Home Not Selling? The Two Real Reasons Why (and How to Avoid Them)

For sale sign in front of home

Every real estate market, in any economy, has a number of homeowners dismayed about their home not selling. These houses just sit on the market. They become stale inventory, frustrating the home seller, real estate agents, and even buyers (yes, buyers).

Over the last three years, I’ve had the very unique opportunity to travel to a number of states and have multi-hour, face-to-face conversations about local real estate markets with scores of real estate agents. Some work with our brokerage, many with other brokerages.

These agents may work in urban, suburban, or rural markets. A lot of these agents work in my niche of real estate: lake homes and land. However, I have also spent a very significant time with agents who focus on typical primary residential homes.

The Two Reasons for a Home Not Selling

One topic I find interesting to discuss is the number of homes listed for sale for long periods of time, longer than should be expected. What factors lead to a home not selling? Here is something I’ve learned, something that is very consistent across every market.

There are ONLY two reasons for a home not selling in a reasonable amount of time. Only two. Either:

1. The home lacks proper market exposure and/or

2. The home is not priced appropriately.

That’s it. Every other issue will fall as a subset of one of these two reasons.

Lack of Proper Market Exposure

One reason for a home not selling is it has not been marketed correctly. The homeowner and their agent are trying to sell a secret! If the potential buyers of this property don’t know it exists, the price is irrelevant. You can’t even give away something if no one knows about it.

By “not marketed correctly,” I don’t necessarily mean not marketed at all. The home must be marketed to THE RIGHT prospective buyers.

For instance, a “For Sale” sign in the yard may look great but the neighbors and their friends are rarely going to buy that home. How do you reach the buyer who is somewhere else than around the corner?

For sale or for rent maybe

Lack of precision marketing is one of several reasons why For-Sale-By-Owner homes are typically much slower to sell. These homes may not be on the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) which feeds a host of real estate websites. Even if the home is listed in the MLS,  there may not be enough other marketing efforts to break through the thousands of homes typically for sale in each market.

While in a few markets an open house may be a viable marketing tool, this typically makes the seller feel happy but often does little to find the right buyers. The same can be said about much of the local print advertising.

What Creates Proper Market Exposure

The most productive marketing in today’s world of real estate is online marketing coupled with strong agent presence. By online, I’m not limiting this to a Multiple Listing Service and websites like Zillow and Realtor.com.

I’m talking about very focused marketing for homes directed at the correct potential buyers.

This targeted marketing uses an understanding of the age, financial status and motivation of the right buyers for each particular home.

Zillow on iPhone mobile device

Highly targeted online marketing can include specialty websites, targeted online ads, and targeted and boosted social media engagement. And these are rarely free, even if it is just the significant time required to present the home and community correctly to the targeted buyer population.

Want to sell a home? First, make sure the most likely buyers can easily learn about it.

Home is Not Priced Appropriately

When I say a home is not priced appropriately, I don’t necessarily mean that it must be the lowest price in its local market. (Although rare, I’ve seen instances were even underpricing created problems. But that is a story for another day).

Instead, an appropriately priced home will be seen as reasonably priced when all other factors are considered.

Those factors include house condition, neighborhood, school system, local real estate market conditions, location, lot size, traffic, next-door neighbors, house age, nearby culture/restaurants/shopping/parks, historical significance, public services and a host of other items.

Person holding set of keys with dollars and change next to figurine of house

If there are problems with the home, smart pricing can overcome those issues. No matter how bad the issues are with a home, pricing can still make the home appealing to someone.

Let’s consider a home for sale with reasonable market exposure.

If that home has been on the market for a period as short as two weeks without much buyer interest, the market is speaking. No, correction… the market IS YELLING! The market is letting the seller know the home is not appropriately priced. Period.

Buyers Understand Prices (Better than Most Sellers)

Today’s buyers are savvy. They research online, they watch home prices, and they know an overpriced home quickly. You WILL NOT fool these buyers into even touring a significantly overpriced home. Their time is valuable and house hunting starts at home (or, admit it, at work) on the Internet.

Woman using laptop to look up real estate

Even if you do fool buyers into coming to see an overpriced home with careful photography and crafty descriptions, if the home is much less than the buyers expect, you will piss them off for wasting their time. They will feel deceived and likely never make an offer.

Buyers are often much better than sellers at understanding the reality of homes not selling. When setting the price of a home, the smart seller will work hard to think like the informed buyers, avoiding the emotional (and false) price justifications.

The Danger of Starting High then Cutting the Price

A home seen as overpriced will be left by buyers to soften… or rot.

Even if price drops begin, this signals to the home buyers they can continue to wait. They know more price drops will be coming (even when the seller has not realized it yet).

As more time passes, even with price cuts, the home now develops a compounding problem. “What’s wrong with it? Why has it been on the market for so long?”

A high number of “Days on Market” can lead even newly interested buyers to avoid the home, regardless of price, out of doubt or fear of an unknown issue.

home not selling price reduced home sign

Repeated price cuts also suggests to buyers that the seller is willing “to make a deal.” So when buyers finally do decide to make an offer, they will often make a very low offer, genuinely expecting the seller to continue price cutting.

Over time, multiple price drops signal that price cuts are (finally) acceptable to the seller, so buyers will expect another big price cut before they buy. And the seller has themselves to blame for the home not selling, as they repeatedly helped train the buyers to think this way.

Even in markets with a large number homes that are not selling, many buyers can and will wait until the market prices adjust downward.

Sellers who believe they are smarter than the market (that is, smarter than the buyers) often win the “prize” of keeping their house (and its associated expenses) for even longer.

How To Get a Home Sold

There are many factors that can help sell a house quickly and for a satisfactory price.

The key is that, when all things are considered, the home is directly marketed to the correct potential buyers and the price makes this house one of the best values in that neighborhood.

Saving up money to buy a lake house

If you use a real estate agent, don’t just pick a friend or a friend-of-a-friend. Evaluate them. Find out how they really will market the home. See if they know who the likely buyer will be AND how to reach them. Your agent should have a process, a success history, and be able to communicate all of this very clearly.

Forget the emotional “logic” of house pricing. Use current market data about SOLD homes (not list prices) to set a price the buyer will believe is reasonable.

Want a higher price for your home? Then do real improvements to increase the real and perceived value. Make sure the home and yard is in great condition, clean, well-staged, smells great, and feels bright. Be sure the right buyers know all this through accurate and truthful marketing. Hire an agent who can target market and is up-to-date on marketing techniques.

Even when done right, finding a home buyer for your home can take some time. Increase the odds of a timely sale by pricing appropriately and marketing directly to the right buyers.

Greater Challenges when Selling a Lake Home

Niche property, such as lake real estate, can make the market exposure and pricing challenges become even more obvious. The buyers for such property are rarely local, so exposure to the right buyers in other cities and states is critical.

Furthermore, lake home and land values vary more than in typical residential real estate markets. This makes it very hard for home owners (and inexperienced lake agents) to determine the correct marketable price.

Lake House on the Water
Photo courtesy of BeachPretty.

If you have a lake home or land you are simply considering selling or your home is not selling, you may need more expert help. The nation’s largest lake-focus real estate company, Lake Homes Realty, has agents in many lake markets. These lake real estate agents and brokers can give you market-specific advice and expert guidance.

A Lake Homes Realty agent can also help you determine if now is a good time to sell and provide unique information about the current market price expectations. They have access to technology to help your home be found by buyers from other cities and states (as many buyers for lake real estate are not local). You can learn more at Selling a Lake Home.

Whether a home is located downtown, in the suburbs, in a rural market or in a specialty niche like lake real estate, the reasons a home does not sell are rarely complicated. The right buyers have to know about it AND the property has to be priced within the market’s current and real expectations. Period.

Trying (or rather pretending) to sell otherwise is usually a waste of time and, typically, money.

Twice the adventure! Buying and selling a home at the same time!

Have you ever needed to sell your home while buying a new one?

This happens often when your family outgrows your house or when you or your spouse changes jobs and moving to a new city is necessary. buying; selling

Recently, USAToday.com featured a Nerd Wallet article by Hal Bundrick which shared tips from Glenn Phillips, CEO at Lake Homes Realty, and several other prominent real estate experts.

In the article, Phillips describes the process of buying and selling at the same time is “twice the adventure.”

“Be aware of the market,” he encouraged. ” Typically when it is easier to sell, it is hard to buy. And vice versa. Know which market you’re in, then work on the hardest part first.”

Read the full article,”How to buy a home while selling one” here.

 

Visit Us at the 2016 Atlanta Boat Show!

2016 Atlanta Boat Show LogoAnother year, another boat show!

This year the Atlanta Boat Show runs from January 14 – 17,  and we would love to see you there!

Lake Homes Realty corporate staff and local expert real estate agents will be available throughout the entire show and look forward to discussing all things lake living.

In the past two years, we have met hundreds of lake lovers, marveled at the best in class boats, and met vendors for all kinds of lake related items, and this year should be bigger than ever!

Thinking About Buying on the Lake?

If you are thinking about buying a lake home, we want to make the process as easy as possible!

LakeHomes.com now has more than 32,000 properties for sale across 200+ lakes.

We will have local, specialized lake agents from states across the South, including Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina!

Some of the lake expert agents who are attending will be from lakes including Lake Lanier, Lake Jackson, Lake Allatoona, Lake Martin, Lake Hartwell and more.

Our agents know the ins and outs of their lake market and will be more than willing to help you find a lake property that best fits your needs.

2015 atlanta boat show lake homes realty booth
Lake Homes Realty booth from the 2015 Atlanta Boat Show

Talk to Us about Your Lake Experience

Have you used LakeHomes.com to find a property or used a Lake Homes Realty real estate agent?

We want to hear about your experience! Stop by the booth, and tell us your story.

Or, even if you have not used our services, just drop by, and tell us all about your lake experience.

We always love to hear about your lake, and why it is special to you.

What to Do at the Show

The Atlanta Boat Show is an annual event held at the Georgia World Congress Center and features more than just boats for sale.

This year’s Kid Zone will feature face painting, balloon art, a bouncy area, trout fishing and other kid friendly events.

For the older kids (like mom and dad!) there will be attractions such as the Miss GEICO speedboat, a giant aquarium for bass fishing, a sailing simulator, live music and so much more!

There will also be educational opportunities and special classes on DIY boat maintenance and repair, as well as other topics such as fishing and boat safety.

The Show Schedule

The show will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. this Thursday (1/14) and Friday (1/15), 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday (1/16), and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday (1/17).

The event takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center, hall C.

Lake Homes Realty will be located in the same space as the last 2 years, in booth 332. We look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

 

3 Common Reasons Your Home Won’t Sell

Renting house to great tenants

You’ve really tried hard to sell your house, but for some reason, it’s still on the market and no one seems interested. This has you wondering about what you might have missed, about what you might have failed to do.

Here are 3 common reasons your home won’t sell and factors to consider with your real estate agent. These could take you from frustrated to SOLD.

Your selling price

Many times the selling price on a home that is not selling is too high.  The seller looks at the home and tacks on several thousand for sentimentality. This is without taking a realistic look at the prices of other homes in the area and what needs to be done to the home to either update or repair it.

Even though you have come to love and accept the quirks of your home, a new buyer might not be so willing. Especially if he or she is not handy around the house or does not have time to do the fixing.

It can be difficult, but it is necessary to step away and look at your home from someone else’s perspective.  A clever agent can organize open house, and solicit feedback from attendees to see what they think needs to be changed before they will commit.

A high price might also discourage people from buying your home who otherwise would love to, but who cannot qualify for that much in lending.  You might want to consistently research the area alongside your agent to make sure that your home is priced well in comparison to those of your neighbors.

Location, Location, Location.

Having a lake home on the shore might not be enough to attract a buyer if the school district is not highly rated. Or, if you are near a major thoroughfare with noisy traffic.

Sometimes simple fixes can be put in like better windows that will block some of that noise. But, you can’t fix a school district.  In those cases, the only option really is to lower the purchase price of the home or attempt to sell to those without children.

You might also live in an area that hasn’t yet experienced part of the economic recovery. A slower housing market will naturally lead to it being a buyers’ market where they call the shots.

If you can hold off until the economy gets better, you will be able to realize a better sales price. If you cannot wait, you will need to reduce your price again, or be willing to entertain offers under your asking price or that include things the buyer wants, like an inspection or new carpeting.

Staging your house in the best light

Home StagingWhen you are still living in a home and also trying to sell it, it can be difficult to find the right balance.  Oftentimes, if you have too many of your own personal belongings there, the prospective buyers cannot see themselves in your home. This is because they are unable to visualize what the home would look like with their personal belongings.

If you can move some of it out to a storage area, or put away the more personal items (like photographs) during a showing, you stand a better chance of your home selling.

The best way to handle these problems is hiring an experienced, local real estate agent who is familiar with your area. They will know the ins and outs of your market, have an accurate price range for your property, and can even help with staging your home for showings.

Easy and Inexpensive DIY Options to Refresh and Rejuvenate A Room

Nothing will boost your spirits or improve the look of your home quite like a new decorating project will. Many people have the notion that decorating has to be an extensive project in order to make a difference. The truth is that there are plenty of easy, do-it-yourself techniques you can use to liven up any room of your home.

Here are five inexpensive DIY options to use the next time you need a pick-me-up for a room but don’t want to spend a great deal of time or money on home improvements: Continue reading “Easy and Inexpensive DIY Options to Refresh and Rejuvenate A Room”

How to Make the Most Money When Selling Your Lake Home

Selling your lake homeReal estate professionals will tell you the two most important ingredients for a profitable home sale are location and curb appeal.

A lake home has both, in a big way, but there are still a number of things you can do to when selling your lake home to bring in the highest possible price.

You’re selling the lake, and the lakefront lifestyle

The lake has both aesthetic and functional sales value – it provides a lovely view, from indoors and outside, and is typically also a source of numerous recreational opportunities.

Everything about your property needs to be shipshape, all the way down to the water’s edge. This is whether you have lawn, beach, a rocky shore with dock-only access, or a combination of these.

Fix things in your lake home

The lake may be #1, but you’re selling the home, too. Make sure it lives up to the appeal of the lake, whether it’s a three-bedroom getaway or a multi-million dollar mansion.

All those little “detail problems” you conveniently overlook will be glaringly apparent to potential buyers. Many can be fixed quickly and inexpensively, so there’s less chance of quibbling over them later. Instead, your home and property will appear move-in ready, a big positive for buyers.

For decks, docks, boathouse, and shoreline, everything should be snug and clean. Repaint or stain, remove weeds and debris, and rake the sand. This way the area looks fresh and ready to enjoy, rather than unattended. Too, double-check pathway lighting to be sure it’s working properly.

Stage your lake home to appeal better to buyers

Purchasing any home is an emotional event. The more welcoming your home feels, the more desirable it will be. Your lake is the first thing buyers will want to see, so make it your focal point.

Create outdoor living “rooms” on the dock or overlooking the lake. Include things such as seating, a BBQ prepped with accessories, a cozy fire pit, and potted flowers. Your goal is to show off the home’s versatility as well as create a pretty picture. Keep it in scale, so it looks comfortable, not crowded.

Set out sports gear that’s water-related or appropriate for the area – a kayak, bicycles, a croquet set, etc. Be sure to include child-size equipment and a sand pail and shovel to let parents and grandparents see your lake home is perfect for all ages.

Take photos of your home as seen from the water. Better yet, give serious buyers a short boat tour so they can see for themselves and imagine giving their own tours for visiting friends and family. Photos of the lake in other seasons will reinforce your home’s year-round appeal, so even second-home buyers will see it as a top-notch investment.

Choose a real estate agent who is experienced selling lake homes

They’ll help you get top dollar by marketing your property to maximum advantage. That should include creating an inviting online presence for your home. A virtual tour is the best way to show off your in-home and outdoor lifestyle amenities.

Get advice from a professional real estate appraiser as well as your real estate agent to set a listing price, because valuing a lakefront property can be more complex than pricing a traditional neighborhood home. Reaching for the moon may be tempting, but it can backfire, leaving your home lingering instead of generating a lucrative sale.

Each of these details can add to the value of your home where it counts most – in your prospective buyer’s eyes and mind. The more you focus on that, the more money you’ll make when the sale goes through.

Top 10 Turn-Offs for Potential Home Buyers

empty lake homeIf deciding to sell your home, there are a number of things that you need to do before listing it to potential home buyers.

You need to make your home as attractive as possible to potential buyers. Part of this is making sure that there’s nothing about your home that will turn off potential buyers.

The following are ten of the top turn-offs for home buyers you should avoid when putting your home up for sale:

  1. Unpleasant odors – A house filled with unpleasant odors will turn the buyer off immediately. This can be anything from the smell of cigarette smoke to the smell of your pets. If there are unpleasant smells present in your home, you need to get rid of them before you begin showing your home. Open up the windows to get some air-flow and have a professional cleaner come to your house to help get rid of the smell. An unpleasant smell will rush the buyer. His or her mind will be fixed on leaving as soon as possible instead of looking at the rest of your home.
  2. A converted garage – If you’ve converted your garage to a home office, an extra bedroom, a personal gym, or anything else, then convert it back to a garage. Do this before you begin showing your house. There’s a good chance most buyers will want the garage to be a garage. Especially if street parking is at a premium.
  3. Pools – Don’t be mistaken into thinking that your outdoor pool is a feature that will attract all buyers. Most buyers will consider a pool to be a major eyesore. This is especially true for above-ground pools which tend to leave dead spots in the grass. Even an in-ground pool is a huge turn-off due to the high maintenance required to care for a pool. Not to mention the liability involved with owning a pool. Having a pool can even increase the homeowner’s insurance premiums that the next homeowner will have to pay.
  4. Outrageous color design – You may have a unique taste in interior design which you may have celebrated by choosing some bold colors or patterns for your home. Though, this doesn’t mean that everyone else will share your tastes. Re-paint those lime green walls using a neutral color scheme instead.
  5. Wallpaper – Wallpaper almost always looks tacky. Especially if it’s been up there for the better part of the decade or if you have specially designed “fun” wallpaper in your child’s bedroom. Not only is wallpaper extremely personalized, it’s also quite hard to remove. This adds to the “things to do” list that a homebuyer will have if he or she decides to purchase your home.
  6. Personal décorYou may think that the family portraits in the living room or the kids’ drawings tacked up on the fridge help to add a homely and inviting feeling to the atmosphere of your house. Though, all they’re doing is making buyers feel like they are walking in someone else’s home. You need to decorate the home so that buyers can pretend like it is theirs. This will give them a better sense of what it would be like to live there. Having pictures of someone else’s kids all over the place won’t help to achieve this.
  7. Meddlesome sellers – There’s nothing more annoying than having a seller lurking around during a showing.  Many sellers that do this will try to walk around the house with potential buyers in order to provide their thoughts and feelings about the house. Most buyers want to be able to privately tour the home without the added pressure from the seller. Having the seller around makes it difficult for potential buyers to talk privately. Let the realtor do his or her job and stay away from your home showings.
  8. Dirty homes – Nobody wants to walk into a home that has clutter everywhere, or even worse, that’s dirty. Make your home presentable by getting rid of clutter and doing a whole-house cleaning. Place special emphasis on the bathrooms and the kitchen. Hire a cleaning service if you have to.
  9. Misrepresented homes – Nothing angers buyers more than showing up to a home that was misrepresented in ads.  Whether because the house is located in the middle of a trailer park, or because that third bedroom is a glorified closet space. You’re not doing yourself any favors by tricking buyers to try and get them to come to your showings.
  10. sad dogPets – If you’re planning a showing, remove your pets from your home. Buyers don’t want to have to deal with dogs or cats chasing them around. Too, some buyers could potentially be afraid of animals, or have allergies.

These are ten things that turn off homebuyers so be sure to avoid them!

Top 7 Questions To Ask When Choosing A Real Estate Agent

Since the market collapse in 2008, home ownership may have seemed like a pipe dream for many Americans in today’s economic climate.

However, the signs indicate that the real estate industry is starting to bounce back following 6 years of depreciation and inability for many to obtain a mortgage. As such, the market is beginning to move from a seller dominated environment towards a more buyer dominated industry.

Buying a first home, or a vacation home, should not be treated lightly. Capital investment aside, it is a trying time viewing different properties and competing against other buyers. This is where choosing a fully qualified, experienced real estate agent can help.

With a wealth of knowledge in helping buyers find the house of their dreams, they are invaluable asset in the hunt for new properties. Note however, that not all real estate agents are equal. Some have their merits in different areas from others.

In order to separate the great from the good, below are a list of questions to consider when choosing a real estate agent:

1) What is Your Experience in the Neighborhood?
choosing a real estate agent for lake neighborhoodFirst and foremost, you want to establish your realtor’s experience within your neighborhood. This is key in order to establish your realtor’s knowledge of fair asking prices and the exclusivity of certain areas. If your agent is not experienced in your area, find out what regions they are experienced in and see how this compares with your own.

2) Full Time or Part Time?
This is an important point to establish. Ideally, you want to choose a real estate agent who has worked in the industry for a significant amount of time. This way you know they have a wealth of experience in buying new properties. There are many part-time realtors who juggle their full-time career with managing real estate. Not to discount there merits; there are like some very qualified part-time real estate agents out there.

However, you want to be sure that your property manager is committing themselves 100%. The last thing you want, whilst going through the stress that buying a property entails, is to call your agent and find out that they are unavailable due to other commitments.

3) Is Your Realtor’s License in Good Standing?
This is critical when hiring not only a real estate agent, but any outside contractor. An agent’s real estate license is the bread and butter of their job. Without it, they cannot present themselves as a fully qualified, professional realtor.

When faced with this question, a good real estate agent will jump at the chance to show you their certifications. If they act slightly skeptically, then you should be concerned.

4) How Many Buyers Do You Currently Represent?
Finding out how many buyers your potential realtor currently represents is a good gauge of their standing in the local area. As a rule of thumb, bigger client bases correlates with a better real estate agent. Word of mouth is a realtor’s best friend, and this is how most buyers discover their agent.

If an agent has a sizable client base then, this is likely through referrals. With this, you can be fairly confident that their promises are delivered.

 This is a double-edged sword however. A sizable client base can significantly reduce the one-to-one time you will have with your agent. New agents managing smaller portfolios will be able to offer far more interaction. If transparency is something you rate highly, then it may be worth considering a new client with a smaller pool of buyers.

5) Do You Offer a Guarantee?
You’ll understandably be wary about signing documents for your real estate agent without knowing the details of their guarantee. Do they offer an opt out period? If so, how do you go about it? Find out if there has been past clients who have chosen this option, and what the process entails.

6) What Is Your Main Selling Point Compared to Other Agents?
Any reputable realtor will jump at the chance to answer this. Typically, they will have a stock answer ready to list the main points which set them apart – and this is not a bad thing! You should be looking for an agent who is honest, has time for their clients and is a great negotiator. Be careful though, a shrewd negotiator may save you some money on the asking price however, they’re unlikely to budge on agent’s fees!

7) Can You Give Me a List of Referrals?
The best real estate agents will have an extensive list of past clients who are ready to vouch for their services. A good degree of transparency shows that their claims are always backed up and their services have been recommended by others. Ask for a list of clients in order to assess the agent’s suitability from a verified third party.

Staging Your Lake Home Property for Sale

Selling a lake home can present certain challenges and opportunities that you may not find with a house away from the water. Staging can help tremendously to secure the highest price for your home and also help to sell it more quickly.

Staging your lake home provides a unique opportunity to tie in elements of your home with the lake or, at a minimum, put the lake on the forefront of a potential buyer’s mind relative to other properties in the area.

Outdoor Staging

The exterior or a home should showcase the fact that along with the house, the buyer will be purchasing the chance to take full advantage of the lake nearby. One of the best ways you can do this is to put some kind of boat either by your dock, or on your beach, depending on how you gain access to the lake.

While any kind of boat will do, from a kayak to a pleasure boat, it is important to take into account what the rest of the neighborhood is like. If everyone else has nice looking boats moored to their docks, you probably want something similar, even if you don’t own one, you may want to think about renting one for the period of time that the house will be shown.

Family/Living Room

here is a good chance that one of the main living areas in your home will have a very nice view of the water. Position your furniture to make that view the focal point of the room.

If you have more than one room with large windows and an excellent view, you don’t necessarily need to do the same thing with each of them. Potential buyers know that they need to be able to put a TV somewhere, and they’ll also want some level of privacy at night as well.

While it may be tempting to go with a nautical theme in a lake house, you might consider alternative design motifs that are less overstated. There is certainly nothing wrong with a few nautical-themed pieces throughout the house, unless you know for certain that your potential buyers are very water sports-minded, sticking with a theme that showcases the lake is a safer strategy.

Kitchen

If your kitchen has windows that face the lake, be sure to completely open up the curtains or blinds, letting buyers know that they have a great view waiting for them every time they use the kitchen.

For a kitchen that opens up into a dining or living area, display a few fresh fruit items or a small bouquet of flowers on the table. You won’t need anything elaborate, just a small bowl of fruit or a small bouquet of freshly picked flowers is all you need.

The important thing is to help convey the feeling of freshness to someone looking at the home, you want to try and convey the feeling that the home is vibrant and welcoming.

Bedrooms

Staging a bedroom in a lake house is a lot like staging one in any other house – you really want to maximize the appearance of space. This means a bed, a couple of pieces of furniture, and not much else on the floor.

People want to know that they are going to have plenty of space in their bedroom and what you are giving them is the maximum amount of space possible.

When the buyer moves in, they know that their items are going to take up more space than what you have in the bedroom, which is its so important to convey the appearance of space within the home, even in small areas.

Bathrooms

As opposed to the rest of the house, a bathroom may be a great place to put up a few nautical motifs. Toothbrush holders, hand towels, soap dishes, boat pictures or anything that can provide a pop of color and give a bathroom a little bit of character.

When someone walks through a house, the last thing they want to see is a bathroom that lacks cleanliness or character. If it’s messy or uninteresting, that thought could start to creep into their mind about the rest of the house. That’s not the lasting impression that you want to leave a potential buyer.