4 Tips For Preparing

11 Austin South Asian | May 2022 4 Tips For Preparing Your Home To Sell In Today’s Market

In the current market, houses are selling fast – meaning there’s typically no need to spend time and money on large home repairs and renovations to get an offer. Instead, homeowners should focus on quick, easy DIY projects to give their space a facelift before listing – here’s how.

1. Enhance Curb Appeal. “The exterior of your home sets the tone for what buyers can expect inside,” says Lindsey Mahoney, DIYer behind Building Bluebird and licensed realtor with Rigali Group at Danberry. “If a buyer pulls up to a house where the outside is in disrepair, it sets off red flags that the home may have hidden issues from neglect.”

The simplest way to enhance your home’s curb appeal is to maintain the yard, regardless of the season or weather. Depending on the climate, homeowners should consider cutting the grass, planting flowers and greenery, raking leaves, watering the grass and flowers, or removing snow and ice.

If the home’s exterior is in need of a little more TLC, consider adding a pop of color to the front door with a fresh coat of paint, installing unique shutters for visual interest or updating to a new mailbox. Pull it all together with a seasonal wreath or welcome mat.

2. Paint As Needed. Moving into the interior, spruce things up by refreshing walls with new paint. Rather than redoing every room, focus on painting over bright, bold colors with a neutral palette more likely to appeal to the masses.

To get started, tape off the room with FrogTape Multi-Surface Painting Tape. The tape is made with PaintBlock Technology, a super-absorbent polymer that instantly gels to form a micro-barrier that seals the edges of the tape. This will prevent bleed and leave the walls with crisp, clean lines that won’t need touch-ups.

3. Make Minor Repairs. As you’re gearing up to sell, pay close attention to minor things that may need to be updated or repaired. For example, leaky faucets, loose cabinet handles or doors that stick are all minor fixes – but ignoring them could leave potential buyers assuming that there are larger problems within the home. Do a careful walkthrough before listing to look for any small fixes that need to be made.

4. Declutter and Clean. A messy house is a major turnoff for potential buyers, so prioritize decluttering and cleaning. Start by eliminating as many personal items as possible, including toiletries, kids’ items and personal décor like family photos, fan memorabilia and religious and political objects. It’s also important to spruce up the appearance of beds, couch pillows and counters in the kitchen and bathrooms.

“If you have a small closet and your clothes are jammed into it, take out half so it looks like there is room to add more,” Mahoney recommends. “You don’t want your buyer’s first thought to be that they won’t be able to fit their belongings in the bedroom closet.”

Once things are organized, each room should receive a deep clean, including wiping surfaces, floors and baseboards, as well as cleaning any appliances, sinks, toilets and showers.

As the open house approaches, open doors and windows for fresh air and natural light, leaving the home looking and smelling pleasant for potential buyers. (StatePoint)

New Research Sheds Light On How People Are Taking Civic Action

New research is offering insights into how the world can recover and rebuild from the pandemic, along with how individuals and organizations can address issues they care about in their communities. “Civic Life Today: The State of Global Civic Engagement,” which was commissioned by Points of Light and designed and executed by INFLUENCE|SG, studied attitudes around civic engagement in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and Brazil.

“We believe that the most powerful force is the individual who has realized their power to make change happen. However, everyone can be more impactful when working together,” says Natalye Paquin, president and CEO of Points of Light, the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to accelerating people-powered change. “This report is intended to reveal ways to act effectively -- making it easier for individuals to find these opportunities and organizations to create them.” The report also supports Points of Light’s Civic Circle, a framework that helps people understand that there are many ways to do good. The nine activities outlined by the Civic Circle are: listening and learning, using one’s voice, social entrepreneurship, volunteering, public, national or military service, using one’s purchasing power to express values, working, voting, and donating. Whether you’re a business leader hoping to mobilize your employees, a nonprofit or NGO leader looking to connect individuals to your cause, or an individual wanting to support your community, the Civic Circle and these key report takeaways can help you get started: • Pandemic effects are universal: The same social issues and personal costs have been shared by people everywhere. At the country level, healthcare, education, and the environment/ climate demand attention. On a personal level, the health of others in the community is where the most impact has been felt, followed by individuals’ financial and mental health. • Issues leading civic engagement: Education, the environment, and healthcare were the top issues respondents wanted their countries to support, with healthcare ranked the leading issue in the United States.

• How people prefer to take action: The most common Civic Circle actions taken by respondents were using one’s voice (influencing one’s network through social media, advocacy, or other form of expression), listening and learning (learning about a cause or social issue), and volunteering (intentionally helping someone else). However, perceived barriers to civic engagement linger -- two of the top three reasons people cited for a lack of social issue involvement were financial in nature, reflecting the perception that being civically involved means donating money.

• Virtual volunteering is here to stay: Volunteerism has not only remained important, it’s on the rise, with 54% of global respondents saying, “I plan to volunteer more than I did before the pandemic.” Of those, the vast majority intend to do so primarily via virtual opportunities.

• Calls for corporate involvement: Individuals see companies as having an obligation to get involved. Indeed, a majority of respondents said they expect companies to address social challenges. At the same time, respondents are measuring a given company’s sincerity by the way it treats its employees.

On Tuesday, May 10 at 1 pm ET, Points of Light will host a webinar with INFLUENCE|SG to discuss the research findings in more detail. To register and download the report, visit pointsoflight.org/civicengagement-research. “At a time when the whole world is facing a common challenge, we’re excited to see people take action. According to this report, 80% of Americans took at least one civic action in a 30-day period, up from 52% in May 2020. That statistic itself is amazing,” says Paquin. “If we hope to move forward together, it’s this positive energy that we must capture.” (StatePoint)