Attractive House Trends With Staying Power

Few things in life are as satisfying as people appreciating the beauty of a home listing. Attracting a wide variety of potential buyers who think a home is beautiful just the way it is — that’s the goal. While everyone has different tastes when it comes to home décor, guiding your sellers toward attractive house trends that the majority of people will like plays a big part in how quickly a home sells.

Many clients might find themselves emotionally invested in their own unique style, however, at the risk of alienating potential buyers.

Encourage your clients to focus on the following 6 factors to ensure their home looks fresh yet timeless on the market.

1. Fix Little Things

Many little things can make a house unappealing to other people.

Some of the small things your clients should fix before listing their home include:

• Dents and marks on walls: A new coat of paint or small touchups on the wall make things look fresh and new. All other things being equal, if buyers have a choice between buying a home that doesn’t need painted or one that does, they’ll go with the easiest option.
• Cracked tiles or worn flooring: If at all possible, fix any cracked tiles, reseal grout and repair carpet issues. Anything you can do to make things look fresh and new is helpful.
• Minor repair needs: Fix the leaky faucet, the broken lock on the back door and the bare spots in the yard.

Help your clients by giving them a list of common minor issues that don’t cost much to fix but have a big impact on how buyers see the property. Trendy elements aren’t as meaningful if the foundations of a home’s design are shabby.

2. Use Neutral Colors

Does your client love the color pink? Is it in the kitchen, dining room and living room?

Most homebuyers prefer neutral colors, so encourage your clients to paint the home in an off-white, taupe or soft gray. Ideally, one main color will run throughout the house with a few accent colors that aren’t too brash.

3. Cut the Clutter

Over the years, families tend to collect clutter. It isn’t intentional, it just happens.

Encourage clients to cut down on the clutter by having a garage sale or donating items to charity. If there are things they simply can’t bear to part with, encourage them to move those items to storage until the house sells.

Cutting the clutter makes a home look bigger and gives it a more neutral feel. Home buyers picture themselves in the home, which is hard to do if there are little league trophies lining the fireplace mantel and photos of the seller’s ancestors on every wall.

4. Add Curb Appeal

What is the first impression a home makes from the street?

Many buyers drive by a home to scope out the neighborhood and other properties around it before they even schedule an appointment to view the place. Curb appeal makes a huge difference in the overall impression a home makes on buyers.

Beautifying a landscape adds to a home’s value — anywhere from 5.5 to 11.4 percent. While frazzled homeowners can find benefit in simply keeping the lawn polished and garden healthy, sophisticated landscape design can add thousands to the value of your client’s home.

For a complete list of how to add curb appeal check out this article.

5. Stick With a Classic Design

Each year, new trends enter the design marketplace. Some have a classic feel, with simple lines and details. For example, black window trim creates a beautiful, clean and modern look.

It isn’t likely to get dated quickly and has the bonus of not showing dirt like white trim does. This is a great example of a unique element that still has staying power in the market.

However, a trend toward something that’s a bit bolder may not go over well with buyers now or in the future. If you list a home and the homeowner has bright green cabinets, encourage them to apply a white or gray coat of paint to create a more classic look that the majority of buyers will appreciate. Classic designs stand the test of time and won’t go out of style in a year or two.

6. Add More Storage

Storage is one of those things you can never have too much of.

If your clients plan to make some upgrades before listing their home, encourage them to look at the storage available. Would it be smarter to add another closet to the master bedroom instead of a larger bathroom? Work with clients to figure out where their money is best spent.

Many inexpensive storage solutions can help sell a home as well, such as adding cabinets in the garage or placing shelves in the den. Storage can almost always be creative and clever without scaring away more conservative buyers — it’s one design element that will never lose its value.

What Adds Value

At the end of the day, look for trends that add long-term value for your clients and buyers.

Even though classic styles might seem a bit bland, whoever buys the house can use those styles as a base and add their own personality with decorations such as throw pillows and wall hangings. Tend toward details that never go out of style, and you won’t go wrong with your advice.

Holly Welles is a real estate writer with a focus on
millennial experiences in renting and homeownership.
You can read her latest tips on her blog, The Estate Update,
and follow her on Twitter @HollyAWelles.