Taking a Peek at the Atlanta Market

Coming this July 13 – 19th is the Atlanta Market, the Premier Gift, Décor, and Lifestyle Market. Housing the nation’s largest gift product mix complemented by a broad selection of home décor. Atlanta Market features more than 8,000 brands across all categories including seasonal, gourmet, tabletop, outdoor and more.  Explore a thoughtfully curated environment where trends are revealed and where product is personal. Experience the irreplaceable feeling of seeing the varied hues of your next bestseller and feeling its weight and texture in your hands. This event is a big one in the design world.  It’s a trend setter and a place to get the most magnificent ideas for future projects as well as buy some design treasures.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Who Will Be There?

There are three buildings of exhibitors so you will want to plan your day.  Downloading their app is important which you can find at https://www.atlantamarket.com/Attend/App. It will help you find your way around and be strategic about your route.  You can find a list of exhibitors as well by clicking here. You can also join Market’s community of influencers, retail experts, store owners, designers, media and manufacturers for an array of educational seminars, demos, industry networking events, tastemaker parties and more.  These are offered both in person and by webinar.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Home Décor

My personal favorites are in the home décor area located in building 1 on floors 1-15.  Included is lighting, linens & textiles, wall décor and rugs and let’s not forget all the other wonderful accessories. If you want to find items to complete your design projects, this is the area that I recommend.  There is a lot of fabulous stuff here.  My favorites are the wicker and rattans and some of the new upholsteries I find at this market.  Designers will often take their whole team with them to this market because it’s such an inspirational place.  I’m excited to find out the summer trends for 2021 and incorporate what I learn into my new construction designs.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

For more information on the Priority Group and to see homes designed by Sallie Elliott visit us at one of our online locations here https://linktr.ee/omahaprioritygroup.

Floorplan Evolution – How Homes are Changing

The Priority Group helps clients, sell, and buy homes however a couple of the things that we specialize in are building homes and staging homes for showing. We’ve definitely noticed a metamorphosis in the way people are designing their homes and it’s mainly due to the pandemic. It’s caused people to work and live at home more than ever which means practical utilization of space is of utmost importance. As an example, we have less need for a formal dining space and more need for a second office or learning area. And that’s not likely to change any time soon. Most corporations that have staff who can work from home either have a plan to do so longer term or have switched permanently to remote working. In today’s article, we’re going to explore this a little more and see what folks are doing to utilize their existing rooms or change a new construction layout out in their new homes.

Do we Really Need a Formal Dining Room?

The answer in today’s environment, is no for most people. Using your dining room once a year during the holidays versus having a dedicated space for a second home office is a no brainer for most. It’s one thing to work on your kitchen counter for a short period of time but another to do so long term. There’s no privacy for meetings and the surrounding noises interrupt and aren’t professional. It’s cute to see people’s meeting interrupted by the family pet once in a while but I guarantee you, the boss won’t think it’s fun when it happens all of the time. Transforming a dining room into an office is easy. Simply take out the dining table, put it in storage and add a chair and desk. Decorating the space will make it feel more comfortable and motivate you over the long run. Rooms meant for dining usually have more space than a typical office would so you can add some functionality with an accent table and chairs in case you need to have a “meeting” with your spouse.

Home Schooling

At home learning was once a whole lot less common than it is now. There are still a lot of cities that have schools closed. Have a room for the kids to take online classes in is a no brainer. With two parents potentially working at home and likely 2 children, the average family needs a dedicated space for each activity. That loft space that you once used as a recreation or television area makes an excellent classroom for the kids. Utilizing headphones, you can have more than one child in a single space. Here’s where making the room functional as well as inviting will be especially important. Kids always like stability and if they feel that their home classroom is a good one, they’ll likely be able to focus better.

New Construction and the Remote Family

Fewer bedrooms to accommodate for a second home office, basements, attics, and even separate units if there’s enough property have become more common place in today’s new construction. Expanding the footprint of a new home has also become common to provide for remote classrooms for the kids in the family. New construction needs have morphed from entertainment spaces to more practical spaces. For instance, that spare bedroom or the basement playroom has now become a classroom and the finished attic you once used for storage is now an office. Most likely, in new construction, families are adding to the footprint of their home and putting in these spaces. You can always turn them into another type of space later but not having the square footage to do it in the first place isn’t an option anymore.

For more information on this topic, to see other blogs and to contact the Priority Group, go to www.omahaprioritygroup.com

Reasons Why FSBO Sales Fail

Marketing Your Home Isn’t as Easy as You Think

By marketing your home on your own you may not get as much exposure to the right audiences as you will need. Realtors have access to the Multiple Listing Services which automatically ties into many of the online real estate websites. Imagine trying to get onto every one of them, even the most common one, by manually adding all your listing details and photos. That ties into professional photos. Taking your own is not as effective as having them professionally done, which can be pricey. Professional real estate photographers know exactly how to photograph your home in the right lighting, with professional equipment and what to highlight like tall ceilings, attractive finishes and, with their experience and expertise, they can make the home look more spacious. Additionally, a realtor knows just how to present your home to the public by writing a good listing description with the most important and impressive things about your home highlighted. Let’s not forget that the right realtor will have a network of other realtors and potential clients to present your property to. Giving your home exposure to a much wider market of buyers.

Homes For Sale By Owner are Typically Priced Wrong

Most For Sale by Owner properties are priced too high or worse, too low. Pricing your home at a value that is too high for the area will exclude you from consideration the moment a potential buyer buyer’s realtor looks at the listing. When a seller lists their own home, they tend to have an emotional investment in the property that influences the listing price. A good realtor will research comparable homes in your neighborhood and help you to determine what the correct price of your house should be. Today’s market is a seller’s market, and you can easily sell your home in a couple of weeks depending on its price range. Additionally, if your price is incorrect for the area, your home may languish on the market for a long time, making buyers wonder what might be wrong. Listing price is key and a professional will not only help you get the best bang for your buck but help you sell quickly

You Could Overestimated or Underestimate How Much to Spend on Updating Your Home

Updating your home is important so that it will appeal to more buyers, but you have to be careful about how much to spend on your upgrades. Things like fresh paint and updating your curb appeal go a long way and they are budget friendly. If you decide to renovate your entire kitchen and spend $50,000 on doing so, there are no guarantees that you’ll recuperate that money in the sale of your home. New carpet and flooring also go a long way if you want to make a more substantial investment in selling without breaking the bank. Real estate agents have experience helping their clients to prepare for a sale. They look at your home and tell if you need to declutter, clean and may suggest things like staging. It’s not always good to spend a ton of money to renovate when selling.

Showings are a Drag

FSBO sellers don’t realize what a drain showing your own home can be. On top of scheduling potential buyers, you’ll have to deal with looky-loos, people who have no intention of buying and sharks, investors looking to flip your house for a profit. You’ll quickly be inundated with calls from real estate investors looking to save on realtor commissions and who typically low ball you on the price of your home and don’t result in a sale. An agent will schedule and staff tours of your home and weed out unsuitable buyers. They’ll also ensure that potential buyers are qualified to finance a home at your price. They’ll also solicit feedback from people who have seen your home that they might otherwise be hesitant to share with the owner of the home. And lastly, people don’t want to look at a home when the buyer is there. You may think it’s helpful to tell a buyer all about your home while they look, but some may find it intrusive and it may make them uncomfortable taking a good look at the home.

Preparing Your Own Paperwork Can Be Tricky

Unless you have a background in contracts or law, you may want to leave the paperwork to the pros. Not only is the sale of a home paper intensive but most realtors use electronic documents whose software you may not be familiar with making it difficult for you to transact. Also, there are disclosure requirements like lead-based paint addendums which a legally required. A realtor will know what paperwork need to be including in the transaction and also help to keep you out of legal hot water as well as ensure that you are protecting your own interest in writing during the transaction. And lastly, your agent is a professional and experienced negotiator. The right realtor will have years of experience and know just how to present counter offers and help you determine what’s fair to offer in terms of repairs to the home etc. Avoid opening yourself up to a potential lawsuit during the contracting process and hire a pro.

For more information on how we can help, go to omahaprioritygroup.com