5 Essential Tips to Prepare Your Home for a Speedy, Top-Price Sale

"Home staging" was coined in the early '70s,and the concept has become well known as "house fluffing," "dressing to sell," and "home presentation".

The focus of staging is to make a home more marketable by creating the most appealing home to the greatest number of prospective buyers. It should be impersonal enough not to infringe on a buyer's own sense of style.

Decorating is optional. Staging, on the other hand, is essential - that is if you want to sell your house for the most possible money in the shortest amount of time.

You can make at least 3 percent more with home staging. In some areas, that number can go as high as 50 percent! Statistics also show that homes that had not sold in an average of four and a half months after listing sold within a week of being staged by a professional. Homes staged before listing were under contract more than twice as fast as comparable homes that had not been professionally staged.

As you know, your home becomes a house - a product for sale. Staging your property gives you a more competitive edge in today's market by transforming it into a marketable product. A staged property helps you sell your investment for top dollar and is the first line of defense over lowering the price. Do not settle for less at the closing table simply because you did not understand the value of staging or did not want to take the time or spend the money to do it properly.

In this world of busy buyers, a property has to be staged to appeal to their imagination. They want to be able to look at your home and know that they can live there. They want to know that their furniture will fit. They want to know that everything is in "move in" condition. That is why staging is so important. It allows buyers to imagine themselves living in your home with their stuff, not yours.

Presentation is everything and staging is presentation! The result is improved functionality and complementary space. Following the techniques in this guide will maximize your equity while reducing the market time for your home.

1. Be sure that your home is staged before you or your Realtor takes the photos for the web. Over 70% of all new apartment/home searches are started on the Internet.It is imperative that the property looks good in the photos so that it can attract as many people as possible to see the real thing.


2. You should not have one person look at your house until it has been staged completely.It should not go through the broker walkthrough, MLS, open houses, or anything.Stage first!


3. Home staging works for all properties regardless of the price point because home staging is about preparing your home for a faster and more profitable sale and marketing your property to the most potential buyers for its target audience. A home stager who has have staged homes ranging from $100,000 to $10 million has had the same result - the homes sell faster and for top dollar compared with the competitors within their price range.


4. Do not offer money towards painting or installing new carpeting. Remember, if you are not willing to do it, your buyer is not likely to either.


5. You need to be willing to change paint colors. Paint is very inexpensive and gives you a big bang for your buck. Although a bit labor-intensive, painting is not expensive and gives your home a new, fresh, clean look. There are certain universally accepted colors and these should be used when repainting your home. Yellow or shades of gold are warm and inviting. You should also accent with yellow. Your eye absorbs more yellow and therefore sees it first. Green or blue in the bedrooms are great colors because they are restful.

Same Sex Marriage: Legal in Ecuador?

This topic has been one of the most important and most criticized topics in the US. So, I decided to find out how legal is "Same Sex Marriage in Ecuador" or if it even exist!

I must ratify that I am straight, and if I am writing about this topic is only for informative purposes only. My points of view about Same Sex Marriage are not the ones of those  support them. However, from my part, they will be treated with the same respect as anybody else.

In April of 2008, The Republic of Ecuador aproves a new Constitution that recognizes Same Sex Unions (Art 68) and states the following:

"The stable and monogamous unions between two persons, free of matrimonial bond, whom form a de facto couple, since the time and under conditions and circumstances that the Law provides, will generate the same rights and obligations that families build through the bonds of marriage, are holding"
The part that the Constitution does not support has to do with Adoptions ratifying that "Adoptions will only correspond to couples of different sexes"

The Ecuadorean President, Rafael Correa spoke openly about this part of the "Constitution of Monte Cristi", stating the following:

"Let me ratify that the humanistic position of this government is to respect the intrinsic dignity of everyone, of every human being, independently of their creed, race, sexual preference. We will provide certain guarantees to stable same sex couples but the bonds of matrimony will remain reserved for a man,  a woman and the family"

"Every person has dignity, and this means that, one must respect a person regardless of their sexual preference. Be careful not to deny employment to someone because of their sexual preference. That will be discrimination, and that is unconstitutional."

As most of you have probably noticed, my blog is about promoting Ecuador, and promote my properties for sale to the world. And maybe this could be the answer for those same sex couples to fulfill their life as a couple, maybe not under the bonds of marriage, but with the same rights and obligations of a married heterosexual couple, such as, buying and notarizing real estate transactions together, bank accounts, inheritances, etc.

Check out one of my favorite listings, located in Vilcabamba, or as most expats and foreign residents call it: "The Valley of Longevity. It includes a virtual tour of the property:  http://QuintaEsencial.com

New Tenancy law vetoed by Correa

Ecuadorean President, Rafael Correa, vetoed the proposed Tenancy Law in it's entirety saying that "the bill has been poorly designed"

The proposed bill consisted in setting limits for the amount of rent to be charged by the landlord and its based on the municipal assessed value of the property.

If the assessed value of a property is $100,000, then the 10% of its value equals to $10,000, you divide this amount by 12 months, which equals to $833. This is the maximum monthly rent allowed according to this bill.

The other controversial part of this bill had to do with the warranty deposit. The norm has been the equivalent of up to two months of rent.
The proposed bill stated that the maximum deposit to collect shall be equal to up to two months of rent and shall not exceed $159 per month, or $318 for the maximum deposit. So, if we use the previous example of $833 per month, your maximum deposit allowed by the bill would be $318 which in fact, is based on the minimum monthly salary, giving a big disadvantage to owners of high end rental properties. This refundable deposit is destined to cover property damages in case the tenant refuses to repair damages to the property. But what if the damages exceed the set value?

According to the new bill, the warranty amount shall not go to the landlord, but to a municipal bank account assigned by the Banco Nacional de Fomento ( a state bank). The intention about this account is good in my personal opinion, because it protects the renter from dishonest landlords and landlords of dishonest tenants as well. The part I don't like is that of the deposit has to be given to the Municipality. In my opinion, The Municipality of Quito's bureaucracy will be the greatest obstacle for either landlord or tenant whenever is time to get such deposits back! This public entity is known for turning a simple process into a nightmare! However, the creation of an entity designed to withhold these deposits combining mediation services in case of disputes is vital. An escrow account company well regulated by the Superintendency of Banks and not just for rental deposits, but security deposits for purchasing real estate as well... Otherwise, we will see cases like Union Constructora over and over again!

In other countries like some states in the United States, Real Estate practices are well regulated. When it comes to purchase a property, the buyer leaves a deposit. The broker's obligation is to deposit the money into an escrow account. It is against the law to deposit this money in the broker's personal account. If for any reason the transaction ceases and after a mediation process then, and only then, the escrow company will distribute the monies to the affected party, including the broker if necessary.