Category: Sellers

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About That Kitchen

Depending who you ask, the kitchen is the most important room in the house.  Especially when selling your home.

Opinions.  We all have them.  Yet when it comes to selling your home, many real estate professionals consider your kitchen as the most important room in the house.  Knock the buyer out with a fantastic kitchen and it often means the difference in your home being purchased – or another. kitchen2

In this day and age, the options for kitchen layout, color schemes and themes are quite vast.  And while ‘trends’ come and go, there remains so many viable design directions to consider.  I found this great article by Jaymi Naciri of Realty Times who takes a moment to offer bold suggestions to get your kitchen possibly headed in a whole new direction. Her overall message in this article is to avoid the bland and make your kitchen a standout – if not even a bit festive.

Her ideas include vibrant shades of cabinets as opposed to traditional white, greys and muted tones.

Another idea is to go black.  Described as ‘soothing’ and even ‘sleek and bold’, the use of black can be very modern and striking if designed correctly.

The article also suggests that wallpaper is making a comeback for kitchens with the desire for many to make their kitchen walls more colorful or to add a striking, contrast pattern.

The industrial and rustic trends in home decor continue to be sought after by homeowners and now these trends are making their way into kitchens.

It’s also suggested that something as simple as a lively backsplash can make an impressive change to a kitchen decor.  Patterned backsplashes with texture draw the eye in and create visual interest.  Sometimes just enough to add that needed touch to an already great kitchen.

You can read Jaymi’s complete article here.

If you are thinking of selling your home or have questions as to what kind of kitchen remodeling you could do to better prepare your home for market, please feel free to call or text me at 412-613-4466. You may also email me at sold@ericmckenna.com

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Really Cool Home Remodeling Ideas

I came across this article by written by Peggy Wang on the BuzzFeed Staff and I must admit…its’ really ‘cool!’  She lists 43 unique and ‘Cool’ remodeling ideas.  It’s a great, fun article with quite a few really custom and useful interior and exterior designs.   Some are really ‘out of the box’ thinking compared to traditional remodeling options.

Here are a group Peggy’s ideas I felt were standouts: enhanced-13793-1405531626-1

6.  Display your book collection under the stairs or even add a ‘wine cellar style’ wine cabinet under the stairs

11.  Make space for two dishwashers instead of one

16.  Maximize your space with baseboard drawers

17.  Consider building a hidden room

18.  Make some of your walls magnetic.  

20.  Add a multi-directional steam shower

24.  Put a ‘bar’ rail on your deck for extra outdoor eating room

31.  Add recessed hallway or basement lights along the baseboards

42. Cut out ‘overlooks’ for your second storyenhanced-buzz-15087-1388183167-9

Again, just a really fun read. Some of these ideas left me scratching my head because – they really make sense!  How could we not be doing these?

Here is a link to Peggy’s complete article on BuzzFeed

If you are considering remodeling your home and would like referrals to excellent contractors or if you would like advice on how your remodeling plans may affect the value of your home, please feel free to call or text me at 412-613-4466.  Or email me at sold@ericmckenna.com

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5 Quick Home Staging Tips

I wanted to share a great article regarding inexpensive staging tips for home sellers. This article comes to us from Melissa Neiman of Bankrate.com

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Without question, correctly staging and presenting your home can significantly improve the odds of an effective and satisfactory sale.  However, hiring professional home stagers are not always within the budget.   With that thought in mind, here is an overview of Melissa’s article.

1. Pack away personal items. When possible, packing away your personal items is one of the simplest ways to help sell your property quickly.  One quick way to de-personalize your home is to remove personal photos.  The idea is that it’s difficult for prospective buyers to envision themselves in your home if they are surrounded by your personal family photos.

2. Clear away the clutter.  While not always the easiest thing to do, it’s vital to enable the prospective buyer to focus on your home – not your ‘things.’  It’s much better to pack away your belongings in boxes and get them out of the way and out of site.

3. Rearrange and neutralize rooms.  The suggestion is that fresh, neutral paint on walls, trim and doors makes your home appear clean and new.  Another suggestion is to make sure closets are neat, organized and not over stuffed.

4. Clean and deodorize.   It’s near impossible for a prospective buyer to look past a smelly home.  Clean, clean, clean. The clean some more.  Also ensure your home has a pleasant fragrance when prospective buyers arrive.  Whether that would be scented candles or freshly baked sweets.  Fresh and clean wins over just about anything else.

5.  Enhance curb appeal.  First impressions only come around once.  Mow your lawn and trim your hedges.  Pressure clean your exterior including sidewalks, decks and driveway.  Also adding mulch is a low cost upgrade which really enhances a home’s landscape and overall exterior presence.

You can read Melissa’s full article here.

If you are considering selling your home and have any questions concerning home staging or any other selling factor, don’t hesitate to contact me.  I’m here to help.  Feel free to call or text me at 412-613-4466.

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