How to Stage Your Outdoor Living Space to Sell Your Home

When you're selling your home, it's important to help potential buyers envision the lifestyle they'll enjoy if they make an offer you can't refuse. One way to do that is by staging your outdoor living space, so here are seven tips to make sure you get it right. How to Stage Your Outdoor Living Space to Sell Your Home Check out these seven tips to stage your outdoor living space in a way that makes buyers fall in love: Declutter and clean Spruce up your landscaping Bring in portable plants Define each space Add ample seating Choose comfort-themed accessories Use lighting to set the mood Here's a closer look at each. Outdoor Living Space Staging Tip #1: Declutter and Clean Remove everything from your deck, patio or porch that's not in use or doesn't contribute to the space's overall aesthetic. Put away all bikes, toys and outdoor accessories, too, so they don't distract prospective buyers. After you tidy up, it's time to get down to the serious business of cleaning. Scour the floors of your outdoor living space, wipe down handrails, clean the windows and power-wash the walkway. The idea is to make your space as clean as it was [...]

By |2022-11-05T05:34:23-05:00September 17th, 2022|Agent Blog, Blog, Buying and Selling Tips, Consumer Blog, Home Staging, How To, Sellers, Selling Real Estate, Tips|Comments Off on How to Stage Your Outdoor Living Space to Sell Your Home
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7 Secrets to Using Plants in Home Staging

When you’re selling your home in Nashville (or elsewhere in Tennessee), your REALTOR® will probably talk to you about home staging. Staging is a big deal – it’s the act of making your home as appealing as you can to prospective buyers. One way to do that is by using plants. However, it's not as simple as tossing a few potted plants around your home. This guide explains how to effectively use plants in home staging. 7 Secrets to Using Plants in Home Staging Plants can really make a space feel alive, and that's what buyers love to see. In fact, when you can bring a bit of the outdoors inside, buyers are more likely to enjoy the time they spend in your home. That means they leave with a more favorable impression than they otherwise would have. Check out these seven secrets to using plants effectively in home staging: Choose the right plants Highlight must-see areas with plants Put your plants on stands Be careful with the pots you pick Mix-and-match plant types Use plants to create scale Never use fake plants Scroll down for a closer look at each. Secret #1 for Staging Your Home With [...]

By |2022-10-12T11:40:47-05:00March 17th, 2022|Blog, Buying and Selling Tips, Home Staging, How To, Sellers, Tips|Comments Off on 7 Secrets to Using Plants in Home Staging
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15 Home Staging Tricks Most People Don’t Know

If you’re selling a home in Nashville, your REALTOR® will most likely talk to you about home staging – the act of making your home as appealing as possible to the widest range of buyers. The fact is that staged homes sell faster (and for more money) than their non-staged counterparts do, so it makes sense to take some time boosting your home's appeal. 15 Home Staging Tricks Most People Don’t Know Check out these 15 simple home staging tricks that can help you sell your home faster and for more money: Be ruthless when you declutter Give every room a purpose Remove half the clothes from your closet Hire a professional cleaning team Replace your decor with neutral pieces and mirrors Get rid of heavy drapes Make cosmetic fixes Clean up your yard Make your entryway welcoming Use buyers’ senses Add texture Reserve vibrant colors for accents Use plants to your advantage Make every room look comfortable Turn on all the lights Scroll down for a closer look at each. Home Staging Trick #1: Be Ruthless When You Declutter Go through every room in your home looking for items you haven't used in the past six months [...]

By |2022-10-12T11:40:47-05:00March 4th, 2022|Blog, Home Staging, How To, Sellers, Tips|Comments Off on 15 Home Staging Tricks Most People Don’t Know
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How to get Great Real Estate Listing Photos

By |2015-06-24T15:46:09-05:00June 24th, 2015|Agent Blog, Agent Education, Agent Productivity, Buying and Selling Tips, Featured Blog Posts, Home Staging, Listings, Selling Real Estate|Comments Off on How to get Great Real Estate Listing Photos
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The 4 Worst Home Staging Mistakes Your Sellers Can Make

When we accept a listing, one of the first things we think of is staging. Are they hiring a professional? How will they do it? While many sellers do hire a staging pro, there are many who don’t – and it’s our job to at least point them in the right direction. That said, there are four huge home staging mistakes your sellers can make that can send potential buyers straight out the door. It’s usually best to give them a heads-up before the listing even hits the MLS. Home Staging Mistake #1: Not Staging at All Not bothering to stage a home has far costlier consequences than spending a few bucks on paint and a storage unit for oversized furniture. Even if your clients have a spectacular home, failure to stage can cost them thousands on the selling price. Home Staging Mistake #2: Ignoring Scent and Sound While it’s great to clear out the clutter, the litterbox (and the cat) also has to go. The noisy appliances need to be turned off during each showing. Potential buyers are really tuned in when they’re touring what could be their next home, and every little detail counts.’ Home Staging Mistake #3: [...]

By |2015-10-01T03:41:01-05:00October 16th, 2014|Agent Blog, Agent Education, Agent Productivity, Consumer Blog, Home Staging, Listings, Marketing, Selling Real Estate|Comments Off on The 4 Worst Home Staging Mistakes Your Sellers Can Make
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The House that Never Sells

We’ve all seen it – a home sits on the market for a month. Then two months, then three… finally, the frustrated owners pull it and try again next year. So what would you do if those owners asked you to list it? Could you help them sell it? Would you even try? Three Not-So-Secret Reasons a House Won’t Sell You probably have a pretty good idea about why that particular house isn’t selling. Maybe the owners are unrealistically pricing the house, and they haven’t yet met a Realtor® who helped them understand the market. Maybe it just doesn’t show well, and the owners don’t understand the fundamentals of home staging. Perhaps their agent isn’t marketing the home correctly. So what would you do differently? Discussing Price Points with Your Clients When a client has a particular price in mind, it’s often tough to get them to understand they might be in the wrong range. Calling out a professional appraiser and explaining the market conditions can go a long way – and if that doesn’t work, asking your clients to revisit their price if the home doesn’t sell within 30 days might be a good idea. Let them know that [...]

By |2015-02-11T14:56:32-06:00April 10th, 2014|Agent Blog, Benchmark Agent Tools, Consumer Blog, Home Staging, Marketing, Selling Real Estate|Comments Off on The House that Never Sells
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4 Hot Tips for a Killer Virtual Tour

Some people believe that virtual tours are a must, and in the digital age, they might be right. Are you using virtual tours as part of your marketing effort for each home you list? If you are, are they actually bringing in buyers?  Effective Virtual Tours Mean More Sales If you’re skipping out on the fundamentals, which are different now than they were five years ago, you might just be spinning your wheels. At Benchmark Realty, we’re committed to giving you all the tools you need to make your business a success. That said, there are four key ingredients that go into an amazing (and effective) virtual tour: 1. High-Resolution Pictures Say Thousands of Words Once the home is properly staged, pictures taken with a digital SLR camera can highlight its best features – and those pictures can bring in between $934 and $116,076 more than listings taken with an ordinary camera. 2. Silence is Golden Piping music throughout your tour is a thing of the past. The first thing people do is click the “Volume” button and shut it off; they might already have their own music playing, they might not like yours or it might even startle them [...]

By |2015-02-11T14:56:34-06:00December 6th, 2013|Agent Blog, Consumer Blog, Home Staging, Virtual Tours|Comments Off on 4 Hot Tips for a Killer Virtual Tour
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Essential Home Staging Tips to Pass On to Your Clients

Not all homeowners have the means to hire a professional interior decorator to stage their homes. While that’s totally understandable, you can help them out by offering a few insider tips they can implement to help their homes sell faster—and closer to their asking prices. Home Staging Photo by The Decorologist Clear the Clutter As Realtors®, we know that potential buyers want to envision a space as their own; seeing other people’s mail on the counter, jackets hung on coat racks and shoes lined up in the foyer can be deal-breakers. Make sure your clients know that, too. Have them go through the home and: Arrange bookshelves neatly Close dresser drawers and closet doors (unless it’s a walk-in; then leave it wide open) Pick up yard debris and tuck away the trash cans Removing personal effects wherever possible lets buyers use their imaginations, so if your clients make a special effort to take down family photos, eclectic décor and all of the things that give their home a “lived-in” look, they’ll likely see better results. A Clean Home is a Happy Home Naturally, your clients will keep the house clean when they know potential buyers are coming. Don’t [...]

By |2015-02-11T14:56:34-06:00November 14th, 2013|Agent Blog, Consumer Blog, Home Staging|Comments Off on Essential Home Staging Tips to Pass On to Your Clients
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