As expected, the Federal Reserve hiked rates last week by 0.25 percent to 2.25 percent. What we’re more interested in is the forecast: 12 of the 16 Fed members forecasted a 4th rate hike this year, expected in December, and 3 rate hikes in 2019. Then you have the outliers in the group, with one believing there will be no more hikes over the next several years and another who thinks 2019 will see 5 rate hikes. Very interesting.

Pending Home Sales report was released last week but was a disappointing miss, down 1.2 percent in August. New Home Sales, however, were up 3.5 percent in August, and are up almost 13 percent year over year. We’re also starting to see a welcomed growth in inventory for Existing and New Home Sales.

Fact: staging your home can not only help you sell your home faster but can also potentially bring in higher bids. What are the tips of the trade to do it yourself? Essentially, lose the clutter but here’s 3 specific tips:

• Curb appeal! It’s all about first impressions and for the buyer, that’s before they even walk up to the front door.
• Remove at least 30 percent of your personal belongings: you want to allow the buyer to picture themselves in the home and they can’t do this with your belongings everywhere. This also helps you to create space.
• Think neutral: the house should remain the focus, keep the walls neutral but use accent colors for décor and for show.

On average, staged homes sell 73 percent faster. Well, when you put it like that, who is ready to pull weeds and move some furniture?