Selling your home - ways to help you #stage your home #staging#home

Getting ready to list your house for sale? Putting some effort into staging it well can impact how quickly it moves off the market. The tenets of staging are pretty basic: declutter, depersonalize and deep clean. But there are some little-known tactics that experts swear by. Here are a few home staging tips to help you prepare: Draw eyes to a room's best attribute, whether that's a beautiful fireplace or a window with a great view, by strategically placing a decorative accent like a vase or large plant nearby. Clean out and organize closets, cabinets and pantries, leaving more space than you normally might. This can give potential buyers the impression that your home has storage to spare. Want to make a room seem larger? Remove rugs to give the appearance of unbroken floor space. Add fluffy white towels to your bathrooms. The neutral hue implies cleanliness and can give the room a spa-like feel. Turn on interior lights during an open house, even if it's daytime. If your home is outfitted with compact fluorescent bulbs, be sure they have enough time to warm up to full capacity before the event begins. Widen the walking area around major pieces of furniture, such as beds and sofas. A few extra inches can make all the difference. Leaving a room un-staged and free of furniture can encourage buyers to imagine how they could use your space. By being thoughtful with your staging efforts, you can help potential buyers see themselves living a happy life in your home, and that may be all it takes to seal the deal.

Spring Real Estate Market

“The Home Purchase Sentiment Index returned to its longer-term trend line after reclaiming ground last month,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “This is aligned with our market forecast of about 3 percent sales growth in 2017. Historically strong inflation-adjusted house price gains are tempering consumer sentiment, whereas consumer optimism regarding the ease of getting a mortgage reached a survey high. On balance, housing continues on a gradual growth track.” Here are more findings from Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index reading from April, which is based on a survey of about 1,000 consumers. 35%: the net share of Americans who say it’s a good time to buy a home, up 5 percentage points from March. 26%: the net percentage of consumers who say it’s a good time to sell, dropping 5 percentage points from last month’s all-time survey high. 45%: the net share of Americans who believe home prices will rise by 1 percentage point. 77%: the net share of consumers who say they’re not concerned about losing their job, up 7 percentage points from March. 13%: the net share of consumers who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago, up 2 percentage points from March. Source: Fannie Mae