Category: Real Estate

Seriously Talented Designer!!!

No I am not tooting my own horn, but on the heals of my last post, this is fitting.  I seriously LOVE real estate! I know I know, but it is true.  It is actually fun for me.  If I could just go look at houses all day I would be a happy camper, but this woman amazes me.  Seriously, I have to give kudos where kudos are due and AnnMarie James, owner of Silver Real Estate is a local real estate agent here in Destin.  A few years ago I met AnnMarie and was witness to a remodel she had done that some clients of mine fell in love with.  Well in my opinion the remodel she did was pretty spectacular so I started kind of watching her work.  I was working on my own remodel and although I wasn’t reselling my own, she was so kind and helpful.  I happened to have a client with property in this same area, so because I was watching this area for activity, this particular property caught my eye.  I can walk into a home and know that AnnMarie touch by its clean uncluttered, open and classic feel.  It is always different and unique, but I always feel like I am at some spa destination.  It is easier for me to show you in pictures so with AnnMarie’s permission, take a look at these before and after pictures of a gorgeous redo in Crystal Beach.

 

Ok here is the exterior – before…

 

Here is the amazing AFTER…

Does not even look like the same house – can you say curb appeal???

Now here are a few more before pictures ~ I attempted to match them up, but I have to be honest here, it was difficult for me to even do that.  This is the front entryway…before…

                                    

Here is the front entry way, AFTER!!!

Another view…before

and after…

The dining area before…

and ~ AFTER! Let there be light!!!

 

The kitchen before…

 

Again, after!

Same house! This needs to be in some Better Homes and gardens magazine, seriously!  I think I mentioned my background in Interior Design, but you can not teach this, this is a skill, and to have this vision is spectacular.  I point this out because one I am absolutely impressed and she is my competition, so I am not making this stuff up – but also to point out how very important this is.

I don’t even have ALL the pictures up, but again, here is the master, before…

 

And after…

Lastly, the pool area before…

and AFTER!

Now, do not get me wrong, AnnMarie, put a LOT of work into this house, but in a matter of a few months, she successfully flipped this house for a profit.  I can not tell you how much because I have no way of knowing the exact numbers, but I can tell you it was on the market for 7 months before it sold the first time and sold for almost 25% less than the original listing price and when AnnMarie sold it – it was on the market for less than 2 weeks and the difference between the listing price and selling price was less than 3% and so that alone speaks volumes.

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Staging IS important!!

I can not emphasize enough just how VERY important this is.  From smells to clutter to wallpaper, to clutter… if you are selling your house or condo take heed!!!  Less is more and at the risk of sounding oh so repetitive, a few simple steps will make a big difference.  The market is obviously heating up so take advantage and step it up.  First and MOST important, declutter.  We all know what this means, you have to do it, bare minimum, make those closets pretty.  Storage is at a minimum in Florida, so show it off because we all have stuff and we all need to know we have a place to put our stuff.  If your stuff is filling up a place that we could store our stuff for some silly reason, we can not phathom our stuff in that place.  Rent a storage unit if you are particularly attached to your stuff.  You can rent a climate controlled unit here locally for under $100.00 a month and they will even provide a free moving truck.  It is that important – get it ready and stage it properly before you put it on the market.  I am not telling you, you will make a lot more money, but I am telling you if you do these things, you will sell it faster and more than likely get fair market value.  If your house is not staged properly, you will likely not get fair market value.

All personal pictures – they are lovely, but take them down.  I do not care how great they are, you want your new buyers to put themselves in your house as owners, not as guests.  If your pictures are up – some potential buyers can not do this.  I have been in properties that are staged so well, they still have a few frames around the house, but they are the stock photos in the frame – perfect!

Silk plants, for the most part, store them, they are dust catchers and a lot of people simply do not like them.

Towels – please please please do not leave wet towels out, throw them in the dryer or somewhere else. Get rid of old towels, clean white fluffy towels please.

Wallpaper – I know you may have had that border up forever, and it is easy to take down, so just do it,  take it down and while you are at it, paint is cheap, a fresh neutral coat – not a bad idea.  I have a few neutral colors I LOVE and some fun beachy colors if you’re interested!!!

0-6-1 0-7-1 e39686afafd0f6371cb33d2275ef5672-1 These are a few of my FAVORITE things!!!