Megan Werpy Realtor®

Staging Your Home - What You Need to Know to Sell High

Thursday, January 7, 2016

The thoughts of having to stage my home with two children and a busy household is absolutely daunting however, so is getting an offer way lower than my home is worth because all the clutter, lack of lighting or scary paint color choices are scaring buyers in worried about how much other work they will have to do besides moving into their new home.

First impressions are EVERYTHING. Here are my easy tips for busy families to get the most bang for their homes.

First, de-clutter. If you don't touch something daily, put it away. If you don't have space, this is the time to invest in a storage shed. For one, when you have spur of the moment showings, you'll be able to have your home looking nice faster and you are going to give potential buyers a better first impression. If you are looking for a great book on getting rid of your junk in a way that will serve you before and after your move, check out the book below. (Affiliate link)

Give your home light and lots of it! Change those light bulbs to 100 watt bulbs and be strategic about adding lamps and lighting to different areas of your home.

A couple things that give your home a higher value look and feel

- Bed skirts (you can buy bed skirts at our local thrift store)
- Headboards
- Minimalist decorating
- Large pictures on your wall denote higher value to the eye
- Adding in landscaping. If you are selling your home next month, now is not the time to add small trees, it won't do much for the value. Adding some nice plants and updating mulch can help
- Make sure it doesn't wreak of dog or any other smells.
- Clean, clean, clean. My great grandmother had eleven children and a small house. She said, we might have an excuse for being poor but we do not have an excuse for being dirty. I am still trying to keep up with her lessons. If you are like me and you are so busy that just keeping up with the day to day cleaning seems like a huge hassle, hire someone in to help.

I will go through your home and help make suggestions. If you wanted to get started before you and I meet, get a third party opinion from a friend or a family member. Ask them where you can move furniture to make things flow. Ask them how they think things flow and feel. It's hard to always make these judgement calls when you've been the one living in the space.

Best of luck staging!

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Aerial Pictures

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Neighborhood Breakdown for Pierre SD

I would break Pierre down into several different neighborhoods. Relating to their school districts. Kennedy Elementary is a brand new school. This area is also has a lot of newly built homes with neighborhoods that are full of children. The homes are well kept and close to the mall and Walmart.

One of my favorite neighborhoods is the Jefferson Elementary neighborhood. I might be parcial because that's the one we live in. The homes are a little older and there is a variety of incomes, home types, and homes with children or not. What we really liked about our home in this area is that we were able to find a piece of property that didn't feel like we had a lot of neighbors by us however, we were still in the city. Not all homes in this area are like that though. Close to Jefferson Elementary there several streets with very similar economical homes. The area feels secluded from busier streets, there are close playgrounds and tennis courts.

Buchanan is a great neighborhood too. I've never heard a bad thing about any of the schools but over and over again I hear parents love Buchanan. There are a lot of neighborhoods and really cute houses in this area. In the Buchanan district there is also a Christian grade school called For His Glory.

The lower Kennedy district by the river is one neighborhood I don't see as many families in. Not to say that there aren't, it's just the families I know don't seem to live there. The people I do know that live in that lower district are single or older without children. It is beautiful down here by the river. You are close to bike paths on the river, beaches and playgrounds.

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Pictures from Around the Local Area

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The best part about Pierre is just how absolutely beautiful it is and how many different landscapes you'll see within a 10 minute radius of the town's center. Many locals call Pierre, Pierr-idise as it's a hidden gem of an amazing lifestyle. There is literally all year long fun with river and lake activities, some of the best hunting in the United States, Walleye Fishing, Salmon Fishing above the dam and miles of trails for biking or walking. A fun little fact is that, Lake Oahe is the second largest reservoir in the world.

Parents magazine featured Pierre, SD for having the most innovative parks and playgrounds for children. They have a newly built Fire Truck playground and a series of mini-playgrounds off a walking trail. It makes for a fun afternoon activity with the whole family. After your walk you can ride over to Zesto's our secret ice cream shop. We like to grab our ice cream and head under the shade trees or drive over to the river and watch the wildlife.

My dad who still lives in New York calls Pierre, Mayberry. If you remember the old television show. It's a wholesome close knit community. I always joke, if my kids ever do anything wrong.. I'm sure I'll know quickly, as everyone knows each other.

My mailman brings my boxes inside my garage
People wave to you as you go down the road on the outskirts of town
When I went into a ditch this winter, I had every single person who drove by stop and ask to help

Hope you enjoy the pictures, I'm thankful that some great photographer friends let me feature some of their photos. These are not to be used or copied in anyway.