Los Angeles Home Staging Info

Home buyers in the Los Angeles real estate market want a house that is move in ready.

Home buyers don't want an allowance to repair the roof, replace the carpet or repaint. Allowances are for teenagers. They want a well priced home, in a decent location, that they can move right in to without spending another dime.

Its a big fallacy that home buyers want to choose their own carpet or paint colors. If you choose a nice, neutral color carpet and nice neutral color wall paint (both things the best home stagers can help you with) most home buyers will see your home as more desirable because it is move-in-ready. They'll be thrilled they don't have to worry about picking out carpet and having it installed or find a painter who has time in their schedule. If your home stager can't help you with this, then you are working with the wrong home stager.

Most home buyers are maxing out their home purchasing budget by making an offer on the nicest home they can possibly afford. They don't have extra money to paint, install new carpet or retile the bathroom. They want to move in as soon as escrow closes, not after they have to make a lot of repairs to make their new home livable. Here's what happens when you offer a $5,000 allowance for repairing the roof that should have been replaced 5 years ago:

1. The buyer thinks "What else didn't they repair that they should have?"
2. The buyer thinks "What structure got damaged by the leaky roof?"
3. The buyer thinks "Is it really going to cost only $5,000 to repair the roof?"
4. The buyer thinks "How much time will it take me to get bids, hire a roofing company & get the work done?"
5. The buyer thinks "What happens if (fill in the disaster: it rains, the contractor absconds with the deposit, a worker falls off the roof)?"
6. The buyer thinks "The seller must be desperate since the house isn't in good shape."

Here's what happens next: The buyer accepts your offer of $5,000 to repair the roof, and then also knocks off another 10% because they think the house is not in good condition or you are desperate...

~or~

The buyer rejects your house and moves on to the house down the street that is move in ready.

Here's what happens when you offer a $3,000 allowance for new carpet:

1. The buyer thinks "Will $3,000 really cover new carpet for the whole house?"
2. The buyer thinks "I'm not from around here. Where do I buy new carpet?"
3. The buyer thinks "That house down the street already has new carpet. Why should I take on the added stress of shopping for & installing new carpet?"

Here's what happens next:

The buyer accepts your offer of $3,000 to buy new carpet, and then also knocks off another 10% because they think your allowance won't cover all the costs ...

~or~

The buyer rejects your house and moves on to the house down the street that is move in ready and already has new carpet installed.

By not repairing and updating your home before you put it on the market, you are asking home buyers to assume risk and additional expenses. You add more stress and uncertainty to the situation. Many home buyers are already investing every penny they can get their hands on in order to purchase a home. They are unable or unwilling to purchase a home that will require repairs before they can move in.

Additionally, the condition of your home may effect the appraisal causing the buyer's lender to refuse the loan.

Want to get a Los Angeles home sold? Price it right, hire the best full service Realtor you can find, hire a professional home stager and make sure it is in move-in ready condition.

This photo is one of my most valuable possessions. If my house was on fire, it would be one of the few things I would worry about saving.

Its a photo of me and my father, Ben Minch, on November 28, 1963. The table is set for Thanksgiving dinner in our dining room in Cranford, NJ, and I was excited because my Aunts, Uncles & cousins were coming for dinner. I was 8 years old.

My father was subdued because JFK had been assassinated less than a week before on Friday, November 22, 1963.

In 1963, the world was rapidly changing. After JFK was asassinated, Lyndon Johnson became President. The US was being sucked further and further into the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech and both good and terrible events swirled around the Civil Rights Movement. The Beatles released their first album.

Gas was about 25 cents per gallon, but my father would buy gas at a gas station on the way to New York City that charged 19 cents. A quart of milk was 26 cents. For 50 cents I could go see a double matinee on Saturday afternoon and have enough money for a Milky Way and a popcorn. My hair, which was normally longer, was cut short because someone in the above mentioned movie theater threw a wad of chewing gum in the dark theater which landed in my hair. I had gotten that haircut 2 weeks earlier.

My father was a tool and die maker. On his salary of $4,800/yr. he was able to support his wife and 3 kids and buy a new 3 bedroom house in a nice New Jersey neighborhood. He drove a 1955 pink and gray Chevy Belair.

This is the last photo of my father. Less than a week later, on December 3rd, he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance where he died of a coronary embolism. He was 49.

I still have the camera this photo was taken with, an old Kodak 35mm film camera. It was my father's pride and joy. He was an avid amateur photographer, a love he passed on to me.

This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain 'Kodak Moments' contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera.

To participate in the ActiveRain contest, visit the blog post announcing the contest from Kodak and ActiveRain.

My thanks to Kodak and Active Rain for making this contest possible.

Pasadena Penthouse Condo Pops With Home Staging Last week we were hired by an out-of-town homeowner to stage her Playhouse District Pasadena condo. The condo had been on the market for 84 days before staging. In the best case, we would have staged this condo before it hit the market. But this homeowner was very smart to stage it when it hadn't sold for almost 3 months. While we were staging, some potential buyers came through. This was the second time they saw the condo. The first time, it was unstaged. Their comments: "This looks so much nicer than I remember", "I didn't realize I could fit a king size bed in here" and "Now I'm sure my sofa will fit".

For more information about this 3 bedroom, 3 bath Pasadena Condo, contact the listing agent, Irina Netchaev, Pasadena Views Real Estate at (626)627-7107.

This article was originally posted on my Los Angeles Home Staging blog.

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