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A handy product for homeowners #2- Greasy – Sticky stuff

Monday, December 12th, 2011

Another product that I have had great success with is Krud Kutter Cleaner/Degreaser. As a bonus.. it’s an Krud Kutter Cleaner Degreaser - A great product when you are getting your home ready to sell eco-friendly product that is non-toxic.

I first heard about Krud Kutter when I was getting my accreditation as a Home Stager (AHS). This is a great all around product for homeowners that does things that your average antiseptic/window cleaner/pine stuff don’t neccessarily do well.

It’s great for cleaning around your stove/oven and range hood… it made quick work of our Thanksgiving mess…

My favorite thing about Krud Kutter is using it to clean woodwork (not the painted kind) If you have wood railings in your home… you might notice that as the humidity rises that the railings might get “sticky” (especially if you have children) or your wood doors might have some fingerprint “grime” on them. We use a rag and Krud Kutter to clean the wood and then some Old English to bring the luster back.

Posted in Buying Tips, Home Staging, selling tips | 2 Responses »

A handy product for homeowners #1- Wood Scratches

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Old English Wood Scratch Cover If you have natural /stained woodwork, cabinets or furniture you’ve probably been subject to some of the same things that we have… scratches and other blemishes. We could blame it on the kids, the dog, the carpet installers.. but, wherever the fault lay… sometimes the finish just gets scratched.

For heavy duty blemishes, you may have to resort to using a stain. We’ve done this and also used stain to make small scratches disappear. This takes a bit of commitment and some preparation.

A couple of years ago our flooring guy (Rob at Exploring Flooring (630) 393-2020) told us about Old English Scratch Cover and it was a game changer. Light and medium scratches just disappear with a rag and a swipe.

We also use Old English to wipe down and refresh our oak cabinets… the product comes in two different shades (test on a small area first) but we’ve found that we usually use the darker one, even on our medium toned cabinets. We gave all of our cabinets a good going over as we were replacing the hardware (think of those handles as “jewelry”) and then everything was just so fresh.

When we put our last home on the market we used Krud Kutter To get rid of finger/handprints on the doors and stairway railings and then wiped everything down with Old English, it made us wish that we had done it sooner… when we moved into the new place we did it all immediately.

While I am sure that there are other products out there that will do similar things, I’ve had great success with this little (less than $5.00) bottle of magic for homeowners.

I’ve found it available for sale at local grocery and hardware stores.

Posted in Buying Tips, Home Staging, selling tips | 1 Response »

Sold in two weeks!

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

You would think that with the preparation that we put into it, we would have been ready for the sale. Over the course of two weeks we had five different groups of people come through the house, four of which came back twice, one came back three times. We sold on the 14th day and didn’t know where we were going. I ascribe to the rule that if you have a good and reasonable buyer who is paying a good price… you take it and figure things out from there.

We started planning for our home sale early.. doing things to the house that we would enjoy but with an eye towards salability. While many of the working systems in the house were older (but well maintained) we were able to counter that by offering a home warranty because everything that you could readily see, looked so good.

Janet Kidston of Inspired to Sell™; Our Home Stager (A complimentary service that I offer to my home sellers in most cases) did a terrific job enhancing what we had and adding important touches to the home.

We were ready for her, but she cleaned and organized and rearranged. Here are just a few examples:

In the Family Room, Janet rearranged the furniture to showcase the huge yard and the fireplace she also rearranged the bookcases

In the Living Room Janet moved one of our wrought iron tables out and softened the room with one of our taller wood tables:

Living Room - 925 Burgess Hill Rd, Brighton Ridge- Naperville IL 60565

In the Upstairs Office, she added the lamp, the picture, the basket to hide sloppy papers and the pillows… she also re-purposed the twig wreath.

2nd floor office - 925 Burgess Hill Rd, Brighton Ridge- Naperville IL 60565

In the Kitchen, Janet picked out the large corner cabinet and said it needed to look big inside… she was in for a little disappointment when she discovered that was our nightmare Tupperware cabinet! We couldn’t find anything in there. She reorganized it and gave us some hints to keep it that way… so far… so good (even at the new place!) She also told me what to put away and what to keep out (it wasn’t until the walk through that the buyer asked where I kept my microwave) and then supplied a fall cookbook for our book holder and a bowl of green apples to accent the colors in the room

While Janet staged or organized all of the rooms in the house (except the storage room… but she kept checking on me) I’ll share just a couple more:

The Master Bath looked great after all the work had been done, but it was cold and impersonal. Janet supplied all of the wall hangings and a vase with twigs for the corner of the tub, she also brought in the color purple with the towels, brought in nesting baskets for height and to de-emphasize the corner, and used one of our vases to hold cuttings with red berries from a tree outside. It was a warm effect adding some drama and color.

Trevors room needed some work (as most teenagers rooms do…) We had the room painted in Shaker Beige (Sherwin Williams) in preparation for Home Staging. Janet moved the bed, reworked some posters, moved the desk, loaned us the office chair, cleaned the closet and showcased the things that were important to him… the XBOX was hiding as were the games.

The Basement Bedroom was really more of a storage area and while it connects to the full bath, it never got much use. Janet moved the bed and cleared things out, she pulled an unused poster from our storage and leaned it against the wall for color. Her changes made the room look large and inviting:

Lastly, for now… she didn’t forget about the front of the house… she added some mums for color:

If you are looking for a great Home Stager you can reach Janet at:

Janet Kidston
Inspired to Sell™
(630) 399-1484

And if all of this work seems daunting… call me and we can go through your property together to help you plan for the future. If you need to sell right away, I know some quality contractors and can supply Home Staging services

Posted in Home Staging, Marketing, Naperville, selling tips | 4 Responses »

Thinking of Selling? Think Ahead!

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

We’ve kept our Brighton Ridge house well maintained;

We’ve fixed things, painted, finished the basement, built out additional closet space, put granite in the kitchen, replaced the appliances etc…

But, in early 2009 we sat down and thought about what we would have to do if we wanted to sell, especially in a slow real estate market. What could we do that would maximize the $ and minimize the time on the market.

Our house was built in 1988, which doesn’t make it old… but does make some of the parts “ancient”. Our two furnaces and two air conditioners are original and while they work fine, at that age they are sure to raise some eyebrows. The water heaters were both replaced in 1998 when we moved in, they haven’t given us a lick of trouble but they are near the end of their life. We had too much wallpaper, we had a hole in the wall, our last dog had scratched the heck out of some of the woodwork, our three boys had wreaked havoc on the walls and floors of the finished basement, the Andersen Window crank housings had cracked and the wood sills had dried up.

Needless to say… we felt overwhelmed.

Kitchen with new fridge, door pulls and new Travertine backsplash - Cabinets "refreshed" - wallpaper removed - clutter gone

Lisa started with the kitchen wallpaper, she removed all of it and she and (our son) Trevor repainted the kitchen in a soft green. Lisa also wiped the cabinets with a light stain to refresh them and replaced the handles. We were going through Costco one day and they had a stainless Whirlpool french door refrigerator for less than $1000, so we bought it (great deal!)

New french door fridge, new handles on cabinets, wallpaper removed and freshly painted
I ordered all new window cranks and Andersen crank housings on the internet, I removed the old ones, lightly sanded the sills (where needed) applied new stain and polyurethane and installed the new plastic housings. While the windows didn’t look new they looked great; fresh, clean and healthy.

Former Teenager bedroom redone - New paint and refreshed woodwork - window sashes refreshed

We took the old teenagers dark bedroom, repainted in light tones and made it into a real guest room.

I repaired some walls in the basement and repainted.

Repaired holes in basement walls - repainted where needed - boxed up old toys - decluttered

The above items (except the fridge) didn’t cost much but they were things that we were able to enjoy at a minimal cost and do ourselves.

Former teenagers room goes from almost black to bright
What we really paid for:

The bathrooms were big upgrades and we hired someone to fix the hole in the wall and re-paper it, we also hired painters for a few rooms and did some touch up ourselves. We had Rob from Exploring Flooring come out and he replaced the carpet in the basement, the den and the family room.

We also had Bill Bassetto “Bassetto Builders“ (he did a lot of the bathroom work) fix a hole in the garage door and relevel the paver sidewalk. Bill has been a Custom Home Builder in Naperville for years.

And then when we finally made the decision to move… we hired Janet Kidston from Inspired to Sell™ in Naperville to stage our house to sell

New first floor bath - wallpaper removed - new tile - new cabinet with granite (from Costco) staged By Janet Kidston

And don’t forget to download our free e-book “450 ideas to help your home sell faster”

Posted in Home Staging, Marketing, Naperville, Personal, selling tips | No Responses »

Updating the house – The Master Bath

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

We had one of those 80′s style master baths. Shiny white tile and a cavernous space:

Original Master Bath- 925 Burgess Hill Rd - Brighton Ridge Naperville IL

We were walking through the Naperville Home Depot one day (working on other projects) when we were approached by someone asking if we would like a free estimate on bathroom remodeling. We said “sure!” and they sent someone out.

The guys were nice and presented themselves well, but threw “ballpark numbers” at us to gauge our interest. We were resistant to this method and asked for a firmer “estimate” the guys promised to get back to us. A week later, we called them and were told that they didn’t realize that they hadn’t gotten back to us, he promised to get back to us that afternoon. Another week later we got a referral for a real contractor through a friend at Edward Health and Fitness.

Bill Bassetto, Bassetto Builders (630) 220-0802 came out to see us right away. He grasped that we were looking for ways to save a few dollars, kind of like on HGTV when the homeowner participates to some degree.

Bill gave us all sorts of great tips and ideas, made suggestions and gave us quotes quickly.

Original Master Bath- 925 Burgess Hill Rd - Brighton Ridge Naperville IL

New Master Bath- 925 Burgess Hill Rd - Brighton Ridge Naperville IL

He suggested that we use Travertine tile as it can be reasonably priced and has an upscale feel. He suggested doing some heavy duty shopping as we would need almost 900 sq ft for the Master Bath and another 450 for the hall bath.

We visited the local tile shops and found the best price to be around $7.99 a square foot before we got his contractor discount. We were in Home Depot (yes, again!) and spotted 18″ Travertine tiles for $2.99 a sq ft, we went through all the boxes picking out the best and bought 20 boxes. Each of them weighed in at about 55 lbs and let me tell you.. my car and back were not happy. We backed up to the house and schlepped each of those boxes up the stairs to be ready for the work to begin.

The next day…. we were at Menards and noticed Travertine tile that was even nicer, but it was only $1.99 a sq ft. So we went through the boxes, loaded 20 of them on a cart, paid for them, loaded them into my poor car, carried them upstairs and stacked them nicely. Then we reversed the process to Home Depot and returned the 20 we bought from them.

We proceeded to clean out the Naperville, Plainfield and Bolingbrook Menards to complete our project.

Bill also suggested heating the master bathroom floors, he said he’s never had anyone regret it. He was right. The materials were less than $800.00 and we enjoyed it from day one.

Bill also asked if we would like him to raise our cabinets (a resounding yes!) and he built a new base for them.

I suspected that there was dead space behind the shower in the master and asked Bill to expand the original space if possible, he was able to double the size, he relocated the plumbing, put in two shower heads and added a bench:

New Master Shower - 925 Burgess Hill Rd - Brighton Ridge Naperville IL

Our total cost on the project was around $11,000, which is significantly different than the ballpark of 20,000 to 25,000 from Home Depot (and that didn’t include some of the extras)

Was it worth it? We’ll know soon enough, in the meantime… we’ve been enjoying it.

Posted in Home Staging, Marketing, Naperville, selling tips | No Responses »

Home Stager – Designer

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

I am an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) but that doesn’t make me a great Home Stager.

I’ve got thoughts… tips and tricks and over 21 years of experience in real estate… I’ve got a pretty good idea of what works. But my eye for design would never get me on HGTV. You really need one of those people that can take what you have and build on it… enhance it.

Before

After

We hired Janet Kidston of Inspired to Sell™ in Naperville this year to help us get our house ready for wedding guests. Wow! I didn’t realize that we had such nice stuff. Janet thinks about the little things in the big picture. In addition to helping us rearrange (stage) the home, Janet had us thinking about guest toiletries, breakfast, coffee service, towels and more. She also became our personal shopper helping us enhance the positives and minimize any negatives. This not only made our home more enjoyable, but decreased the usual pandemonium that ensues when I cook Eggs Benedict for 22 people.

What we couldn’t get on loan from Janet, she went and bought for us. Not only does she recognize what you need, she knows where to get it at a very good price.

Janet has become our defacto expert whenever we have questions or thoughts about doing things in our own home. If Lisa and I disagree on something, we “ask Janet” and get some great ideas and feedback. Janet is innovative, cost efficient and wonderful to work with.

We “ask Janet” and you can too:

Janet Kidston, Inspired to Sell™ 630-399-1484

Posted in Home Staging, Marketing, Naperville, selling tips | No Responses »
Tags: Home Staging

What’s with all of the acronyms?

Friday, April 16th, 2010

What is a CRS®?

It stands for Certified Residential Specialist. It is the Ph.D. of real estate! It’s the residential real estate industry’s most advanced “degree” and only awarded to those who complete a series of residential sales courses, plus have proven experience and accomplishment in residential sales. The CRS makes a difference. It’s your assurance that you are working with one of the top professionals in the business. This nationally acclaimed symbol of excellence (CRS) is the extra boost that sets Realtors apart from other sales associates. Only 5% of the Realtors nationwide have demonstrated this experience and accomplishment in residential sales.

What is an ABR®?

It stands for Accredited Buyer Representative. The ABR designation requires extensive classroom training, a formidable written examination on legal and practical aspects of agency representation, and substantial practical experience in buyer representation. An ABR is fully committed to the Buyer in a real estate transaction, from the initial selection of properties, all the way through contract negotiations and settlement. The ABR designation, a benchmark of excellence in buyer agency service, demonstrates to clients that the agent has taken steps to continue their education in the field of buyer agency, and has the proven experience and training to deliver ethical and professional service to buyers.

What is an e-PRO®?

e-PRO is the only certification program of its kind recognized nationwide and endorsed by the National Association of REALTORS^®.

What is an ASP™?

Accredited ASP Stagers and ASP Real Estate Agents are true Professionals trained under strict guidelines using proven Staging techniques developed for over 30 years. When you bring your home on the market and prepare your house for sale always hire an ASP because they are the true leaders in the Home Staging and Real Estate Industries

Posted in Buying Tips, Marketing, Professional Associations, selling tips | No Responses »

Sign in? Who do you think you are?

Wednesday, December 6th, 2006

Why would you want to register on a local real estate website?

Realtor.com is an advertising site owned by a company called Homestore and while it’s licensed to operate using the Realtor name it is a for profit company that has yet to turn a profit… forever squeezing out pennies and irritating the agents and companies that it is charged with helping. The properties are used to draw you in so that they can build ads around the listings… this makes the site painfully slow. Realtor.com is an opt-in site missing lots of data… it is notoriously out of date and doen’t let you know if a property is under contract… creating an unfriendly and tiresome homesearch. MLS systems are starting to pull out of Realtor.com as it has been discovered that eventually almost everybody chooses to find a local connection.

Eventually, as you get more serious in your home search, you will want to “go local“.

Most people don’t understand why agents ask them to register on their sites to get more information about properties for sale. The truth is that we don’t need it for our own listings or even those of our company (unless they have a rule) the problem lies with showing you another companies listings.In order to address this… two options were developed; IDX and VOW.

IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange. This is an opt in (or opt out… depending where you are) system. No registration is necessary.. the listings that you are looking at should say something about “compliments of” the listing company (probably in really tiny letters) This is kind of like walking into my office, plopping down in a chair and going through the various homes magazines… it’s fun, there is great information but it’s lacking in depth and missing a bunch…. and you are so close to all of the information.

VOW stands for Virtual Office Website. This means that I can treat you like the person who walked into my office asking about homes… meaning we plug in your criteria and go through the whole Multiple Listing Service so that you don’t miss anything, except that you get to do it in
your own sweet time. The great thing about a VOW site is that you get access to all of the properties… there is no “opt out” for the Real Estate companies and you don’t have to wait for days to get the updated info. Some of us can also allow access to recent sold properties… The VOW solution is the ultimate in home information, but it comes with a price… just like if you came into my office, I would have some information about you (you could lie… but that’s beside the point) The National Association Of Realtors has set a national policy that all VOW sites require registration.

So, there you go….WestSuburban Real Estate was the first of its type in Illinois and has been helping people find their homes since the spring of 2000. The other site that I use: NapervilleLuxury Homes offers a different format for home searches. They both offer multiple pictures, virtual tours and e-mailed updates… it’s really
more a matter of preference.

I currently feature two different VOW systems… one of them

It’s not a matter of you giving up your anonymity… it’s about empowering you with information for you to enjoy some autonomy. The payoff for us is that we hope you grow comfortable with us and our services, that over time you decide we are the “right ones” to help you with this process.

If not… you can always unsubscribe… I promise, I won’t hold it against you

Posted in Buying Tips, Home Search, Marketing, selling tips | 3 Responses »

It’s attached… what is it? Condo? Townhome? What’s the difference?

Wednesday, December 6th, 2006

They both appear to be townhomes… they’ve got seperate entrances, no neighbors above or below, attached garage etc… still one is a townhouse and the other is a condominium.

What’s up with that?? We use the term “townhouse” loosely to describe a style of attached home, yet in a more specific sense… in a true townhome you would own the land that the property sits on. In this case you would need true homeowners insurance, even though the exterior may be maintained by the
association, you still need to insure your share of the structure.

This is a Townhome in Cinnamon Glen at Butterfield in Aurora Illinois

Condominium is a form of ownership. With a condominium association you own your unit but the association owns all of the exterior walls and the land it sits on too, you are part of the association so you are one of many owners. Typically you need insurance that is akin to renters insurance, since your monthly dues actually pay to insure the buildings.

A Condominium in the Woodlands at Oakhurst North in Aurora Illinois

As you can see, you can’t always tell by looking. Obviously if it’s a large building… you are probably dealing with a condo (or a co-op in some markets), but that’s because the term “condo” (condominium) describes the ownership.

In our area Multiple Listing Service (MLS) we lump them all together and call them “single family attached homes” and that that seems to cover it.

Manor homes, coach homes, garden homes are also condominiums, just good marketing offering a pleasant sounding way to describe smaller buildings. These can easily be mistaken for townhouses as well.

To search for single family homes (whether they are attached or not… visit) Real Estate in Chicago’s Western Suburbs where you’ll have access to the full gamut of available properties in the area.

Posted in Buying Tips, condos, Home Search, Marketing, Observations, selling tips | No Responses »

Marketing 101 in the Western Suburbs

Sunday, September 24th, 2006

I was recently talking to another agent in the office about listings that only offer a picture of the front of the house… We agreed that we always think: ” it may be a bad agent… or it may be a bad house… I’m not really sure”

You see, in the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois (MLSNI) we can add a total of seven pictures.. as well as a virtual tour to the listing. Not everybody likes virtual tours… but pictures are something that everyone wants (buyers and agents included) It costs nothing to use this feature and it can be done at the same time as the actual listing. I was wondering what other people thought about this and posed the question to a national group of real estate agents in one of my networking groups.

These real estate agents all said that if the MLS allows 7 (or more) pictures and the listing doesn’t include that many, they assume that something is wrong with the property. This is a real problem for those sellers in a slower market and it’s one that they are generally not aware of.

One agent from Florida said that if they talk about the pool in the remarks but don’t show a picture they assume that something is not right with the pool.

Another top agent said they definitely make assumptions based on the amount or lack of pictures. Like if the agent only uses interior pictures (or exterior only)

Of the 17 responses to my question 17 (100%) of the agents responded that they assume the worst when photos are not used properly……

One other thought is that these pictures automatically propogate throughout the system, showing up on real estate related sites all over the Internet (assuming that the agent elects to do that…that will be another marketing blog topic!) including Realtor.com if the agent pays a little extra for the expanded listings.

Sometimes it’s what you don’t say (or show) that influences people..

Posted in Marketing, Observations, selling tips | No Responses »