How to “stage” your  home to sell

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to “stage” your home to sell it. Here are a few inexpensive ways to allow prospective buyers to see all your home has to offer.
·        Start with the closets. Cleaning out your closets will give you more storage space. A well organized closet will show the buyer you have ample storage. Yes, buyers will be opening your closets.
·        Pre-move. Once you sell, you will be packing up all your belongings anyway, so why not get a head start. Consider renting a storage unit and store knick-knacks, holiday décor, out of season clothes, family photos and treasures.  Remove  anything you can to keep your home looking clean and well organized.
·        How is your curb appeal? Lawn watered and mowed? Keep entryway clean and welcoming. Put a potted flowering plant by the front door. Even consider power washing driveways and patios. If you have any patches of brown grass, buy some grass seed, sprinkle it on and water it. It is simple and makes a huge difference.
·        Arrange your living room and family room furniture in a way to make the room feel more spacious. If you have more furniture than you need, move some of it out. Move furniture off the walls and center it around a focal point like a fireplace or a window view.
·        Are your walls a neutral color? Paint is an inexpensive way to transform a room. A buyer may have trouble envisioning their furniture in an orange room.
·        Hide any evidence of a pet. Use air fresheners in every room. Vacuum daily. Remove the litter box  and bed for showings.
·        Toys, toys and more toys!  Selling a home with small kids can be stressful. Suddenly your home sweet home has become a listed property. To make living in a listed home easier on your family, buy a few matching baskets to quickly and easily throw toys in. You have enough things to do, so make this fun and allow the kids to throw the toys in themselves.
·        Keep wall art neutral. Remove family photos and, your children’s beautiful masterpieces.  Even though a family wants to sell, buyers psychologically do not want to buy and displace a happy family.
·        Remove any political or religious themed items, and any questionable or risqué pieces of art. This includes artful nudes.
·        Make you bed look like a fantastic place to sleep. Look at your bedroom through strangers eyes. Think of a hotel room. Focus on the basics- bed, dresser, and nightstand.  Consider buying a bed set complete with pillow covers and sham in neutral colors. Add a few accent pillows.
·        Kitchen. Remove EVERYTHING from the countertops. Remove magnets, notes and photos from refrigerator. Straighten out cupboards and pantries.
 

Property tax rates set

Council votes to maintain current levels; stage set for budget

WAILUKU — The Maui County Council set property tax rates for the 2009 fiscal year in a special hearing Wednesday, voting 5-0 for a resolution that will keep property tax rates at current levels in the coming fiscal year.

The action sets the estimated revenue base for the 2008-09 county budget, which runs from July 1 through June 30, 2009.

In a series of three hearings Wednesday, the council heard testimony on the property tax rates and on fuel taxes, for which there were no proposed changes.

Fuel tax rates, along with the motor vehicle weight tax and other county taxes and fees, will be taken up at the council’s first reading of the fiscal 2009 budget at 9 a.m. Friday.

Property tax rates as approved Wednesday will be as follows:

• Homeowner: $2 per $1,000 of assessed value.

• Improved residential: $4.85.

• Apartment: $4.55.

• Commercial: $6.25.

• Industrial: $6.50.

• Agricultural: $4.50.

• Conservation: $4.75.

• Unimproved residential: $5.35.

• Hotel: $8.20.

• Time share: $14.

Bill Tavares of the Committee on More Equitable Taxation said his group “happily agrees” with the decision to keep tax rates at current levels. But he urged council members to do away with an “outdated, costly, punitive, unfair tax system,” in which assessments are based on the market value of a property.

Tavares’ group has repeatedly advocated for tax assessments to be based on the original selling price of a home and he vowed to continue to pursue that goal.

If nothing is changed within his lifetime, he said, “I shall return as the phantom of this council.”

During a brief hearing on the fuel taxes, council members heard from Paul Lau’b, who urged them to do away with the county fuel tax, and to urge the state and federal government to stop taxing gasoline.

He said people were being hurt by a “war” with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

“They are bleeding us slowly rather than cutting us off in one fell swoop,” he said.

Council Members Danny Mateo, Michelle Anderson, Gladys Baisa and Jo Anne Johnson were excused from Wednesday’s meeting.