Staging your home before listing it is key. That’s because it’ll make your home shine in comparison to others online.
The goal of staging a home is to help highlight the most impressive assets your home has. If you do it right, you’ll be able to attract a large pool of prospective buyers and therefore sell your home relatively quickly. It can also help drive up the price of your home if prospective buyers find themselves in a bidding war.
Best of all, staging a home isn’t necessarily a costly affair. The following tips should get you started.
1. Get Rid of Personal Details
You want a prospective buyer to visualize the home as their own. As such, and as hard as that may seem, you need to depersonalize the house to sell it.
While this step can be difficult and emotional, it’s in your best interest. Some personal items that you may need to pack away while showing the home include family photos, accent walls, busy wallpaper, and personal collections.
You’ll also want to keep clothes out of sight and keep the bathroom countertops clear.
2. Focus on Specific Rooms
When it comes to staging, not all rooms are created equal. Some have more potential when it comes to influencing buyers’ decisions than others.
According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, the kitchen, master bedroom, and the living room are the most important in the eyes of most buyers. Therefore, these are the rooms you’ll want to focus your staging efforts on.
Rooms with less influence include bathrooms, children’s bedrooms, and guest bedrooms. If you have the time and budget to stage these you may do so, but they don’t need to be your top priority.
3. De-clutter Rooms
Space is what sells, and clutter makes spaces look and feel smaller. Remember, less is more when selling a home!
De-cluttering the space will open up the room and make your home more appealing to prospects. Of course, this doesn’t mean you’re required to everything from the space, but you should try packing them away during the staging phase.
The following are some spots you’d want to focus your decluttering efforts on:
- Tidy up any play areas
- Hide computer cords and other wires and clear off your desk in the home office
- Beautify the bathroom
- Organize the closets
- Curate what is in the kitchen
4. Make a Good First Impression
The first impression matters. The front entrance is the first space prospective buyers will see when they walk up to your house.
Do you have a front stoop? If so, scrubbing off any dirt, or even power washing it can go a long way in the eyes of potential buyers. You may also want to add a simple doormat to help add a touch of hominess. A potted plant or two may also provide some added curb appeal.
If the outside is well-maintained, prospective buyers will be more excited to see what else the home has to offer.
5. Use Neutral Tones
This tip can make a world of difference in determining the price of the home and the amount of time your listing stays on the market.
Although bright colors help people personalize their homes, they can be a turn-off for prospective home buyers. So, when listing your home for sale, consider using a neutral color pallet. Examples of neutral colors include taupe, white, and gray.
You want to make it easy for the next owners to put their touches on the home.
6. Make the Place Look Nice
This seems obvious but it goes a long way when selling a home. You can begin by going room to room removing any scuffs from walls and floors. Next, you’ll want to patch up any holes, scratches, and tiny cracks you may find.
Ask yourself if the paint looks chipped? If so, consider doing some paint touch-ups. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders in brightening up a room.
7. Deep Clean the Home
Go all out when cleaning the space, leave no space untouched! From the corners of your ceiling to the baseboards and everywhere in between, make every square inch shine.
When planning your cleaning checklist, focus on areas that potential buyers are most interested in. These include the bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and living room. Then during the cleaning, follow the top-to-bottom, left-to-right rule for cleaning each room. This will ensure that no surface is overlooked.
Besides cleaning the rooms, make sure all appliances are spotless.
8. Improve Your Home’s Lighting
Dark spaces aren’t enticing to potential buyers. Brighten up the rooms by allowing as much light inside the house as possible. You should turn on all the lights in the home, including closet lights and lamps, for showings.
You’ll also want to open all the curtains to let in more light and if your yard has some problem areas, you may keep the blinds down but open up the slats to bring in some natural slight.
By letting in more light you make the rooms appear more spacious.
9. Freshen Up the Home
Make your home feel fresh and inviting by including a few potted plants. If you have a lot of plants, space them out so they don’t overwhelm a specific area of the home and get rid of dead or dying plants.
10. Hire a Professional Realtor
Want to get the best price for your home and be taken seriously by sellers’ agents? Consider hiring a real estate agent as opposed to selling your home yourself.
Jennica George is an experienced realtor with a passion for interior design. Her services all come with the same promise of quality, dedication, and professionalism.
Summary:
There you have it, 10 tips on how to stage your home. The goal of staging a home is to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. Best of all, the more potential buyers are willing to submit their offers, the higher the price your home will sell for.
For more information, contact Jennica George today!
