Sell Your Home

If you've been looking at Wheeling homes for sale, you'll want to declutter before you move. This will make packing so much easier. Thinking about selling? You're not off the hook! Our real estate agents tell every seller about the importance of depersonalizing and decluttering before listing a home.

Getting the whole family involved is the best way to declutter your house once and for all. Here are 5 fun and simple ways to teach your kids how to declutter. 

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Before putting your home on the market, you want to optimize its visual appeal to potential buyers. Your first instinct might be to incorporate today's interior design trends. After all, they have proven popularity, right?

Actually, design trends have a specificity that can prevent buyers from seeing themselves in your home. Our REALTORS® share some trends you should avoid to keep an engaging balance of current and timeless.

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Talk to anybody who has sold a home, and they'll all tell you the same thing—staging is crucial. Especially in a challenging real estate market, the right staging can make all the difference. 

Our real estate agents have been involved in countless home sales in Wheeling and the surrounding areas, and we asked them to share some of the biggest mistakes they've seen when it comes to staging a home. Here's what we've learned to avoid.

1. Not Having a Plan
   Before you even start moving furniture around your home, you need to have a strategy. Professional interior designers never 'wing it,' and neither should you. See how the space is laid out, how lighting affects its appearance, and how the rooms can best be made to flow together. It's also worth considering what demographic might be expected to be interested in your home, and how you can appeal to your target audience. But be careful about targeting your home too specifically; you don't want to turn buyers off either. 
2. Leaving Too Much Furniture
   Too much furniture in your home can leave it looking cluttered and small. Most home staging experts recommend removing somewhere between one-third and half of your furniture before showing your home. That being said, don't get too hung up on the exact number of pieces you leave behind. Just make sure your home appears spacious yet not empty. It's important to find the right middle ground. As much as you don't want your home to look cluttered, it also shouldn't be empty to the point that it feels cold or uninviting.
3. Trying to Be Trendy
   It doesn't matter what type of decor is hot right now, and it doesn't matter what colors are in style. Everything eventually looks dated, so it's best not to go out of your way to impress buyers with your great taste, or with the hipness of your decor. Classic design elements and neutral colors are usually the way to go. Plus, as great as your design sense might be, buyers should be able to see their vision for the house, not yours. The style most staging experts aim for is what's known as transitional style—a few trendy elements accenting a classic overall design.
4. Making it Personal
   Before showing your home, remove anything that might suggest that somebody already lives there. Family photos, children's drawings, toiletries, cosmetics, items of clothing, and other personal effects should all be packed up and out of sight. Your home should become a blank canvas onto which the buyer can project their future.
5. Making it Too Generic
   Chances are, anyone who comes to your open house will be looking at a lot of other Wheeling homes for sale. You don't want yours to look just like all the rest. While it's important to avoid doing anything to turn buyers off (i.e., trendy colors, personal objects), you also don't want your house to be forgettable. Highlight any unique or unusual features that might appeal to buyers, and don't be afraid to try a unique layout when you arrange the furniture. As long as the design has a good balance and flow to it, a unique layout can catch a buyer's attention.  

Contact us today to learn more about staging your home to sell, and talk to our real estate agents about how we can help sell your Wheeling home. 

As the weather gets warmer, more buyers are looking for a home, and more homes are on the market. If you're planning on listing your home, you'll be competing with many other sellers and will need to find ways to make your home more attractive to potential buyers.

Our REALTORS® suggest the following 9 ways to make your home a stand out!

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Is your home ready to handle the challenges that come with winter weather? Focusing on home improvement is a good idea no matter the season, and the right home improvement projects can make life more pleasant.

Winter home improvement projects can help you save on heating costs while making your home more efficient. Our REALTORS® are here to help you prepare for the season, with seven tips for improving your home in the winter.

1. Seal Windows and Doors
   Do drafts in your current house have you thinking about shopping for new Wheeling homes for sale? Keep drafts – and heating costs – to a minimum this year by sealing all of your windows and doors. Silicone caulk does a great job of sealing drafts when possible, and weatherstripping is perfect for areas where caulk is impractical. Be sure to check vents and other openings for air leaks, in addition to all windows and doors.

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Our brokers know that when it comes to the best Wheeling homes for sale, there is no wrong time to list. With help from the right real estate expert, you can sell your West Virginia home any time of the year – and that includes holidays.

After all, sometimes you can't wait!

You may have heard that the holidays aren't the best time to list. After all, spring and summer tend to be busier seasons. However, buyers are on the lookout all year round. Their needs, like yours, don't end between Thanksgiving and New Years.

There are even some great advantages to doing so. For example, you'll be more likely to attract motivated buyers who'll take action on your listing. 

To maximize a home's appeal during the holidays, take these steps:

1. Use Subtle Holiday Decorations
   All in all, the main lesson is to decorate tastefully. You can still enjoy any type of holiday flourish in moderation. For example, you might decide on a smaller wreath for the front door.

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Our REALTORS® are making it easier than ever for you to find the best Wheeling homes for sale. Wheeling is a major city and the county seat of Ohio County. Located right in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it offers both natural appeal and wonderful amenities.

If you're thinking about putting your home on the market, one kind of appeal beats them all:  That's curb appeal!

Curb appeal is one of the most essential elements of getting a home sold. The view of a home from the curb will be prospective buyers' very first look at it. That first impression can frame everything else they see around the property.

Luckily, your home doesn't have to be brand new or have all the latest gadgets to have head-turning curb appeal. If you're selling in the spring months, you have an advantage: Gorgeous foliage, light, and weather in the spring can make homes look more charming.

You've heard plenty about curb appeal, now let's see how your home can have even more of it!

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Are you considering putting or keeping your home on the market over the holidays? Selling over the holiday season – from November through January – can be challenging. People are busy this time of year, and the weather isn't always inviting. However, there can be advantages to holiday season selling. With fewer Wheeling homes for sale on the market this time of year, there will be less competition for buyers. Holiday buyers are likely to be serious ones if they are squeezing home shopping into such a busy season. Additionally, you'll be able to put the cheer of the season to work for you in showcasing your home. Here are six tips for selling your home during the holidays:

1. Be especially mindful of curb appeal – The exterior of your home is on full display in the winter months, with no leaves on the trees to provide any cover. Make sure it's up to snuff by touching up paint, washing windows and cleaning gutters, etc. Also, be sure that your yard is clean, neat and attractive, and that all pathways and stairs are kept clear of leaves and debris, or ice and snow.
   
   

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You've put a lot of time and effort into getting your home ready to go on the market and listed it for sale. A few showings later, that hard work has paid off – you have an offer. But what if that offer isn't quite what you expected? Perhaps the proposed price is significantly lower than your asking price, or there are too many contingencies – enough to make you feel that the offer is way too shaky for comfort.

The good news is that you are not obligated to accept an offer you are not happy with, nor do you have to reject it outright and risk cutting your potential buyer loose to consider other Wheeling homes for sale. In most cases, that first offer is not a "take it or leave it" sort of deal, but merely a starting point in negotiations between a potential buyer and you, the seller. So what's your next step in those negotiations? Making changes to the buyer's proposed terms, which is called making a counteroffer.

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Are you planning to sell your home? If so, there are a few things you should know about getting it ready to go on the market. There are things you can do to make your house stand out from the crowd of Wheeling homes for sale, making it easier to sell and maybe even getting over your asking price. Our real estate agents know the ins and outs of selling your home.  Here are ten ways to prep your home for sale:

1. Curb Appeal
   Making a great first impression is essential to making your best sale, and that starts the minute home shoppers pull up to your home for a viewing. Brighten up your exterior, whether that means having your siding power-washed, touching up the trim with fresh paint, washing windows, tightening up loose porch railings, or replacing missing shingles or shutters. Your yards, front and back, should also be tidy and attractive. Keep your lawns mowed, shrubs trimmed and plant some bright flowers.
   
   

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