So you’ve decided it’s time to sell the house and you’re concerned because all you’ve been hearing in the news for the last two years is how hard it is to sell a house in this market. It’s true that times are a bit challenging for home sellers but there are three simple things that you can do to give yourself an edge and make your home more appealing to a buyer.

1. Curb Appeal
First impressions are HUGE. If someone pulls up and is unimpressed with your house before they even go inside, it can be a bit impossible to change their mind.
Landscaping
You don’t have to go out and hire a company to come and do an overhaul of the landscaping but make sure that your current setup looks good. Mow the lawn, rake the leaves, and weed the flowerbeds.
Minor Repairs
Don’t let the little things go any longer: that gutter that’s hanging down; the shutter that fell off; the light bulbs that burned out. These simple repairs don’t cost you much, if anything, and will make it easier for your buyer to focus on the house rather than all the work they will have to do if they buy.
Winter Tips
Even in winter, landscaping is important. Although you can’t mow the lawn or care about flowers you can make sure that you have a clean driveway and sidewalk. People can tell when someone has a sense of pride in their home and a driveway and sidewalk clear of snow and ice shows that you care.

2. Clean, Clean, Clean!
You know the feeling that you get when you finish with spring cleaning? A clean house not only shows pride of ownership but it also helps the potential buyer navigate through your home easily.
Be Simplistic
Get rid of the stacks of junk. Remove all the stuff you leave laying out for convenience (pens, notebook, bottle opener, phonebook, letter opener, etc.) Less IS more. The less clutter you have, the more open your space looks and the less distracted the buyer will be.
Organize
Most buyers will look through the cupboards, in closets, and in storage areas so make sure yours are in good order. If your kitchen cabinets are packed and cluttered it could give the impression that there is not enough storage space. Same goes for closets, garages and storage spaces.

3. Depersonalize
Before you put your house on the market, make sure you take the time to make your house look like a house again and not a home. Home is where the heart is and a house is where someone else could see themselves living!
Pictures
Take down all the family photos and personal mementos. Take the “original artwork” from the kids off of the fridge. By removing the “you” from the house you are making it easier for the buyer to focus on the house and not on the people that lived there.

Final Thoughts
A professional REALTOR can help you with the many other tips and tricks that come with selling a house. Some real estate offices even have a Professional Stager on staff to assist you with things like: Rearranging furniture, Paint colors, Carpet suggestions, Staging the bathroom and kitchen. They can also help you recognize what to replace if you want to take it with you (blinds, fancy lights, etc.).
@dsmhomes

Each year Iowa schools and students rank among the top in the nation in many categories. The emphasis that the state puts on educating both children and adults just adds to the reasons that Iowa is becoming a more popular home to raise a family, find a career, or start a business. A few of the awards that the Iowa education system received last year deserve a bit of attention. This information can be found on the department of education website. http://www.iowa.gov/educate/

21^st Century Skills Practice of the year Award
Iowa was one of seven schools in the nation to receive this award for building a foundation that promotes a higher level of understanding about 21st century skills like civic, health, financial and technology literacy.

2^nd Highest ACT Composite in the Nation
With an average composite score of 22.4 out of a possible 36 Iowa ranks second in the country behind the 22.7 achieved by Minnesota. Although a great honor, Iowa is not new to this area. Iowa consistently ranks above the country’s average. Additionally, Iowa’s SAT scores topped the nation in 2009 in the areas of math, reading, and writing.

Blue Ribbon Schools
Six Iowa schools received the No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Honor in 2009. This award is presented based on a school achieving one of the following: 1) Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests; or 2) Schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on state tests or in the case of private schools in the top 10 percent of the nation on nationally-normed tests.

@dsmhomes

Midwest weather might be best known for the flurry of tornadoes that cut through our state each spring but there is a lot about the weather in Iowa that is beautiful. December 2009 went into the record books as one of the snowiest months in history. Twenty foot snow drifts made roads impassable. Plows couldn’t keep up with the two inches per hour of snowfall and even when the snow stopped falling, there was no place to put it.
January 2010 was a bit of a different animal. It started off with bitter cold. At times the air temperature reached into the 20’s below zero and wind chills approached -50 degrees. That quickly changed and we all enjoyed a week of temps in the 30’s and 40’s. Carwashes were packed and roads were finally cleared, just in time for a tremendous ice storm that coated everything with nearly half an inch of ice and took out power to a good chunk of the state.
Although not all winters are this memorable, one thing can be certain: The Iowa winters will give way to the beautiful colors of spring and the rolling thunderstorms will light up the nighttime skies. It’s just one more reason that Iowa is a great place to live.
@dsmhomes