This basement at a recent L'esprit listing was for the most part an empty room.

We staged it to help visitors visualize the potential.

It's hard to believe that Spring is nearly here. That's not a cliché intro to my blog, either. I'm saying that because there's snow & ice everywhere outside and I'm actually having a difficult time believing that my toes will ever thaw again. No matter what time of year you happen to be catching this post, we're dishing all about having your ducks in a row to list your home in the next few months. 

This post is for the doers. The ones who are bound and determined to list their house and show it off in the best light. It's for those who have too much time, money, and hard work invested in their home to give it anything but the best send-off.

If you're wanting to push the envelope and make your home stand out from the pack, timing in the market will only get you so far. There needs to be a very clear plan in place for how you are going to present your home.

This aspect is our bread & butter. I sold a house a few days before Christmas at full price using this approach. It is a miracle worker and right now couldn't be a better time to start planning. We want to help you get your prep out of the way so that you're ready to pull the trigger when the timing is right. We're spilling our tricks of the trade, friends! Take notes!

This blog is going to be two-fold. There are two impressions that you have to really nail: online & in-person.

Impress Online

The name of the game is to get as many people to physically view the house as possible. The more people that actually step foot on the property, the greater the odds of receiving an offer. The hands-down most effective way to achieve that is through photography.

As equipped as our phones may be at getting vivid pictures of our animals, legs on the beach, lattes, etc., photographing a home is beyond its ability. Photographers need a wide-angle lens and very specific settings to deal with the complexity of lighting and varying room sizes within a home. People also want to see how the rooms flow from one to the next. They want to get a feel for the layout while clicking through the photos. Long story short: hire a top notch real estate photographer. We keep an amazing one in our back pocket and hire her for our clients. Her photography is one of our most valuable assets and it will be yours too!

Let's play a game! How many differences can you spot between each picture? Or an even better game: how many showings did we receive based off of the new & improved photo?

Twenty-six. That's the number of groups that physically visited this property because they saw the picture on the left. This is a house we listed last year in the Fall. Although it was in need of updating, it's a neat place, has good bones and it sits on a cul de sac lot in a neighborhood with high demand. There was no reason for it to not sell, yet it wasn't seeing much traffic before the new photos.

How many people do you know that describe themselves as being a "visual learner"? Our job is to reveal the potential in a home so that buyers can imagine themselves living there.

Not only does the professional photo on the left actually capture the entire room rather than cutting it off, it's infinitely more inviting. The furniture is oriented so to open the room up, the room is full of natural light, and colors are neutral because we want the buyer to envision their own color palette.

Notice the window. Our photographer takes two separate photos with different exposures and edits the window detail into the picture. Definitely not an iPhone feature!

Without that photography skill, you wouldn't get the full effect of the gorgeous deck off of this master suite.

Of those 26 showings, we received one offer which was our ticket to closing on this home. See how it becomes a numbers game? Not to mention there is a metaphorical clock ticking from the moment you activate the listing on the MLS. Get too long down the road without any interest and people might regard it as 'stale'. Moral is: you can't afford to miss your window of opportunity. Lay the right ground work and increase your odds of an offer (or offers) arriving without a hitch.

By ground work I mean punch list. You might have to paint. You might have to move furniture. You might have to stash half of your belongings, but never should it cost you a ton of money. You're ditching this place anyways! We enjoy helping people work with what they have.

Paint is the cheapest thing you can do with the most impact. There are certain neutral colors that are universally appreciated by everyone. Shades of pale gray, greige, and even subtle blues and greens will always show up good on camera. If you have a room that is a little too bold in color, really think about swapping it for one of these (or something similar).

Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams

Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams

Paint is such a great head start to your listing prep. It really gives you a clean slate to work with and you'll start to see the room in a different light.

The next part of our process is the room by room walk-through. We make a detailed list of what tweaks need to be made prior to pictures in every room. Sometimes it's relocating furniture or a piece of artwork to another room, sometimes it's hiding items altogether. We always want surfaces to be cleared off with maybe one or two decorative items remaining.

This process looks a little different for everyone so there is no magic secret! The most important takeaway is that you can do a lot with what you have. No need to run out to the store and grab a ton decorative things. Typically, your time will be better spent organizing and fine-tuning the stuff already inside your home.

Clear countertops and surfaces are essential!

If you DO feel compelled to buy something new for your space, here is a list of things that we think go a long way:

• White comforter (quilts are great) and bedding

• Large neutral throw pillows

• White hand and bath towels

• White sheer curtains

These are all affordable things that you can absolutely find at Target, Homegoods or TJ Maxx. Who doesn't love a reason to go to Teej?

2106 Crystal Dr. La Grange, Ky.

6037 Edgemont Way Shelbyville, Ky.

During our walk through we usually find places where we can contribute some staging items of our own. Items like the ones above, along with white dishes, greenery and artwork are things we keep on hand to make our photographs perfect.

Impress In-Person

The good news is, you got a lot of the heavy lifting out of the way for your photographs. Ideally, the house should be ready for people to walk through except for one thing. There is a point in a showing that I think has the potential to leave the biggest impression on the buyer. It could be a positive thing, could also be a negative.

It's the moment they SMELL the interior of your home. We've all suffered the panic of wondering if our house smells like a dog kennel and we have somehow become immune to it. If that's you, then believe me when I say - you are in excellent company.

Pets or not, this place has to shine like the top of the Chrysler building. This is the part of the process where the house becomes so clean that it feels like a brand new house and you're secretly annoyed that it hasn't been this way all along.

New construction staging in Villas at Claymont Springs in Crestwood, Ky.

When people first walk in, it's crazy what that initial breath of clean air can plant in a person's subconscious. I've seen it a ton when showing buyers around. They move through their showing thinking ''This is a clean house'. Suddenly they're drawing conclusions about who lives there.

'They probably go to spin class and shop at Banana Republic.' Not long after that they've convinced themselves that the house is in the best condition based off of really no substantial evidence at all. 'I bet they've never forgotten to change the air filter.'

They end up valuing the house that much more, concluding that the home has been well cared for. They may even justify the price based off of how clean it felt.  In a buyer's mind, a clean home is one that's likely been maintained. So understand that the scrubbing is going to pay off.

Now that you've crammed stuff in every closet and drawer in the house trying to make your pictures perfect, you're going to love what I say next.

The closets. Buyers are probably going to open every single one of them. I mean every. last. one. In a perfect world, they should all be organized and not over-stuffed. The less stored in each closet, the more storage space you appear to have. I realize this is adding an entirely new layer onto an already big undertaking... but it's time to Marie Kondo the heck out of your space. Donate what you can, store what you need to in plastic tubs. All will be good.

Check out all that extra storage. How dreamy.

The last tip I'll leave you with is to make sure the landscaping is in good standing before both pictures and showings. This all plays into creating the visual for the buyer. With warm months on the horizon, they want an idea of what it's going to look like with a manicured landscape design. Coming out of Winter, be sure to take advantage of that first warm day going into Spring. Rake up debris, clean out flower beds and window boxes. If your home doesn't have much of a landscape design, then the least it can be is cleaned out and prepped for one.

In the Wintertime, landscaping tends to get overlooked because of the time of year. Since you're listing in the Spring, you have the chance to use it as a competitive edge.

I love how this patio and fire pit area gives the buyer something to look forward to in the upcoming season! What does your property offer that can be utilized in the near future?

As I've already said, this post is not a one size fits all. You're going to need to determine what your obstacles are and come up with a plan based off of those. There's no magic bullet for this listing process - it all comes down to rolling up your sleeves and making it happen.

Through it all, remember that there are no guarantees. Although our success with staging and photography has been huge, there is no way to really know what will happen once a house is listed. It's like I always say, "One day I'm going to wake up a psychic and I'll be the best realtor this town has ever seen."  Until that happens, keep the three factors in mind: Price, Location and Condition. If any one of these elements is off, the others needs to compensate- but that's a post for another day. :)

Super curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this topic! I'm also curious to know what different items would be on your punch list. Shoot me an email at Jordan@finelycraftedrealty.com or DM us on Instagram @FinelyCraftedRealty . Would love to hear from you!

JP