So it’s time to sell your house. You spend days (if not weeks) clearing out the clutter, organizing, cleaning and perfecting every square foot of your home so potential buyers can see it at its best possible version. Often times your Realtor might even offer up the services of a professional stager – it’s amazing what these experts can do without even bringing in any new décor. They simply take your existing furniture/decorations, work their magic and POOF your home looks like it should be on the cover of a Pottery Barn catalog.

Going through the process of meticulously preparing your home for sale will improve the perceived value of your home and usually result in buyers willing to pay more to move in, but what if you took it one step further…allow me to introduce you to the idea of “white-boxing.”

White-boxing is a growing trend in the real estate industry and it’s basically the idea that when potential buyers are looking at property they have a very specific idea of how they want to design/construct the interior and therefore, you should give them as blank a canvas as possible.

Imagine having two similar homes. The first home is meticulously decorated to the liking of the current homeowner. The second home’s walls are bare of any paint, the kitchen cabinets have been stripped of hardware, lighting fixtures have been removed – you get the idea – the home has essentially been muted of its design elements. Which will sell faster?

It’s a bit of a tricky question to truly answer. If the first buyer who walks through the door of the first home loves the design elements, then we have a match and that home will sell, but if your goal (and it should be) is to have your home appeal to as broad an audience as possible, then white-boxing is something your should consider doing before listing your home.

Before you go ripping your home down to the studs, understand that there are levels and degrees to this idea of “white-boxing.” At its most extreme interpretation, yes, white-boxing means you would vacate any and all finishes in your home – countertops, lighting fixtures, bathroom tile – rip them all out and give buyers the ultimate clean slate. This level of white-boxing has it’s place (think multi-million dollar apartments), but a more practical approach to this theory is what most sellers should consider as they prepare to list their home and something a staging expert would actually be well suited to assist with (a little ironic, I know).

A staging expert can help you organize your home so that each room can be seen for its possibilities, rather than it’s current use – for example, what you may see as a living room space, may better suit a buyer as a dinning room. By removing unnecessary furniture, buyers can more easily envision their own furniture in the space and therefore will be more likely to have an emotional connection to home.

Another option that some sellers are choosing, which supports the theory behind white-boxing, is to just remove all the furniture from the home entirely. We actually have a beautiful home listed for sale in Rye, NH – 13 Perkins Road – that had been tastefully staged, but the sellers just decided to remove all the furniture to present the home as more of a blank canvas in hopes that it will appeal to a broader audience of buyers.

Those are just a couple of examples of how white-boxing may help sell your home but what’s important to remember is that each home is truly unique and the decisions you make in how you prepare your home for sale should be carefully weighed and discussed with a trusted Realtor (we know a few if you are looking :))

When it comes time to list your property, one of the most important steps you’ll take to showcase your home is photography. Technology has made it very easy to take a relatively decent photo by just using your iPhone – but just because it’s easier, doesn’t mean it’s best!

That’s why almost every reputable Realtor will hire out the photography to a professional. This ensures two things – first that your Realtor is focusing on all the other critical steps needed to list and sell a property successfully (staging, contracts, marketing, showings/open houses, etc.) and second, that the photographs used to showcase your home are of the highest possible quality.

Professional photographers have special lenses for indoor photography, lighting kits to get the exposure right and a career’s worth of knowledge that helps them get shots that your smart phone’s camera just simply can’t. 

There’s been a shift in recent years to adding aerial photography by using drones to help showcase a property. With drones more widely available (you still need a license to fly them), some professional photographers are offering the service as part of their package to Realtors and it can really make a big difference in how the public sees a property.

For example, check out this aerial photograph captured by Seacoast Aerial Solutions of one of our recent properties for sale: 

It’s one thing to tell buyers that the home is “close to a body of water,” or that it’s “situated on a beautiful private lot,” but to be able to show it with an aerial photo really helps increase the perceived value of a property like this one pictured above.

While this tactic of showing a high overhead shot is starting to become more adopted by Realtors, it’s also a good idea to have your drone photographer take some shots straight on of the home from about 15-25 feet in the air. This allows you to get a different (and often better) angle than by just standing on the ground.

Here’s an example of how a drone was used to get a great photo of a property that sits up on a hill and was more difficult to photograph successfully from the ground:

(Photo taken from approx. 25 feet above ground using a drone)

(Photo taken standing in the driveway which slopes away from the home)

There are dozens of different ways to successfully use photography to showcase a property, and the use of drones is just the latest one impacting the real estate industry, but what’s important is that your Realtor is knowledgeable of the process and has relationships with reputable photographers that know how to capture the right images that will help sell the property for the highest value possible.

Summer on the New Hampshire Seacoast is one of the best times of the year. On a perfect day (just my personal opinion), the temps will reach up into the 80s, daring beachgoers to brave the chilly Atlantic for a quick dip before dropping down into the 60s at night, requiring a seat close to the camp fire and a sweatshirt to keep warm.

A lot of people who enjoy the Seacoast’s sandy beaches and charming small towns do not live here year round, but instead travel from all over to vacation for a short time each summer with family and friends.

For those individuals, finding the right summer home to rent and set up base camp at is a yearly ritual. And when they do find that perfect spot, they will often return year-after-year until it begins to feel like their own home – a home that’s been filled with memories from summers’ past.

There are many beautiful summer rental properties along the Seacoast, but the unique location, amenities and timeless feel of one special property, 55 Salter Street, makes it stand out as one of the elite summer/executive rental properties available.

Located in the historic South End of Portsmouth, 55 Salter Street is just a short walk to Market Square and all the shops and restaurants that make Portsmouth one of America’s favorite cities to vacation to. And while it’s location is convenient to Portsmouth’s downtown, it also offers ample privacy as it sits at the end of a dead end street that is all but hidden from the main road.

The fully-restored colonial has 5 spacious bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and an outfitted gourmet kitchen featuring a wet bar area and large island – safe to say even the largest of families would have no trouble gathering here to enjoy a memorable vacation. 

Outside the home might be where guests spend the majority of their time and with a large dock big enough to seat 10, a private mooring and sweeping views of the Piscataqua River, who can blame them?

If you are interested in booking 55 Salter Street for your family vacation, click here for more details. The property is also available as an executive rental for business functions/retreats.