This week we met with Realtor® survey respondents, home stagers, staging bloggers and members of the press to discuss the results of the HomeGain 2009 Top 12 Home Improvements Survey on HomeGain Radio.

If you didn’t have a chance to attend, listen to it here:

Participant Comments Included:

Stephanie Decker, Staged Homes Marin: “The timing of the results coming out was amazing because I had an office presentation that day and it was very useful information for me to include. It gave me more substance to what I was trying to say and what I am trying to do to help the Realtors. I really appreciate it.”

Lise Desormeaux, RMR Real Estate Marketing: “More people are becoming aware of what needs to be done to market a property these days. I agree with the survey findings that HomeGain has compiled. I’m appreciative as a home stager for this information.”

Gina Vierra, StagedHomes: “When was the data compiled? Where can I find the data?” (answers: October 2009; blog.homegain.com)

News coverage of the October Home Improvement  includes: Continue reading this post

HomeGain.com recently conducted its third nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer™ survey (previously conducted in 2003 and 2007) to reveal the top 12 low cost*, do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people getting their home ready to sell.

Nearly 1,000 REALTORS® responded to the survey. (See complete survey results)

Referring to the charts below, the top home improvement per region by return on investment (ROI) is:

• Home Staging (West and South)
• Clean and Declutter (East and Mid-West)

Lightening and Brightening is the 2nd most popular home improvement project in all regions that Realtors recommend to home sellers, except for in the Mid-West, where Landscaping takes 2nd place.

By price increase, the top home improvements are:

• West: Updating Kitchen and Home Staging (Tie for $2,500 each average home price increase)
• East: Updating Kitchen (average of $3,500 price increase) followed by Painting Interior Walls and Painting Outside of Home (Tie for $2,500 each in average price increase)
• South and Mid-West: Updating the Kitchen (average of $2,500 price increase)

The top most recommended home improvement Realtors advise their seller clients are:

• West and East: Clean and Declutter (98%)
• South: Clean and Declutter, Lighten and Brighten, Replace or Shampoo Carpets (all tie with 98% recommendations)
• Mid-West: Paint Interior Walls and Replace or Shampoo Carpets (both tie with 99% recommendations)

Complete Regional results are as follows:

Continue reading this post

HomeGain.com recently conducted its third nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer™ survey (previously conducted in 2003 and 2007) to reveal the top 12 low cost*, do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people getting their home ready to sell.  Nearly 1,000 REALTORS® responded to the survey. (See complete survey results)

Thousands of REALTORS and Home Stagers use "Home Sale Maximizer" to advise their home seller clients.

Home Staging is reported to be the 2nd most valuable home improvement project to a seller when it comes to selling a home by return on investment (ROI), according to surveyed Realtors.

Home Staging is also the 3rd highest price increase to a home’s resale value ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase to a home’s selling price, which is a 586% ROI)

82% of Realtors nationwide recommend home sellers do DIY home staging.

Staging has rose on the list of priorities over the years. In 2007 survey results, Lightening and Brightening had the second highest ROI followed by Home Staging. Two years later, Home Staging overtakes Lightening and Brightening.

How many Realtors recommend professional home staging the majority of the time? Continue reading this post

Due to popular demand from the real estate community, HomeGain.com regularly conducts its nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer™ survey. Past findings from the survey have been a guide for thousands of home sellers in preparing their home for sale.

HomeGain recently conducted a new survey of top 12 low cost*, do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people getting their home ready to sell.  Nearly 1,000 REALTORS® responded to the survey.

The top five nationwide home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers, based on average cost and return on investment (ROI) to sellers, are:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering ($200 cost / $1,700 price increase / 872% ROI / 98% recommended)
2. Home staging ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase / 586% ROI / 82% recommended)
3. Lightening and brightening ($230 cost / $1,300 price increase / 572% ROI / 95% recommended)
4. Landscaping ($320 cost / $1,500 price increase / 473% ROI / 94% recommended)
5. Repair Plumbing ($385 cost / $1,250 price increase / 327% ROI / 88% recommended)

Costs are averages and rounded up. For ranges of values, see chart 1 below. For actual price increase, see chart 2 below.

Cleaning and de-cluttering continues to  rank as the top suggested home improvement (since the survey was originally conducted in 2003). This low cost home improvement is recommended by 98% of Realtors and costs less than $200 but has a returning value of nearly $1,700 to the home’s sale price, or an 872% return (ROI).

“Inexpensive cosmetic home improvements and basic improvements greatly enhance the value of the home,” stated Carol Wilson of Carpenter Real Estate in Indianapolis, IN (AgentEvaluator member since 1999). Continue reading this post

As a REALTOR®, communicating on a regular basis with the seller is a crucial component of the listing’s success. And, as I have so often found from experience, sellers who have mentally made the transition from “homeowner to home seller” have a much easier time accepting advice and feedback from their real estate agent realizing it as a means to an end: the sale of their home.

Such was the case for one of my listings (before and after pictures, below), a truly beautiful single family home that I sold back in early February, recently featured in the May, 2009 edition of REALTOR.org “Best Room Makeovers”.

Painted in a South-West Adobe orange color motif, many buyers just found the family room too loud for their tastes.

The seller originally gave me resistance about changing the color, but after reading the feedback I was sending him from buyers, he finally realized the family room needed to be re-painted. Continue reading this post

HomeGain, the first website to offer free instant home valuations, just released instant home values and home sale maximizer widgets for free download.

There are three different versions of each of the Instant Home Valuation and Home Sale Maximizer widgets. (pictured below)

These widgets work best for HomeGain AgentView members. If you have a HomeGain AgentView membership and place one of these widgets on your site, when your visitors request a home valuation or to use the Home Sale Maximizer tool in the zip codes where you are featured, they will be sent to your AgentView module where they can review their home valuation or access the Home Sale Maximizer tool.

These widgets are a great way to attract visitors and to get them to come back. Used in conjunction with AgentView it allows AgentView members to keep their visitors engaged on their sites and on their AgentView sites.

The widgets are also a great addition to any website in need of quality home valuation or home improvement content.

If you are interested in getting these consumer-pleasing widgets for your website, click here.

Try HomeGain’s free instant Home Valuation Tool here