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Real Estate

Upstaging the competition
by Jeff Hammerberg, President - www.gayrealestate.com Putting your house on the market is like entering any form of competition. Compare it to entering a prize stallion in a horse show or an antique auto in a classic car show. In either case, only one wins Best In Show. Maybe the winning stud didnt have a thoroughbred bloodline and the winning sedan the sleekest body style. But each shared a common element. Simply put, both the horse and the car showed better than their competition. As a Seller, the prize youre competing for is a SOLD sign. You can give your home a distinctive appeal before promenading it before the panel of judges, which are prospective buyers. Use these tips to give your home the winning edge over other houses for sale in your area. PRELIMINARIES FIRST Over the years, we all accumulate a certain amount of junk. For some people its magazines that we know well never read, while for others its a receipt fetishweve got them for everythingeven stuff we no longer own. Our guestrooms are cluttered from long-abandoned hobbies, unused exercise equipment and clothes we wouldnt be caught dead in. Whatever the clutter at your house, its got to go before you put your house up for sale. Even minimal clutter, stuff or junk can dramatically decrease the eye appeal of your home. Face it, if the contents of your home is scattered over countertops, spilling from closets or peeping out from under the bed, then youre already overdue for a yard sale. A few general rules of de-cluttering apply here for presenting a well-organized home. Any item of clothing you havent worn in the past year you probably wont wear next year either. Donate it to a homeless shelter or an AIDS awareness benefit sale. Potential buyers like roomy closets. If yours is still overflowing after culling the clutter, consider putting non-essentials in storage prior to moving into your new house. Used to be we thought of kids when it came to toys, but the increased income of GLBTs in recent years has given us increased buying power for purchasing virtually anything we have a passion for. Trouble is, the stuff we buy lingers long after weve moved on to other interests. Sell or give away anything that you dont actually use. Store items of sentimental value elsewhere while your house is on the market. If youre a booklover, unless you have a library or other adequate shelving for books, you may need to store your favorite reads. This also includes paperbacks and particularly any books that fall into the just for show category. Consider donating them to a literacy program or adult education site. INCREASE YOUR FLOOR SPACE Rest assured that if the house you are selling is a sweet little bungalow that even buyers who want that type of house are more interested in the space factor than in the sweet and little aspects, which are actually mental images. And no, this doesnt mean adding an extra room. At this point in the game, the last thing that you need to do is obtain a loan for remodeling or max out a high line credit card. An investment such as this may improve the marketability of the house, but it can also damage your credit score and even prevent you from qualifying for the mortgage youll need to buy your next house. For expert credit assistance, visit the pros at www.GayMortgageLoans.com. There are practical ways to maximize your square footage. Use these ideas to approach the elements of your house from a minimalist perspective. Youll stand to gain what can amount to a generous expansion in visual space. Remove excess furniture. If your den has a seven-piece suite, keep the pieces that you actually use and store the rest. You may have to forego your favorite recliner, but it frees up wall space. Eliminate pieces that turn rooms into mazes inhibiting free movement throughout the room. While you may have certain decorative pieces on display, they can take up space better used for demonstrating the roominess of your house. Some of these optional pieces include magazine racks, sculptures, curio cabinets or ottomans. Large entertainment centers take up a lot of space. Consider a more streamline option for housing your TV, stereo system, VCRs and DVD players. This also includes organizing stacks of cds, VHS tapes or DVDs to add valuable space. The computer era has generated its own brand of excess baggage and miles of connecting cords. Tidy up home networks, mounting piles of outdated software and gaming consoles. STICK TO THE GOLDEN RULE As a member of the GLBT community, you probably know that the do unto others rule is sometimes applied conditionally. This is where you can set yourself apart. By using the services of a real estate agent, youre placing the sale of your home in the hands of a qualified expert offering prospective buyers a distinct advantage. Demonstrate your commitment to equality by listing your house with a professional with the capacity to offer genuine real estate expertise to sellers and buyers. Trust the sale of your home to a professional committed to equality and integrity in services to the GLBT community at www.GayRealEstate.com. They offer solid expertise and demonstrated proficiency in all areas of real estate for both sellers and buyers within the GLBT community.