By Joel Keller
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

In a tight real estate market such as the one the nation is currently experiencing, buyers can get very picky about the houses they are considering. It could be a detail as small as paint color or a bit of clutter, but with a number of choices available, buyers don’t need many reasons to move on to the next house.

But just because it’s a buyer’s market doesn’t mean that selling your house is a “Mission: Impossible.” With a tweak here and there, a house can easily sell if it has the right curb appeal.

A little help goes a long way
Most of this can be accomplished via a process called “staging.” In this process, a real estate agent sends a staging expert to come and look at a house that is on the market; the stager then advises the owner on changes he or she can make so the house will look more appealing to buyers.

People moving to Cedar Crest are given the opportunity to use Erickson Realty and Moving Services (ERMS), a group that will assist them in any way they need to sell their existing homes. One of the services they have at their disposal is a personal moving consultant such as Margaret Semezko, who is Cedar Crest’s resident relocation expert. Semezko not only helps incoming residents get in touch with a Realtor if needed, but she also helps connect them with people and services that will help move the sales process along, including staging.

“Generally, the (new resident) has been in the home as long as 40 to 50 years, and they have 40 to 50 years of accumulation,” she says. “A lot of these things they have are family heirlooms. We have to coordinate with the kids to get their things out of the home or find a place for furniture they want that won’t fit in the new home. That’s the hardest part for them: deciding what we’re going to do with all this stuff.”