What are Virtual Home Staging Companies?

If you are serious about selling your home, you may want to consider hiring someone to stage your home. However, you may not know what that really means (and entails). 

So, what is home staging?

Home staging is done to make your home look more appealing to buyers. Home staging companies will come into your home and rearrange your furniture to work with your home's layout. They may also add furniture (especially in empty homes) and some subtle touches to make your home look like it belongs in a magazine.  

What are Virtual Home Staging Companies? 

Virtual home staging companies allow buyers to stage their homes to appeal to a wider variety of home buyers. They will take pictures of your home and digitally add furniture and subtle touches to show buyers what your home could look like. They use technology that is very realistic.  

What are the benefits of hiring a virtual home staging company? 

There are many reasons why you need to hire a virtual home staging company. These include: 

• According to the National Association of Realtors, staged homes are more likely to sell. In fact, seventy-seven percent of buyers can see themselves actually living in a home that was staged. Thirty-one percent of buyers are willing to spend more on a home that was staged. 
• For homes that are virtually staged, you can expect more showings. Forty percent of potential buyers will want to take a closer look at a staged home that they saw online.

Why wouldn't you hire a virtual home staging company? 

Because you may want to sell your home as quickly as possible, you are probably considering hiring a virtual home staging company. However, here are some reasons why you may not want to do so.

• The most common reason why a buyer wouldn't hire a staging company is because of the cost. They think that the cost outweighs the benefits. 

If you are serious about selling your home, you may want to consider hiring a virtual home staging company. However, it isn't for everyone. You need to decide what is best for you and your home. 

6 Things Tenants are Looking for During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Renting your homes during the coronavirus lockdown doesn't have to be put on hold. People still have plans and schedules to keep, even with the current stay-at-home conditions. Some renters must look for a new rental home during this time, and the best way to draw them to your homes is with corona-aware features and amenities. Let's take a look at some of the features that tenants care about most when house-hunting during the outbreak.

1. Easy to Clean & Sanitize

Homes that are easy to clean are the most appealing right now. Tenants are looking for shiny countertops, hardwood or tile floors, and clean lines. Consider home designs and renovation choices that will make it possible to sanitize every inch of the home without worrying about carpet pads or what lies underneath.

2. Open Floor Plan

Open floor plans are already at a peak of popularity, and now that matters even more. An open plan that flows cleanly from one room to the next is both more welcoming and easier to keep clean.

3. Secure Locks and Yards

Maintaining family isolation is also important, both indoors and outside in the yard. Ensure all door locks and latches are secure, then improve the fence and gate structure to ensure that no unwanted visitors can intrude on your tenant's isolation safety.

4. High-Speed Internet

Millions of people are working from home, children are going through online school, and everyone is streaming media to stay sane. Internet speed matters. Take steps to improve the reception or wired internet service for the home.

5. Efficient Appliances

With everyone home all day, every day, utilities are going to be higher than usual. Energy-efficient appliances like laundry machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, and HVAC can make a real difference and smart tenants know what to look for.

6. Virtual Tours

Last but certainly not least, tenants are looking for rentals they can lease without a preliminary in-person visit. This means responsive online communication, online trading and checking of documents, and --most importantly-- virtual tours taken with a 3D camera. This allows tenants to tour your home and get a feel for it without putting themselves (or you) at risk by meeting in person before move-in day.

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Marketing your rental homes during coronavirus is easier than you might think, if you're willing to work with current safety and tenants needs. For more savvy rental and home sale insights, contact us today!

Staging Your Home for Virtual Showings

With COVID-19 affecting nearly every aspect of our lives right now, we have to be innovative in order to keep things running smoothly. This is the same for the real estate business, since people may not be able to go look at potential places to live, and also may not want to in fear of spreading or contracting the disease. With that being said, the world of real estate cannot just come to a halt, so virtual showings are more important now than ever.

Staging Your Homes

When people are looking online for a potential place to live, staging can completely change the way they think about a particular home. Seeing rooms that are empty makes it hard to picture how furniture would be arranged, and rooms can sometimes appear smaller. When putting in appropriate furniture and a few small decor items for that space, it can completely transform it and allow the buyer to picture their own belongings in that space. 

Virtual Showings

Potential home buyers will want a lot of pictures and videos right now when searching for a home online. It is important to not leave any part of the home out. Instead of just taking a few pictures of the common areas, take a lot of pictures of every nook and cranny in the home. Show rooms from different angles, show the insides of closets, and show as many details as possible. Think about the things a home buyer would want to see if they were looking at that home in person. If possible, set up a 3D tour, so the buyer can virtually walk around the home. 

Narrowing It Down

As homebuyers are searching online, they will not want to walk through as many houses as they would have prior to COVID-19. Including many pictures, measurements, videos, and other tools helps allow them to narrow their search. This way, when they are ready to walk through a home, they only have a few to look at, rather than a lot. This is the future in home buying. 

How to Recession-Proof a Multi-Family Property

With everything happening around the world right now, multifamily property investors are having sleepless nights. Everyone is striving to avoid making costly mistakes because there is talk of recession, crashing markets, and real estate bubble bursting.

But seasoned investors know a recession is always looming. And they prepare for it on time. So far, we've seen significant policy changes, job losses, and economic instability.

If you earn a living from such investments, you probably know it's time to recession-proof your property. But you will not walk alone. In this blog post, we will share a few tips to get you started.

Build Up Capital Reserve

When a recession results in job losses, your tenants with not have the ability to pay rent. So it may be wise to build up a capital reserve before that happens.

Having a capital reserve can help you to recession-proof your investments in the following ways:

• It offers you the possibility of finding another property on sale at an affordable rate.
• Assists you to maintain your income flow and cover costs when rent roll reduces.

Get Long Term Lease Agreements

As mentioned, finding ways to get a steady income from your property is the best way to recession-proof it. As such, it may be prudent to negotiate long term lease agreements with your tenants.

This may mean lowering your rental rates in exchange for commitment. Your goal here should be to sail through the recession. So don't worry about reduced income.  

List On Airbnb

People are more likely to downsize, look for roommates or find cheaper rent during tough economic times. So if your property sits on a prime location, list on short-term rentals like Airbnb during a recession to get some income coming in.

A recession can be difficult to predict, but it looms on the horizon. Property owners who prepare for it are more likely to come out stronger. We hope these strategies will help you strengthen your investment portfolio.

Property Improvements to Lower Your Liability

Maintaining your property isn't just about increasing revenue, whether you're planning to rent out the property or fix it up and flip it. In fact, there are many improvements you can make to the property that may simply decrease your liability. Decreased liability is important for several reasons:

• It can prevent expensive civil fines
• It helps keep renters and visitors safer
• It helps protect your other properties and your reputation

Try some of these improvements to help decrease your liability as an investor. 

1. Install a safety fence around the pool.

If a child falls into the pool while no one is watching, disaster can strike in an instant. By installing a safety fence around the pool, you ensure that you, as the owner of the property, won't be liable for any accident that occurs as a result of someone entering the pool without permission. A safety fence should provide convenient access to the owner or renter of the property while effectively keeping out anyone who doesn't belong.

2. Fix up that old, softened deck.

If the wood on the deck is starting to soften, it could be a sign of a structural problem. Add too much weight, and the entire thing could come crashing down, causing serious injury to everyone on it at the time. As the property owner, you are liable for keeping up with maintenance on the property--and if an accident does happen, you're the one responsible. 

3. Check windows and screens.

Many children suffer injury from falling out of windows each year. Take the time to update your windows and screens, from installing proper child locks to ensuring that the screens remain in good repair. Screens are an inexpensive investment that can make a big difference in overall safety on the property. 

4. Add good lighting and respectable door and window locks.

You want your tenants to be as safe on the property as possible. Make sure you adhere with local regulations to help ensure their safety, including quality locks and good lighting to make the property very visible. 

Property improvements aren't just about increasing revenue for your property. They're also about keeping your tenants safer and decreasing your liability. Try some of these strategies to decrease liability on your properties. 

Security-Focused Improvements That Protect Your Investment

When purchasing an investment property, adding security-related features will help ensure the safety of the occupants and ensure the integrity of your home. Determining what kind of security features to install depends on the location of the property, the requirements of your homeowners' insurance and ultimately, how that property will be used by the renters. 

Security Monitoring Service

Installing a security monitoring service that provides 24/7 fire, police and emergency services access is a great addition to any rental home. Many homeowners' insurance companies require this feature as an added layer of protection by the mortgage company. By installing this type of monitoring service, fire or emergency services are alerted if a home invasion or fire is detected on the property when the occupant is not available or if the home is unoccupied. 

Remote Locking Systems

If you are planning on renting your property for short term rentals or the property is not near where you live, installing remote locks allows you to create a system by which you have greater control over who has access to the home. Remote locking systems allow you to provide key codes to renters, service personnel and property managers on an as-needed basis. Once the renter has completed their stay or the work you have contracted is completed, the door codes may be deleted and the home is rendered secure once again.

Video Surveillance Systems

With the incidents of home invasions on the rise, installing video surveillance systems is a must. Video surveillance helps you monitor the activity at your property while creating a visual record in case there is an incident where the police may need to be involved. Whether you are waiting for materials to arrive for a renovation or someone to help fix a broken pipe, having eyes on the front door, back door, and other entrances to the home, can help you monitor the traffic around your property.

Installing a security feature or multiple security features can help protect your investment. If you are considering adding one of those mentioned here, first determine its primary purpose and be sure to research a variety of brands along with their support features.

Why House Flippers Always Remodel the Kitchen and Bathroom

Spreading the remodeling budget evenly over the entire house seems logical to many new real estate investors. After all, many investment properties could benefit from improvement in every part of the house. Yet, focusing your remodeling dollars on the kitchen and bathroom is a smarter move.

Keep Your Endgame in Mind

When you're creating your remodeling budget, it's helpful to remember a key difference between remodeling a home to flip and remodeling a personal residence. An owner who plans to live in a property renovates to make the home beautiful according to personal taste. In contrast, when you're flipping a property, you're remodeling to make the home marketable. 

Focus Your Attention Where the Buyers Focus Theirs

Kitchens and bathrooms are the rooms that home buyers are most interested in. They're the rooms that buyers are going to take the closest look at. You're putting most of your renovation budget into the kitchen and the bathrooms because they're going to sell your property.

Why Remodeling These Rooms Is Expensive

Much of the money goes toward materials and finishes. Architectural Digest estimated the cost of materials and finishes represents at least 50 percent of the budget for a typical kitchen remodel. Renovations that require electrical upgrades or changing the plumbing layout increase costs.

The Rest of the House Doesn't Need as Much Attention

You may be thinking that no one will buy the property if you don't spend much on renovating the rest of the house. The other rooms do need to be clean, clutter-free, and freshly painted in neutral colors. Those improvements are not expensive and they'll appeal to buyers.

Remodeling for Return on Investment

An appropriate remodel takes into account what buyers expect to see in kitchens and bathrooms in the community where the property is located. Meeting those expectations increases the demand for the property. Falling short could result in a property that sits on the market. 

As for the numbers, kitchen and bathroom remodels can provide a significant direct return on investment. For instance, Remodeling magazine's 2020 Cost vs. Value Report indicates a minor kitchen remodel provides a 78 percent return on investment.