Home Staging Tips for Baby Boomers: Selling a Home with Disability Aids

are you trying to sell a home
that has visible medical equipment
wheelchair ramps or other medical equipment
and you’re worried it might turn buyers away
in this video
I’m going to show you how you can still stage a home
that has visible handicap features
while showing it to make it feel warm and inviting
without erasing the features that matter the most
okay so I want to thank Kay
who submitted this question on one of my YouTube videos
and I want to read it to you real quick
so you kind of
have an idea as to why I created this video
because I think it’s really important to bring this up
because as women over 50 as a baby boomer generation
some of you may be um
looking at this going oh
well I have the same issue
what do I do so let me read this comment
and I’m gonna share it here as well
um so she wrote
thanks for making the videos
my partner is disabled
we have a stairlift for the stairs
wet room with handrails and a portable shower chair
in his bedroom
he has a trolley on wheels and a roller mobility aid
outside there’s a ramp at the back door
and the reason I mentioned all these things
that there are by
are by is that are buyers put off by adapted houses
particularly when it is so obvious
that a disabled person lives in the property
if so what can one do to home stage the property
so it’s not so obvious
that a disabled person lives in the property
it’s probably a sensitive subject
but thought I would ask
in case you want to do a video at some point
thank you again for helpful videos
so yes
so I asked um
got a hold of Kay and asked her a couple more questions
um but she is actually living in Scotland
so this is overseas but I still see this as a potential
um subject that could be brought up even in the US
maybe you have a home that is um
you know an older home
and your parents maybe have lived in there
or you have a spouse that’s disabled
and you have put all these types of things in there
as well and you’re kind of wondering and cringing going
do I need can I hide this
do I need to hide it do I
should I take it down right
that’s probably some of the questions you’re having
and one of the things that she mentioned also is that
um they do live in an n
terrorist property in a subdivision um
and they have lived on the property for three years
but even with the stair lift
they’re still having issues
so they’re looking for a bungalow
which is a one story home
um you may be coming up on the same situation
that may be something that requires you to move as well
right
so again so she just trying to see what we can do to um
stage the home um
one of the things that I she brought up
which I did not even think about
until she brought it up
was that the house also has poly floor safety flooring
it’s a type of flooring they use in hospitals
which are anti slip flooring
um and I didn’t go down the route of laminated flooring
because when um
her partner eats there’s makes a mess
and it’s you know
it’s the laminate flooring is more hygienic
um she thinks um
others also
doesn’t get in the cracks of the laminate flooring
so I totally understand that when cleaning up
so I know that some of you may be thinking
oh well yeah
I didn’t think about that too
so
these are actually good features to show in the house
that should be brought up
when you’re listing your house
those types of things should be brought up
look we’ve got
you know maybe the countertops are lower
because of the person in a wheelchair right
maybe um
they have more pull out drawers
maybe it’s this safety flooring okay
there’s a lot of great features
that you shouldn’t hide behind
and we’ll go through that
and kind of touch upon that in this video
but I do want to say that there are some thing thought
that was brought to this home
and making it easier yes
for them but it could also work for another family
OK so let’s get into the
the different points
that I wanna bring up about this home
so thank you K
so much for bringing this to my attention
and again I hope this helps somebody else
maybe that’s having the same situation and going
what do I do right so let’s get into that
welcome back everybody
thank you so much for joining me
and my name is Kasha and
maybe some of you are facing the reality
of having some medical equipment
equipment out maybe you have some
a wheelchair ramp or some grab bars
and you’re not quite sure
that that’s gonna turn off buyers
and I really understand that
this can be a sensitive issue for some people
and I understand that um
but I do wanna share uh
my thoughts on this
and get your opinion as well as my viewers
and see if you agree okay
so when you are think of an adopted home
a handicapped home
you may be thinking of something like this
where there’s an outside ramp that’s kind of rickety
kind of falling apart
and it’s just not looking the best to show off the home
okay first
let’s be real I want to acknowledge the reality that
yes many people want a move in ready houses
to make them look and feel light and open and fresh
right but when it comes to having a handicapped home
you may be kind of cringing going
oh well
that’s not for me and you’re probably right
but it is right for another family
so you may want to think about that
these features are something that
something works for an aging parent
it could be a spouse it could be a disabled child
so don’t feel it’s not for you
maybe it’s not but it could be for another family
that is looking for a move and ready home
with all these features in it
maybe they’re looking you know for
because they have a disability
they’re looking for only a one story house
well and Kayla’s example
she has a two story house
because there’s a stairlift in there
okay
this is an issue um
and more and more so unfortunately
fortunately
I personally don’t have any disabled um
relatives in my family now
I did um
have my um
mother in law when she was battling cancer
she did have a wheelchair
so my father in law built a ramp in the garage
to help her get up in the stairs
they did have um
a lift in the truck
to get her up in the vehicle for her appointments
um but they did have a one story house
okay um
so there are certain things that she needed
to make her life just easier
and so like I said this could be for an aging parent
it could be for you know
for baby boomers who are downsizing
they just want something smaller
and they go oh wow
yeah a one story home would be fantastic
you know
but I do need those showers that don’t have a huge lip
you know I don’t need a bathtub in the house
I just need a walk in shower right
or I need those handrails and things like that
so it could be for an aging adult
it could be for a disabled child
you know I mean
there are still some kids that do need extra help
um it could be for a disabled veteran who got injured
right um
so it’s not to say
that this is only for one type of person
you could be a unicorn among others
who need this type of home okay
so when I say unicorns I’m thinking okay
you think it’s yours
is unique and gonna be really hard to sell right
okay
so that’s the mindset that you probably are thinking
right we had the same kind of idea
when we were renting our house
before we moved cause we rented it out
and we thought it was a unicorn too
so we kind of steeled ourselves
got ourselves you know
thinking okay
well this is gonna take a while
that’s fine
we’re okay if it takes a while to get rented
because our property is on 10 acres
it’s out in the country it’s off a gravel road
but it’s a nice house with big
big yard right
10 acres it’s a lot of land
but mostly it’s trees right
um we had a pool and there very few neighbors
and we thought okay
this is gonna take a while
even our realtor expected it’s gonna take a while
we had five showings in one day
and got an offer above asking rental price
above the rental price I’m like what
what people do that they really wanted our house
so you may think it’s a unicorn
but it is perfect for somebody else
okay I actually did a home staging
affirmations video on this
go take a look at that
I’ll leave that link in the show notes
so you can see that yes
your house could be perfect for somebody
and you may think it might be a hindrance
that’s okay for those buyers who visibly see the ramps
they may walk away and self eliminate and go okay
you know what this house is not for me
okay that’s fine
okay that’s alright
so how do we handle medical equipment
right so
large items
like hospital beds and wheelchairs and oxygen tanks
they can you know
grab attention
in not the best way that you may want to do right
so if they’re not needed daily
you know when it comes time for the pictures
I would pull those things
especially that oxygen tank
if you can kind of put it in the closet
you know make the bed in such a way that you know
it’s not as obvious that it is a medical bed
but you know what it’s as part of the features
it’s a bed that actually gonna move
as long as it’s staged and put in a good spot right
when you’re staging a bedroom
you’re doing the same thing right
you’re gonna have a nightstand
you’re gonna have a nice bedding right
so you don’t want to show off those things
you want to tidy up the cords
you know
maybe have a decorative screen or something like that
and arrange it
so the equipment kind of blends in with the space
and doesn’t stick out as much okay
you also want to highlight the accessibility as a bonus
right so people think that it’s just for older adults
right like I mentioned
it may be for the kids but those p
families are with disabled children
are actively looking for houses with ramps
with grab bars with wider spaces
maybe a bigger kitchen without a kitchen island
because maybe they need a wheelchair
to wheel around in the kitchen
okay so
you wanna showcase those things
in a way that makes it feel stylish
okay
so for example
you can add spa like touches in the bathroom
by putting towels over those grab bars okay
maybe painting the bathroom so it’s not um
a stark white medical hospital looking type room right
um and I know
one of the comments I had from when I was just talking
about uh
house colors and wall colors
take a look I’ll leave that link
also sea salt is a great
nice green kind of color that you can use
or a blue kind of color
take a look at that video as well
to give you paint ideas for a bathroom that
you know may need a touch of color
and just some stylish pieces to it okay
so when you highlight the accessibility features
this is also something that makes the home unique
but it’s also a lifestyle that works for the family
whether it’s like I said
an aging adult baby boomers or a disabled child
now if you do need some home staging tips
I do offer a free home staging guide
that you can download for free
and in there I have 10 staging tips to get you started
I have home improvement tips as well as
ways to influence buyers
so that you can make a great first impression
so download it for free
and get yourself started on staging your house
so the last thing I wanna mention is making it clean
keeping it clean and neutral and open okay
when you’re showing your house
you wanna have the colors neutral
you wanna clear away the clutter
and you wanna create open layouts
because again
if you do have a disabled person in there
you wanna make sure that there
it’s wide enough hallways
spaces to go in the living room with a wheelchair
so the furniture’s gonna be further apart
um there’s gonna be more room in the kitchen
you may have gotten rid of an island
because it was too small
and didn’t give you enough space right
maybe you have some fancy um
drawers that pull out from the cabinets
you know that you do have in there that’s accessible
you know type features
that you would want to show off for your home
even I have those on my kitchen island
because that’s just so much easier
that when you have an island
and you’re trying to pull out
you know accessories
appliances or whatever I have down there
like pans or dishes or whatever
I’d rather have a pull out drawer out of the cabinet
versus kind of digging back there
trying to find what the piece that I need
so all those things are great features
that help show off your house
the other thing when it comes to medical aids
is that you want to make sure that they are in good
working order you don’t want the rickety ramp
you don’t want it kind of broken up in pieces going oh
that doesn’t look safe right
make sure your stair lift
if you have one is still working
because it’s just like you’re selling your house
you’re gonna be selling the fridge
the stove the oven
all those you know appliances
this is part of those appliances okay
you wanna make sure everything’s in good
working
order so that you sell it and sell it with the house
right cause it’s part of the features of the house
so we’re gonna be staging it
for comfort and connection
with the new family that’s gonna be moving in
okay
so while baby boomers may be selling their house with
you know the medical aids
but you also have filled with your memories
like tchotchkes and credenzas and curios
with figurines and things like that
a little bit of clutter
you’re still gonna have to stage it and transition
to make it more appealing to buyers
so yes
you wanna show off the mobility aids and um
disability ramps and things like that in there
you still need to stage the house
you still need to make the bed
you still need to clear the counters
all those kinds of things are gonna be helpful
and this is part of staging your house to sell
I do have some pictures of some handicap
accessible homes
and you can see that things like a ramp
doesn’t have to look you know
that awful somebody may be thinking
oh gosh
it looks kind of bad
you might want to take a look at maybe this ramp
maybe you have a wooden steps coming up
and then
you just have a wooden ramp going up alongside it
or you have this one that’s built next to um
the house and maybe you just paint it
to kind of blend in with the home
another home that’s a white one um
has the same visible and wrap around kind of porch
and it does have a ramp that goes with it
but it’s painted white
to blend in with the rest of the house
so there are some ways
that you can hide things in plain sight
which is something that I really love to do
when it comes times to staging your home
but there are some other ideas
that it doesn’t have to look awful
okay you maybe think cringing going oh
I don’t think so it’s okay
this is an accessible home
that’s what people new lifestyle is gonna be like
and you may be that unicorn that buyers are looking for
because again
they don’t have to spend the money on it and go
oh well okay
it’s already put in for me great
I don’t have to spend the money to put in grab bars
or put in a ramp or a stair lift
because it’s a two story home
so an answer to Kayla’s question
I would say no
that an adapted or handicap home is not an hindrance
not off putting to buyers
because there are gonna be buyers out there
who are gonna be looking for an accessible home
okay like I said
there will be buyers that it may turn them off
but that’s because it’s not the right house for them
there are other families out there
that are gonna need that those features
and it’s actually gonna be
you know a good thing right
as long as you follow you know
the couple of things that I mentioned
like everything’s in good working order that you show
are showing off the accessible home
kind of hide things the cords and things like that
that you can to make it you know
a staged home and clear of clutter
like I said it could be for an aging parent
it could be for a spouse
a disabled veteran or a disabled child
and while yes
your house may be a unicorn
it may be about something
that this is exactly what this family needs
in order to make their life easier
think about those things viewers
let me know in the comments
I would love to know
do you agree disagree with what I said
this was a great subject to talk about and bring up
because there are gonna be some baby boomers
some of you women over 50
that are getting ready to sell your house
and you’re like well
is this gonna be okay is this alright
yep you can definitely stage your house
using
and showing off those handicap features in your home
I hope you guys have a fantastic week
and we’ll talk to you later bye