Getting ready to sell your home? How it looks can make a big difference!

We are starting a new series of guest blogs where we'll have a local expert provide us with some advice and tips in their field of expertise. To start things off, my friend Brad Meinck from Coastal Properties Group has some great tips and thoughts on getting your home ready for sale.

Often, clients ask me what are some of the things that I can do personally to make a meaningful impact on selling my home? One of the easiest and cost effective solutions is to remove any clutter, junk or other unusable items within the home, garage, storage sheds etc… You want to project a clean and organized home. While your personal style aesthetic may differ from buyers; by having everything neat and orderly, this goes a long way of allowing a potential buyer to visualize the home with their own unique personal touches.


Another great way of adding appeal is to perform a yard clean up. Whether it is palm limbs, weeding or other non-essential materials in the yard, removal will project a better “curb appeal”. The use of potted plants and flowers is also a nice choice in projecting and emphasizing your home’s individual beauty. You can’t underestimate the impact of how your yard looks when a prospective buyer drives up for the first time.


It today’s fast paced work and home environments its hard to set aside time for deep cleaning and getting rid of junk. A good practice is to set aside a weekend to get the job done. For those items that may have value, there are many charitable organizations that will provide areas for drop off. Some charities will even provide pickup service to gather your donations.


With the local market having limited inventory of single-family homes and values increasing, you want to achieve the best price possible. By taking some time and elbow grease, a homeowner can go a long way in helping improve their chances of yielding the best return on their home sale.


For the non-usable items, trash and yard waste, I recommend Bin There Dump That Tampa Bay. I have personally used them at my own home and have recommended them to my Real Estate clients. They deliver a clean dumpster and do not damage your driveway. Their customer service professionals can assess your job and recommend the best sized dumpster for your particular job and available placement.

If you’re a looking to buy or sell in the Tampa Bay area, I am a Clearwater Beach based agent with Coastal Properties Group and Christies International Real Estate. My cell phone number is 727.366.2606 and my web address is www.bradmeinck.com

Do-It-Yourself TV Shows

Since many of your will be attending this weekends Home Show at the Trop in St. Petersburg, i thought it would be timely to talk about the Do-It-Yourself TV shows and some of our favorites!

We all know electricity and television are here to stay. With more than a third of the adult population reportedly considering a DIY project and home improvement revenues topping $320 billion this year, one might confidently say that DIY television shows are here to stay as well.

Do-it-yourself is really nothing new. Our country was built on the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the settlers and pioneers. Some measure of creativity and the satisfaction of completing a project resides in most homeowners, whether a major renovation or something simple like changing knobs on the cabinets. It's rewarding to personalize our spaces to reflect our preferences, and money is not always the driving force.

Tuning in to television shows on HGTV or DIY Network offers zillions of ideas before you even think of opening your checkbook. Identical twins Jonathan and Drew Scott, 38, have made a big splash in this arena with four shows on the HGTV network: Property Brothers, Buying and Selling, Property Brothers at Home, and Brother vs. Brother. According to Kathleen Finch, president of HGTV, these guys are "the cable equivalent of box-office movie stars."

They are known not only for transforming run-down rooms and houses into attractive, functional spaces, but also for Scott Living, their own line of furniture and home decor available on QVC. They bought their first house at age 18. Both are real estate agents, and Jonathan is a licensed contractor. This bold duo are smart in their choice of Bin There Dump That for dumpster rentals on site.

Tapping into a new trend of minimalist lifestyles is the show Tiny House Hunters. Many folks are finding that living small and efficiently leaves more time, energy and money to travel, relax, garden and enjoy hobbies. Like the Property Brothers, Chip and Joanna Gaines have become household names for their show Fixer Upper. Florida residents might tune in for great ideas on Beach Flip, Beachfront Bargain Hunt, Curb Appeal, Design on a Dime, Room Crashers or The Outdoor Room. In that last one, award-winning landscape designer Jaime Durie converts non-descript outdoor spaces into beautiful living, dining and relaxing oases.

If you're thinking of selling your house, check out Meridith Baer's show Staged to Perfection. Staging a home is the new must-do for selling quickly and at a higher price. The general idea is to remove personal photos and items to create a neutral zone in which prospective buyers can envision their personal style. Childhood sweethearts John and Whitney Sparks have taken their show Flipping the Block to the east side of the Sunshine State for the program Florida Flippers.

The whole television line-up for DIY homeowners, as well as a plethora of youtube

videos, is valuable to anyone contemplating home improvement, renovation or simply sprucing up a room. You can see if you like bold color, granite, white trim, wood floors, tiny homes or rock fireplaces, then evaluate what it takes to do one of the DIY projects you are considering. There's a wealth of ideas to watch, understanding well that your DIY project may not go as fast or smooth, but the satisfaction at the end might be your best feeling of the year. And like the Property Brothers, dial up Bin There Dump That for all your junk hauling or Tampa dumpster rental needs.