase financing of up to 60% and refinancing up to 50% of the home’s value.

 

7.   Home equity loans are still available.

 

8.   All co-ops and condominiums are not created equally.  Know the statistics of the building in which you are purchasing, i.e., the number of units sold and the number of units occupied.  This could impact your ability to obtain financing. 

 

9.   Know your credit score.  A score of 740 or more will get you a better interest rate.  You can find your credit score for free by copying and pasting this url in your browser: www.freecreditreport.com.

 

10.  Millions of Adjustable Rate Mortgages will reset in 2010.  Start exploring your options now to refinance.

 

To learn more about your financing and refinancing options, you can contact Rochelle by email or phone at 646-519-7505.

Copyright  © 2010 Designed to Appeal, LLC – All Rights Reserved