See Why & How Seller Used Staging... and ends up selling in 10 Days!

A Day at the Zoo

I learned something pretty cool about the Seneca Park Zoo recently. If you take someone to the zoo that is in a wheel chair, the person pushing the chair gets in free. That is so cool!And so if you know someone in a wheelchair, take them to the zoo today! The weather is just about perfect. For more information about our zoo, go to: http://www.senecaparkzoo.org/

Open Sunday, 1 to 3, Henrietta NY

I hope you will stop by to see me Sunday, June 15, between 1 and 3 for an open house at 3 Langston Point, in Pittsford (take Stone Rd to Tumbleweed, then left on Cobblefield to Langston Pt.) It's a 1996 built colonial with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a list price of $249,000. The yard is simply awesome! For inside photos and details, go to www.RochestersBestHomes.com/813862 . Some other open houses

When Wallpaper Attacks, It Can Kill the Sale

In today’s real estate market more and more home sellers are relying on home staging tips and advice to guide them in ways to best prepare their homes for selling. So last week, when I was hired to tour a seller’s property to give them my “Buyer’s Eye” advice, a monster of a problem reared its ugly head. The wallpaper in my client’s home was so extremely ugly I told them I just had to write a blog about it and use it as an example on how monsters like this will negatively affect a home’s sale.

So for the fun of it, and to drive home my point, I present to you (below) what I saw. So hideous was this wallpaper, I have to admit it almost looks like a cliché. However be wise, while not all wallpaper is as ugly this, it still is a problematic issue that sellers need to pay attention to. Fortunately, my clients were motivated and open to advice and willing to take it down. They know they had to present the most competitively appealing property as possible to sell in today’s market. But when it comes to wallpaper, not all sellers are as accepting of staging advice. I have found that the topic of wallpaper usually results in eye rolling, harrumphing, justification and/or avoidance with sellers. So if you are serious about selling your wallpapered home, you need to look it from a sellers view. Keep in mind, regardless of how “fantastic” you think your home’s wallpaper is, it is a HIGHLY personal expression of taste, so chances are potential buyers will NOT like it. Second, buyers want to buy their dream home ready for today, not yesterday. Wallpaper is trendy and needlessly ages a home.

But most importantly, what sellers need to know is this…. when buyers see wallpaper they don’t like, they see dollar signs. When it comes to spending their hard earned money to buy their dream, buyers will scrutinize and negatively react to your wallpapered home as, hopefully, you reacted to my extreme examples above.

So you need to know that any and all the resistance you have about removing wallpaper will be the EXACT same resistance a buyer will have about it too. Buyers know removing wallpaper is an arduous task that can be costly. Because this is the reality of buying a home with wallpaper, buyers know in this market they can and will move on to the next home that does not have that monster to battle.

Stage It Forward...
Me

Assessed Too High!

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from the town of Henrietta assessor's office. They asked me about a former listing that I had that was assessed at $145,200 but sold after 18 months on the market for $115,000. "The house didn't appear to be distressed. In fact, looking at the old listing it looked quite nice. Were we that wrong," the assessor asked?My professional opinion is that the house

Million Dollar Homes

Once upon a time, it was extremely rare for a house to go on the market with an asking price of a million dollars or more. Today, that's not real unusual, as noted in the real estate section of today Democrat and Chronicle. I've put together a list of Rochester, NY area million dollar listings. Many of these gems are waterfront property but the rest are just simply pure luxury!

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Hot Properties

Perhaps the fasting moving properties these days are single family homes for less than $100,000. It seems like most times when I call to get an appointment for one of my buyers, I'm told there is already an offer in. Dang it!Here is a list of approximately 60 open houses this weekend of single family homes in Monroe County listed for $100,000 or less. Enjoy the great weather and call me if you