Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I'm on a roll!

This is what I'm talking about in my previous post. This is a photo of my friend Jennifer Landgraff's loft style condo. It was recently featured in the Washington Post Express in an article about loft living. Jennifer has a great eye for detail and for making her place stylish but comfortable. Notice the lack of porcelain dogs.

Photo by Abby Greenawalt. http://www.abbygreenawalt.com

Selling your property

In Saturday's Washington Post real estate section, there was an excellent article about sellers who are successful because they think like buyers. This is SOOOOO important! All sellers are emotionally attached to their places. In my own case, our condo is the first place my husband and I purchased. We were engaged when we bought it and it's where we'll reside for the first years of our marriage. It's SPECIAL. OK..not that special but it does have meaning to us. But none of our memories matter to a buyer. They're more interested in what they're going to change and how their furniture is going to fit into the space. They don't care if your favorite color is blue and that you're unable to throw away your collection of porcelain dogs. Buyers want what they see on HGTV and those other home shows. To help your property sell, throw away the knick knacks. Paint. Take down your photos. Clean up and hide the toys. Put an air freshener..PLEASE. Bad smells are a big turn off. Not everybody loves how Zazu's litter box smells. If you make it look like a spread in the Pottery Barn catalog, you're more likely to sell your place.

To read the article in the Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/24/AR2008072403625.html