Selling a home in today’s market is no easy task! However, home staging has proven to help the seller! Did you know that homes will sell 78% faster and for 15% more than homes that are not staged.
A properly staged home is set up to appeal to the greatest number of buyers and help the buyer visualize living in the home. One of the best sales techniques in selling a home is to place the furniture in the best location based on the architecture and function of the room.
- before redesign
- after redesign
If you do this properly, it eliminates the question of “Honey where will we put our couch.â€Â A well staged home helps the buyer to visualize them self living in the home.
There are a few simple things you can do to start the process of staging your home.
Clutter
The first thing you must address before staging your home is clutter. Do you have any clutter?
- before bookcase redesign
- after bookcase redesign
If you look like you have outgrown the house then prospective buyers may think the home is too small for them. De-cluttering a home is a must. Sometimes, people don’t always realize their home has a clutter problem. Here are a few things to think about. When you open your closets can you see the floors? Can you see some of the back wall of the closet? How about when you open your kitchen cupboards are things falling out? How is your basement? Attic? Could you move it tomorrow if you had to? Go through each room and pack anything that you don’t need immediately. Don’t store it in the garage, rent a storage facility and store the items until you have time to organize. A clutter-free home is an attractive home. If you don’t have time to organize now, buy some boxes and pack the clutter. (This should be your very last resort!)
Kitchens and Bathrooms
Kitchens and bathrooms are strong selling areas of your home. Buyers often say they bought a home because they loved the kitchen. Pack away any clutter in the kitchen. You can mini upgrade your kitchen by replacing kitchen and light fixtures, knobs and paint. If you want to mini update the bathroom, try buying new towels, shower curtains and rugs.
Paint/Wallpaper/Flooring
Objectively look at the paint/wallpaper/flooring in your home.
- before office redesign
- after office redesign
Is it more than 5 years old? Is your paint very taste specific? Remember you want to appeal to the greatest number of buyers. It may be worth painting the interior of your home a neutral color that will appeal to anyone’s tastes. Wallpaper tends to be very taste specific and should be considered coming down. How about the carpeting? Is it customer specific or outdated? Are there wood floors under the carpet that should be exposed?
Exterior of your home
How does the exterior of your home look? Does it look manicured? Is it inviting enough for me to want to even get out of the car and go inside? Cut the grass, trim the trees/bushes, add some mulch and lots of colorful flowers. How are the screens and gutters?
Repairs
Walk your home using all your senses. What do you see, hear and smell. You may want to have a home inspector come out and inspect your home before you even put it on the market.
You only get one chance to make an impression with a buyer and you want to get it right! If you cannot be objective then ask someone else to walk your home and be honest with you. You may want to consider hiring a professional stager who will not only be honest with you but will also help you accomplish all that has to be done to properly stage the home to appeal to the right buyer.