Summer is the hottest season for selling homes, according to conventional real estate wisdom. But selling a high value home, even in a hot real estate market is not as easy as putting a listing online. These days buyers are used to seeing homes “staged” and “market ready,” buzz words for decluttered and pristine.
“A house should feel light and airy to make it appeal to a larger segment of the market,” said Brenda Chandler Cooke, Hancock Park resident and realtor with Hilton and Hyland, the listing agent for the Harry Warner mansion at 501 South Rossmore. “To create more light and make the spaces seem larger, remove extra furniture and anything heavy from the windows,” Cooke told the Buzz.
Cooke is a master at the art of staging homes and she never puts a house on the market before it’s ready; fixing all the cosmetic details by removing light fixtures, removing appliances, re-painting, even clearing all the stuff out of the garage. Cooke will even tackle landscaping to give the house more curb appeal. All done with an eye toward helping the potential buyer imagine living in the house.
“Fixing a house for the market is very different than renovating for living in it,” said Cooke. On average Cooke will invest about $40,000 to complete cosmetic repairs; she never does anything structural. Over the years, she says that investment has returned substantially higher offers to her clients.
Here are some before and after examples. All photos are courtesy of Brenda Chandler Cooke.
P.S. Good photos help too!
