How to Stage Your Home
Just like people, homes give first impressions. When selling your current house, the first impression your home gives to a prospective buyer can have a significant impact on their overall decision. It has been estimated that staged homes sell 2 to 3 times faster than unstaged homes, and for up to 6% more. Prospective buyers tend to view well-decorated homes as more expensive and valuable. Here are some easy ways to stage your home and help it give the best impression possible:
1. Keep it tidy:
The number one rule for staging a home is to make sure that it’s clean and tidy! Consider hiring professional cleansers to do a thorough clean of your home when you first put it on the market, and then be sure to maintain the cleanliness. Also be sure to remove clutter, which may include removing unnecessary pieces of furniture. Less furniture often makes rooms look larger and more spacious.
2. Remove Personal Items:
Be sure to hide personal items such as pictures, albums and sentimental mementos. You want potential buyers to be able to picture themselves living in your home – which is hard to do if they are surrounded by pictures of another person’s family.
3. Display Flowers:
Fresh flowers are inviting and elegant and will help your home give the perfect first impression. Make a trip to the florist, or even better – create floral arrangements with flowers from your own garden. This allows potential buyers to appreciate the outside landscape as they are examining your home.
4. Lighting:
Lighting is key to making your home look warm and inviting. To improve your homes lighting increase the wattage in lamps and fixtures and try to have at least two fixtures per room, preferably more. In rooms where there is no overhead lighting more table and floor lamps may be necessary.
5. Accessorize:
Just like with an outfit, good accessories can make or break a room. After you have cleared a room of clutter the right accessories can serve as focal points in a room and give it character. Small details such as candles in the bathroom, interesting coffee table books or antique collectibles emanate sophistication and attract attention from prospective buyers.
6. Make any final repairs and upgrades:
Ideally when you put your home on the market you want it to be in tiptop shape. If you have any final repairs to make, this is the time to do it. Paint touch ups, window repairs and replacing cracked tiles should all be completed before your first showing. Also make sure that the exterior of your home looks just as good as the interior, with manicured lawns and gardens. A final easy upgrade is to repaint the front door and put up new house numbers to make your home look fresh and new.
The minute details of staging can make all the difference when a prospective buyer is walking through your home for the first time. If you would like more information or advice on staging or selling your home I would be more than happy to speak with you!