One Two Six Design Diary

While on the topic of great photography, let’s talk about what a home owner should do in preparation to the all so important photo shoot for the property.

You’d wash your face before applying makeup…
You’d floss your teeth before dentist appointment…
You’d vacuum your car before selling…
You’d spray breath-freshener before a date…
…
…

Okay, you get the point, there are many things should be done before the most expensive (in most people’s cases) piece of possession you own gets its photos taken.  Victor (Victor Lin Photography) put together a handy checklist of things the home owners should do, hope it is helpful…

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Doing what we do, we get to see a lot of properties, from cozy condos to mind-boggling mansions. We just want to share some of our observations, hopefully we can help some home owners set the priority in term of preparing their home for the market.

“Curb Appeal” is a very widely used term in real estate, yes it is important to do all you can do to fix up the property and make it look nice, first impression and presentation is very important. Preparing your house for the market doesn’t have to be stressful and doesn’t have to break your bank, there are a lot of DIY projects you can tackle over the weekend.

Here is our short list of DIYs:

• Painting: cheap and effective way to cover up the blemishes and re-fresh your home, if you are not sure what color to paint, stick with safe / neutral colors such as Navajo  White / Swiss Coffee combination (Kelley-Moore)
• Switch Plates: you know, those AC and light switch covers. Good chance that you might have multiple styles of switch plates going on in your home, pick up some new ones and replace them to create a uniformed look throughout the house
• Mulch: Spread some new mulch around the house not only will highlight your landscaping details, the new mulch smell also shouts “renovated home” to the potential buyers
• Planter Boxes / Window Shutters: Spring is here, real estate is picking up, install some planter boxes and window shutters ($15) to highlight those street facing windows and make them look BIGGER! It’s all about curb appeal right?
• Hardwares: door knobs, kitchen cabinet handles, bathroom fixtures… They are surprising easy to replace, in most cases, all you need is a screwdriver! ok, ok, the bathroom fixtures are a bit tougher to deal with… Don’t underestimate these small hardwares, they can do wonders to update the overall look!
• Light Fixtures: many people are uncomfortable around electricity, but changing light fixtures are really quite simple, it is all about twisting wires and securing the fixtures, just make sure you shut off the power before you do anything. Dated light fixtures / chandeliers are eye sores, we call them “pimples” of a home, and they can undermine the other home improvements you’ve already accomplished
• Cleaning: lastly, clean, then clean again, target your kitchen and bathrooms!!

Before the planter box & shutters

After the planter box & shutters treatment

Ok, that’s it for now… Good luck with your projects!

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