Staging Your Home for Sale

If you’re trying to sell your home or are thinking about selling it, you’ll definitely want to check out these tips for staging your home. Majority of sellers want a quick sale and to get asking price. So we are sharing a few tips to help you with your sale!

According to the National Association of Realtors, for every $100 invested in staging, the potential return is $400 . … “A staged home will sell for 17% more on average than a non-staged home, and 95% of staged homes sell in 11 days or less. That is statistically 87% faster than non-staged homes.”  (https://www.forbes.com/sites/vanessamcgrady/2015/11/04/staging/)

So what is “Home Staging”?  It is the act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money!

Boost Curb Appeal. First and perhaps the most crucial is making the outdoor appearance clean and appealing. As the saying goes, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” well people do, especially when it goes to buying a new home. So you’ll want to make the home look inviting and entice them to want to see the inside. Have a nice appearance by making sure the lawn is mowed, edged and weeded. Clean windows and keep house exterior power washed and clean. Add landscaping with fresh flowers and greenery. Its a nice touch to make your home look more “homey” and inviting.

Get Cleaning! From shining floors and gleaming windows to clean counters and scrubbed grout, every surface should sparkle. Keeping a clean house, is key! It will help your potential buyer picture themselves and family living in the home.

Clutter FREE! Keep the inside and outside free of clutter. ALL clutter must go. Even if you need to rent additional storage space, it will make all the difference. In this photo above, by removing a wall cabinet and plant, and replacing them with a simple mirror and console, it opens up this foyer to a larger living area. Even too much furniture can make a home look cluttered. Less is more in this case. The less clutter the cleaner and bigger your house will look!

Put Furniture in Groupings. Don’t be nervous to move your furniture around. You may have purchased that chair for a specific spot, but it might look more appealing somewhere else, or in your new home. There’s a common belief that rooms will feel larger and be easier to use if all the furniture is pushed against the walls, but that isn’t the case. Instead, furnish your space by floating furniture away from walls. Reposition sofas and chairs into cozy conversational groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in a room is obvious. Not only will this make the space more user-friendly, but it will open up the room and make it seem larger.

Soothing Neutral Colors. Choose sophisticated neutral colors. Now is not the time to experiment with that “fun”-looking lime green. But that doesn’t mean you need to go all white, either. Rich mid tone neutrals like mocha and Apache White create a sophisticated backdrop that makes everything look more pleasing and coordinated.

Open your closets. Lets face it open-house visitors will peek inside your closets. So open them up! Closet space can be a make-it-or-break-it selling point for buyers. Aim to have 20 to 30 percent open space in each closet to give the impression of spaciousness. Again, this is really important, so even if you need to store a few boxes elsewhere, it’s worth it. And remember… remove all valuables.

Beware of pet odors. Really, this can be a big one! If you have pets, get all rugs steam cleaned and be extra vigilant about vacuuming and washing surfaces. Also be sure to keep any extra-loved pet toys and doggie bones hidden when tours are scheduled.

Create a lifestyle people are looking for. Generally speaking, you want to play up what your neighborhood or area is known for. Have a house in a quiet, grassy suburb? Adding a fire pit ensemble in your backyard and a bench swing on your porch could be the perfect touch.

Stage your back yard. Don’t forget to stage the backyard/patio of the house too. No matter how big your space is, play it up! Add a table and chairs. If you have a pool or fire pit make sure its clean, tidy and welcoming.

And, after all of this, if you still want to sell your home… we wish you the best!