The Importance of Photographing Your Home when Selling

Once you decide on an agent, they will want to take photographs of your home and property. Do not allow them to take photographs of your home until it is completely ready, because the photographs will appear online and in other marketing materials and you will want pictures that reflect your home at its absolute best to show potential buyers.

The vast majority of buyers look on the Internet for homes. Real estate agencies list their homes online, and there are sites, like www.Realtor.com that list the millions of homes on sale with agents who are members of the National Association of Realtors. Photographs are used extensively in these listings to show and describe homes.

The key feature on the real estate sites are photographs. At Realtor.com, once you input your search requirements, a list of homes appears. Under the address appears a photograph, and to the right is a blurb about the home. Click on the address or photograph for more information on a particular home. On the vast majority of listings, four large photographs appear and dominate the screen, with only the address, price, and briefest description above. You need to scroll down to see the specific features. In the center of the photographs is a circle with the number of additional photographs of the home to be viewed. Most of the nicest homes feature 25 photographs.

The quality and ease of use of digital cameras makes taking photographs easy—but your home better look good, or those photographs will turn off buyers. If you do the work in this book, you will be able to show off your home to its best advantage and you will get interested buyers.

Because it is so easy to do so, I recommend that either you or your agent take at least 100 shots inside and outside your home and property. Take pictures on a sunny day, as buyers love light-filled rooms.

Make sure you capture all the best views from inside or outside your home, including focal points, great architectural details, and nature.

Take the same pictures you took as before photographs, too. This will enable you to compare before and after shots, making you more objective, allowing you to see if there are still any problems. It's also interesting to see what you have accomplished!

Price Your Home Right!

The single most important factor in selling your home in a buyer's market is to price it right. For this Step, I went to the real estate professionals for their input on pricing homes. What became immediately clear is that the topic of pricing a home is a painful one to sellers in a buyer's market, especially when housing prices are falling.

It was August of 2006 that the median price of a single-family home first declined from the previous year. According to the National Association of Realtors, it was the first significant decline in 13 years. Before that, home owners enjoyed five years of a housing boom, watching the value of their homes rise robustly. 1

Although the decline in home prices is no longer news, it's still very tough for many sellers to face the reality. But, if you want to sell your home, it must be priced competitively for the market.

Because my area of expertise is in design and bringing out the full potential in homes, I let the real estate professionals explain why pricing is so important. The remaining information in this Step is devoted to what the agents told me in our interviews.

Overpricing the Home Biggest Mistake Sellers Make

When asked what the single biggest mistake homeowners make when trying to sell their home was, virtually every real estate professional I interviewed said overpricing the home. In hard-hit marketplaces, buyers only look at foreclosures and bank owned deals.

Amanda Sarnes is a Realtor in Apopka, an area in Central Florida that is seeing many foreclosed homes. When asked about mistakes people make, she said: "Pricing it way too high! I will not spend time or money marketing a seller's house that wants to list too high. In this instance, I require that they get a current appraisal to justify the value they pick if it is far off from my comparative market analysis. Every time I've done this, the seller realizes I'm right and I then get to list it at a price that sells."

Andy Ryan, a Sales Representative for Century 21, in Toronto, Canada, was blunt when asked the question: "The number one factor in determining whether a home sells or not is its price. It doesn't matter what condition your home is in or where it is located, it will sell if it is priced right for what it is, where it is, in the current market."

According to Bill Golden, a 22 year veteran Realtor in Atlanta, Georgia, "The number one mistake people make is overpricing. Many times homeowners try to justify that by saying they're not in a hurry. Unfortunately, that logic doesn't work. If the home sits on the market a long time, you generally end up getting less than if you had priced it right from the start."

"The biggest mistakes that people make when putting their home on the market is overpricing it hoping to leave room for negotiations and expecting numerous people to come through the house and an offer right away. There is not a bigger mistake a seller can make when marketing their home," declared Sheri Moritz, Broker/Owner in Garner, North Carolina.

When I asked Debra Duneier, a Feng Shui practitioner and a Senior Associate Manhattan Real Estate Broker for Corcoran in Manhattan, what are some of the biggest mistakes people make when putting their homes on the market, she said: "Over pricing your property is the biggest mistake a seller can make. When a property goes on the market your largest pool of buyers will be activated. That is when you want the price to be right. If it isn't they will move on and your property will become old stale inventory. By the time you reduce the price you have fewer interested buyers."

The situation in some regions, like Sheffield, Ohio, is pretty tough, According to Cheryl Repko, a Realtor with RE/MAX: "Last year my sales ranged from $220,000 down to $10,000 with an average sale of about $112,000. I work mainly in the city of Lorain Ohio, where I grew up. Lorain was a bustling industrial city in the past. My dad worked for National Tube/U.S. Steel and many of my friends' dads worked at George Steinbrenner's American Shipbuilding, building and maintaining the huge iron ore carriers that supplied the steel industry. Ford built a car manufacturing plant in Lorain in the late 1950s, too. While Lorain never had the high home price spikes and valleys (or bubble) that we read about on the coasts, home values did show a consistently small increase over the years until the last few years. Now American Shipbuilding and Ford are gone and the steel plant is working with a fraction of its former workforce. While Lorain seeks to find its new identity, workers are relocating and the housing market is suffering. The area has seven to ten months of inventory on the market and Lorain's most active price range for sales is now under $40,000 and many of those are bank owned. More home listings expired in the last six months than sold. Investors who will rehab the homes and use them as rentals are buying homes for very low prices (well under $10,000 at times) and don't really care about the condition of a sold house because they'll tear everything out anyway. Hardworking people who have lived in and maintained their homes are finding it quite difficult to find buyers for their homes. Some homes are selling, however, and the task for these owners and their agents is to make every attempt to attract a buyer. Today's buyers are empowered by the media. They know it is a buyer's market and they naturally want the best deal possible. A seller and agent can come up with quite a few things to create the perception of a good deal!

The first and most important factor in selling a home in my market is setting a reasonable list price based on current market data. In a market where more listings expired than sold in the last 6 months and the current inventory is a 7-10 month supply, buyers have plenty of choices in their price ranges and recognize overpriced listings. Sellers often are remembering their last appraisal or what their neighbors' houses sold for several years ago and have difficulty accepting the current estimated market value of their homes even when supplied with current comparable sales data. Sometimes they convince an agent to overprice the home. If, however, the list price is not reflective of market value then no amount of staging or marketing will sell it."

Whatever you do to get your home ready to sell, please listen to the agents and price your home based on their suggestion.

Excerpt from Sell Your Home Fast in a Buyer's Market

New Secret Weapon to Sell a Home Fast Include Green Features

For Immediate Release Contact: Norma Lehmeier Hartie

914-739-8966 norma@HarmoniousEnvironment.com

To sell your home fast in a buyer's market, the most important factor is pricing the home correctly. But, once that's done, the seller must make their home stand out positively in other ways. It is a given that your home is clean, clutter-free, and looking its absolute best. Adding green features and making ecofriendly improvements are the hot new ways to make your home stand out over others to sell it quickly and for the best possible price.

According to Carson Matthews, associate broker and EcoBroker in Atlanta, green certified homes are selling closer to the list price in a much shorter time period than non-certified homes are selling. In 2009, the average green certified home sold in 106 days compared to the non-certified average of 186. While these figures are for the Atlanta market, anecdotal evidence suggests the same holds true in other markets.

Supporting the concept that green features sell homes are the results of Better Homes and Gardens' "Next Home Survey for 2010," which reveals what consumers want in their next home and their overall priorities for home improvement projects. An astonishing 87 percent of respondents said a greener, more energy efficient home is a priority.

Learn which green improvements to make and all the other secrets to selling your home quickly in 9 easy steps with the new book, Sell Your Home Fast in a Buyer's Market: Secrets from an Expert Green Feng Shui Staging Designer. The book reveals how to create a home that buyers desire and want to buy. The steps include what it takes to make the seller's home look and feel great—tips that will sell the home. The book also provides information on selling the home for the best price. It is the first in its subject to address the hot new sought-after green home improvements and features to sell the buyer's home fast

"Sell Your Home Fast in a Buyer's Market is a must for anyone selling their home in today's tough economy. In addition to exploring the importance of pricing your home right, staging, de-cluttering and Feng Shui, Hartie advises what eco-friendly improvements to make that will appeal to buyers. I highly recommend this book if you want to sell your home quickly and for the most money possible."

Barbara Corcoran, Real Estate Mogul, Business Consultant and Speaker

Norma Lehmeier Hartie is the author of Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet, which was The Grand Prize Winner of The 15^th Annual Writer's Digest Book Awards, Best New Non-Fiction USA National Best Books 2008 and a Finalist in your
Book of the Year Awards. Hartie is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence and Parsons School of Design and has been an interior designer for over 20 years. She is the creator of the practice of Harmonious Adjustments™. Ms. Hartie resides an hour from NYC.

Sell Your Home Fast in a Buyer's Market: Secrets from an Expert Green Feng Shui Staging Designer by Norma Lehmeier Hartie.

ISBN: 978-0-9779633-1-7 Softcover * Real Estate * March 9, 2010 * 232 pages * $19.95 * 6" x 9"

Lingham Press, http://www.linghampress.com

The Most Popular Home Features in Different Regions

Wendy Transon Broker, Re/MAX Winning Edge

Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Accredited Staging Professional (ASP), Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES), Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR)

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Condition is critical in today's market. With such an extensive inventory of homes available to current buyers, if your home isn't in top condition, buyers will move on to the next property. Most of today's buyers don't have the time, energy or inclination to make significant repairs. In addition, if the home feels beat up, with needed repairs readily evident, a buyer will wonder what additional repairs may be needed that are beyond what they can see. It will reduce their level of confidence in the home.

• Spacious kitchens, with granite or quartz counters and natural wood cabinets. The kitchen remains the epicenter of the home, and buyers, regardless of price range, want large workspaces, ample storage and light-filled rooms. Most buyers also prefer a kitchen that is open to the breakfast area and family room, for effortless flow and ease in entertaining.
  
• A room that can be used as an office. The home office has, to a large extent, replaced the living room as a "must have" space in the home. Most popular is a first-floor room with French doors that can be used as an office, sitting room, music room or other. Other buyers are content to have an upstairs room, whether extra bedroom or otherwise, to use as an office. What's key is having such a space in the house.
  
• A "mud" or laundry room. Buyers in our market love space to organize the clutter, store the backpacks, drop the shoes and ditch the coats. A separate mud room or laundry room located off the garage is very popular with buyers for this reason.
  
• A place to take in the outdoors. Whether a deck, patio or screened porch, having a dedicated space to relax and entertain outside is increasingly in demand. Screened porches are particularly popular in our area; with our temperate climate, they can be enjoyed year round and in addition, keep out those pesky mosquitoes. Among higher-end homes, we're also seeing greater use of dramatic outdoor hearths, stonework patios and grill stations.
  
• Bountiful natural light. Buyers are increasingly requesting open, bright spaces. An abundance of windows, great flow among rooms, and high ceilings are all popular with buyers in our area.
  
• Universal design features. With the aging of the population, and the recognition that universal design benefits homeowners of any age, features such as low threshold entries, levered doors, wide hallways and first floor master bedrooms are increasingly popular.
  

Wayne Kohl

ReMax Broker, CRS, GRI

Greeley, Colorado 80634

Kitchen and bathrooms are the two keys to selling homes. Kitchens should be open, light, bright, warm and inviting. The kitchen island, eating area, granite countertops, along with upgraded appliances are very popular. Another trend in kitchens is to change the cabinet finishes on the island to make them different but complimentary to the other cabinets.

Master bathrooms are the other item of high resale. The popularity of a separate shower from the tub is very popular. A make up area for morning preparation is also a hot item along with upgraded counters of granite or tile. Dual shower heads and jetted tubs are also very popular.Philip Kent Kiracofe
resident, Manhattan Association of REALTORS

New York City

Years in business: 6

Stainless steel refrigerator and dishwasher, exotic stone or granite counters, an island kitchen, lots of glass and stone in the bathroom, earth-tone soft colors, open floor plans combining living rooms with kitchen and dining area, workout space, and sleek modern fixtures are all very popular features.

Melissa Galt

Lifestyle Expert/Speaker/Author

Highlands, North Carolina

Years in business: 5

Women are the primary decisions makers and look for:

• Up-to-date bathrooms
  
• Up-to-date kitchens
  
• Ample storage
  
• An inviting color scheme (it doesn't have to be builder beige, but not grape or Caribbean blue either!)
  
• Clutter free, including closets
  
• Tailored window treatments as in blinds, shutters, woven woods (ditch the ruffles, flowers, and loud prints)
  
• No smell or an inviting smell (get rid of the pet scents, the mustiness, and others)
  
• Layers of light (this goes way beyond overheads which are best used for cleaning, but creating pools of light draws people, invites and welcomes)
  
• Well laid out furniture for family and friends
  
• A place to hide the TV
  

Men look for:

• Ample garage
  
• Basement build-out opportunities
  
• Man cave options
  
• A place to showcase the TV!
  

Why Go Green to Sell Your Home?

"Green" is in. Green is also rapidly becoming mainstream. However, learning about what is or is not eco-friendly can be time consuming, intimidating, frustrating, and misleading. But relax…this chapter will introduce you to what green means, why it's important and how to make eco-friendly changes to help sell your home. My hope is that when you see how easy it is to make green choices in the home you are selling, you will also want to make them in your new place.

Greening up your home will give you an advantage over much of your competition, which will sell your home faster.

All the agents I interviewed were enthusiastic about green features and believe the addition of them helps sell homes faster. Make sure your agent is just as enthusiastic, as that excitement will be conveyed to buyers which can encourage them to buy your home!

Benefits to Adding Green Features to your Home:

• Make it more energy efficient. That means utility bills are reduced and money is saved. Buyers want to save money!
  
• Improve air quality, which makes the environment healthier for inhabitants.
  
• Make your home worth more money.
  
• Make your home more desirable, because people want green features.
  
• Make your home more desirable because green is hip and current and buyers want whatever is new.
  

There are a number of factors that will help to determine what green features to make in the home you are selling. Almost anyone can make minor, eco-friendly home improvements that will make a home more desirable. Major changes—like adding a geothermal pump or solar panels—would make sense only under certain circumstances and will be explored in the next Step.

If you are putting your home on the market in the future and have some time before you sell it, adding insulation, new windows and other energy efficient changes can prove to be extremely beneficial. You will be able to show how much money you have saved by making these changes. If you have less time, however, you may still make energy efficient changes, as you can compare energy used in your home to comparable homes. I highly recommend you ask your agent what eco-friendly improvements they are seeing in comparable homes.

Why Going Green is Essential

If all the talk about words like eco-friendly, green, sustainability and so on has gotten you confused, you are not alone. For all the good information that's available, there is an equal amount of misinformation. The following section presents what I hope will be an easy to understand explanation of what green really means and why it is so important for the survival of the planet and its inhabitants.

I understand that you don't need to know why it is important for our health and the planet to sell your home, but it is my hope that, if you are new to this subject, you will see why it's important and you will want to make these changes for both your current and future homes.

General Cleaning Tips to Get Your Home Ready to Sell

Unless you are a cleaning fanatic, when you clean your home to sell it, you will need to do more than your standard cleaning. Walls, ceilings and floors should be immaculate. Check things like vents, fans, radiators, exhaust fans, fireplaces, glass-covered lights, chandeliers, and anything in hard to reach places. Clean all light switches. Make sure all light switches and light fixtures work and replace burned-out bulbs.

• Use microfiber cloths for cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, dusting, cleaning mirrors, and polishing. Microfiber cloths actually pull dirt to itself, and they don't streak or leave behind lint. They can be washed hundreds of times. Just do not dry in dryer with anti-static cloths, as the anti-static molecules coat the cloths, cutting down on their effectiveness. Air-dry instead..
  
• Clean from the top to bottom. Because dust settles, start with dusting the ceiling, including fixtures or fans, then walls, then objects on furniture, then furniture and molding. Then vacuum and wash the floors.
  
• To reach the high spots, use a long-handled telescoping pole with attachable tools. I attach a lamb's wool duster to the telescoping pole to reach high spaces. Have two dusters available; one for inside and one for outside work like taking cobwebs off the house and for other really dirty areas.
  
  • Clean hanging lights and chandeliers. Dust and clean off bulbs.
    
  • Remove and clean ceiling mounted fixtures that accumulate dust and bugs.
    
  • Dust ceiling fans. Use a lubricating spray if squeaky. (See Resources section for non-toxic products.) If a fan is still noisy, tighten any loosened parts.
    
• Use a spray bottle of all-purpose cleaner. Spray floor, counter tops—whatever—makes cleaning fast.
  
• Replace your mop with a Microfiber floor mop. They glide over floors making washing easy. Remove cloth, wet it, put back on mop, and spray a bit of cleaner on it. When it gets dirty, rinse and repeat. These are great on all hard floors.
  
• If you have a mold problem or have black mold, consult an expert.
  
• Clean the creosote on glass fireplace windows with rubbing alcohol and a straight edge razor, see chart. When I moved into my home, the creosote was so thick on fireplace doors that I didn't think I could remove it. Rubbing alcohol really cut through the grime. Alcohol does leave a film, so follow up with a glass cleaner like vinegar and water.
  
• Clean curtains in washing machine or at dry cleaners.
  
• Blinds can be cleaned fairly easily in the bathtub with warm soapy water. Allow them to dry outside or on some old towels or a drop cloth.
  
• Dust everything on walls and all woodwork, including picture frames, banisters, molding, baseboards, around windows and sills and above doors.
  
• Clean all glass surfaces, including glass picture frames and mirrors with glass and mirror cleaner.
  
• Don't forget to sweep or vacuum an unfinished basement, attic and garage. Wipe down handrails and hot water heater, furnace and other stationary objects.
  
• Clean cobwebs inside and outside house, garage, and on any other buildings.
  
• Keep cars in your garage clean.
  

Kitchens and Bathrooms Must Sparkle!

These rooms must be spotless or it will turn buyers off. With clutter gone, it will be easier to maintain the kitchen and bathroom. If you follow the advice in the book, you will clean cabinets, pantries, refrigerator, closets and whatever else holds stuff when you remove clutter.

Kitchen

• If you didn't clean inside cabinets and pantry when removing clutter, do so now.
  
• Clean vents and hoods.
  
• Get in the habit of regularly cleaning counters and walls.
  
• Clean refrigerator. First, turn off the refrigerator. Fill a container with warm, soapy water and begin with shelves inside doors. Going shelf by shelf, remove and wipe down all contents, wipe shelf, then put food back. Throw away anything that is past due or that looks nasty. Remove drawers and wash. Remove everything that can be removed and clean. The interior of the refrigerator is easy to clean once the moveable parts are removed. Turn refrigerator back on. To prevent odors, keep all food covered, and add a container of baking soda to be on the safe side.
  
• Clean freezer. Turn off the freezer and remove contents. Allow freezer to warm up a bit then clean as you would refrigerator. Replace contents neatly. Put freezer back on. Note: If you have a freezer that does not self-defrost, it's time to buy a new one. Put a container of baking soda in freezer.
  
• Remove the grill from the front of refrigerator and pull out the pan that collects excess water and wash. Unplug refrigerator and vacuum coils. Pull refrigerator out and vacuum floor.
  
• Keep sink empty and spotless.
  
• Clean the kitchen from top to bottom.
  
• Clean lighting fixtures. Remove bulbs to clean them and wait until they are thoroughly dried before screwing them back in. Keep fixtures off when removing and replacing bulbs.
  
• Unless room was painted recently, a fresh coat of paint is recommended. Unless wallpaper is in pristine condition and is a neutral color or pattern, remove and paint.
  
• Clean curtains or get new ones. Better yet, remove to allow more sunlight into room.
  
• Keep floor spotless.
  
• Clean oven and stovetop. If the stove has stains, or baked on food that cannot be removed, or is damaged, consider replacing those dirty parts or buying a new stove.
  
• If a garbage can must be in sight, use one with a cover and change regularly to prevent odors.
  
• Empty recyclables regularly and keep neat.
  

Cabinets

Natural wood cabinets should be polished and any marks or spots removed. Handles, pulls and any other hardware should be cleaned or polished.

Cabinets with washable surfaces should be clean of all marks with an all-purpose cleaner.

Tile and Grout

If tile is in good shape, simply keep it clean. If not, consider replacing. Grout can be "cleaned" with paint meant for this purpose.

Once the kitchen has been thoroughly cleaned, maintenance is fairly easy. Get in the habit of keeping kitchen clean at all times and ready to show.

Bathroom

Like the kitchen, everything must be spotless.

If toilet, vanity or tub is a funky color, stained or damaged, replace with new.

Walls and Ceilings

While you might not notice how dingy the walls in your house look, buyers will see walls that need to be painted immediately. How to choose paint and repair walls and ceilings will be discussed later in Step 6 and paint colors in Step 9.

Cleaning Windows

Your windows need to be absolutely clean and in good condition. Seriously consider replacing windows with new ones if windows:

• are too old to get clean
  
• fog up with condensation
  
• have cracks
  
• open and close with difficulty or not at all
  

Either hire a professional window washer or clean windows yourself.

If you clean windows yourself, buy a professional squeegee. I used to buy squeegees from the big home improvement stores, and they drove me crazy, because they would leave streaks. I found affordable, professional-quality ones in The Clean Team Catalog and they work great! (See "Resources" under Cleaning Supplies. They also carry microfiber cloths and other good cleaning supplies.) Makes cleaning windows almost painless!

Wash windows with a microfiber cloth or rag or window scrubber using solution shown on page 92.Try an extension pole instead of a ladder to make work easier. Dry the top inch of the window with a rag and then run squeegee down window, starting at the top on the dry section. Wipe squeegee dry with a clean, dry cloth. Continue until window is finished, then wipe rag along three sides of window to mop up any remaining water.

Don't forget to clean around sills, frames and hardware. Squeaky or hard to open and close windows can be lubricated with eco-friendly BPL™, Bio-Penetrating Lubricant by Renewable Lubricants. WD-40™ works, too, but isn't eco-friendly. (See Resources, under Lubricant.)

If you are selling your home when screens are in windows, make sure they are in great condition, too. You can easily clean screens with a microfiber cloth and water. Just wipe them and the dust and dirt comes right off.

Cleaning Flooring

Flooring should be free from debris, clean, odorless, and in great shape. Replace or restore any flooring that is not in good condition. (More details on replacing flooring in Step 6.) After vacuuming, wash floor.

Bye Bye, Bad Energy!

Just as every home has some odor, every place has an energetic "feel." And, as you seek to minimize odors, you can also minimize negative energies and raise positive energies.

If you have been cleaning, removing clutter, and organizing, you have already greatly reduced negative energies. For that matter, simply opening the window and allowing fresh air into your home reduces negative energy. Using eco-friendly products also reduces negative energy.

Arranging your furniture to allow for a good flow of traffic increases the positive energy in your home. Adding houseplants and fresh flowers adds even more positive, vibrant energy—these are the things that make your home feel great. How to arrange furniture and more about plants and flowers are explored in the next chapter.

Negative Energy

This section goes one step further than simply adding objects to make your home positively vibrate with life-affirming energy; it shows you how to eliminate any leftover negative energies. You can choose to think of this section as "extra credit," as it is certainly not imperative to do the exercises in this step to sell your home. But, it might just sell it that much faster.

That said, if anyone in your home has been ill, or there has been a death, an angry divorce, or other devastation, I highly recommend that you clear your home, as these situations bring negative energy into the home and buyers can often feel or sense it.

An explanation of energy follows, then a guide to clearing your home.

Everything on and of the earth has energy—a continuum from the highest vibrational positive life-force energy to the lowest vibrational negative energy. The earth itself has positive and negative energies that affect its living inhabitants. Buildings and other structures have energy and absorb either negative or positive energy, or a combination of both. Plants are able to absorb negative energy (such as toxins) and convert them to clean, fresh energy in the form of oxygen (air). Animals, including humans, can pick up and create both positive and negative energy.

Some animals, including dogs and cows, seek out positive energy. Cats, conversely, prefer negative energy. If you have ever wondered why your cat is drawn to friends or family who dislike them, this is the reason. Given the opportunity, cows in a pasture will graze in the areas that emit positive energy.

I had my own validation of the difference in energy early on in my practice of dowsing. Several years ago, by dowsing, I cleared (removed negative energy) a client's newly purchased condo. The next day, she called me and told me that her dog, who had always slept in a particular spot on her bed in her old apartment, but had refused to sleep in that spot in the new condo—was now back to sleeping in "her spot" on the bed. When I had doused my client's bed, I had detected and cleared negative energies. It was a wonderful validation of dowsing. Obviously, the dog could not understand what I was doing, but recognized the difference in the energy afterward.

Like dogs, humans feel best when surrounded by positive, life-force energy. And, just like dogs and cows, we know when we are surrounded by positive or negative energy. For many of us, this knowing is hidden from our general state of awareness and may be consciously ignored. But our bodies are paying attention and understand shifts in energy.

When we enter a place that is filled with negative energy, our instinct is to leave the area as quickly as possible. But, when we are somewhere that emits positive energy, we want to stay and soak up the good energy.

It's common sense, really. What buyer would want to spend time in a dilapidated, dirty, dark, cluttered, and creepy feeling home? If you were a buyer, wouldn't you rather spend time looking at a light-filled, clean, organized, and beautiful space that feels great?