Be sure to join us for a fascinating and information meeting on Monday night
 
Police Update and Real Estate Staging of Your House
 
First Part:  Police Update
 
Second District Police Officers will provide an update on recent Police activity in and around the Lyon Village and Clarendon area.   There will be an opportunity to ask questions after their update.  We have found that this is a helpful way to keep the neighborhood informed about police incidents and any recent trends that the police have noticed.
 
Main Program:  Lyon Village Real Estate
 
Tips for “Staging” Your House for Personal Use or Resale, and Recent Lyon Village House Sales Trends
 
We have invited Long & Foster agent Ingrid Wooten and a professional house stager to provide an overview of recent Lyon Village sales and trends, and to describe house “staging” and the things you can do over the short and long term to make your house more comfortable for your own use and also easier to sell. Our program focuses on how a professional stager views Lyon Village houses and what buyers like to see in them.
 
With the days of multiple offers and quick sales a distant memory, many realtors, including those with listings in Lyon Village, have turned to professionals who help “stage” houses before the house is placed on the market.  The “staging” may involve as little as de-cluttering and furniture rearranging, but may extend to kitchen, bath, and other remodeling when time and budget allow, all for the purpose of showing off the best features of the house and making it attractive to buyers.  Many of us have seen the TV programs that show what staging can do, and have also noted that some of the sellers in the programs decided to stay instead of sell after they saw how much more livable their houses became after staging.
 
In particular, we have asked them to list the 8 or 10 things you might do over the short term (the quick and easy fixes), and the 8 or 10 things you might do over the long term to keep your house current and minimize the work needed when you do decide to sell.  We’ve also asked them to identify what they regard as the 5 or so biggest turnoffs in Lyon Village houses for prospective buyers, and the 5 or so things they would strongly advise that you not do to “improve” your house.
 
We have asked them to provide general advice on paint colors, decorating styles (particularly styles to avoid), the types of kitchen and bath renovations that bring the best return, whether costly basement renovations pay off, how to improve “curb appeal,” and the importance of landscaping and a deck or patio.  We have also asked them to provide some general advice about how to tell when your house is a potential “tear down” and not worth improving beyond meeting your personal needs.