Staging home to sell is a very interesting topic that’s getting a lot of momentum in the last few years especially in this market where it has become more challenging to sell home.
What is home staging? Let’s look at this in this perspective; your home is set up the way you need to have it. Got three kids? Your home is probably set up to suit the life style of a family with three kids. If you put your home on the market tomorrow you’ll be in trouble because your home has your brand, your set up, your life style. You’re not trying to sell your home to yourself. You’re trying to sell it to somebody else. Buyers want to buy a home where they can put their mark on.
Creating a Mood
When you sell your home it becomes ‘show time’. You want to let buyers see themselves living in your home. That’s what we’re taking about home staging, it’s like creating an illusion. Creating a mood that would move your buyer’s emotion.
Think about Ritz-Carlton or better yet, think about budget hotels. These hotels know what they’re doing, they have created a mood that captures the emotions of their customers. They spend money on creating an ambiance that gets people excited. From color tones, rooms looking bigger, warm and brighter, to the pleasant smell as you enter the lobby – you may not notice this consciously but these are all working together to lure you into spending money on these hotels. You’ve got to do the same thing when you’re selling a home. You’ve got to create that mood that will make people want to buy your house.
Staging Your Home for Sale
Staging your home can mean the difference between a sold home and an expired home. A properly executed staging leads to the home’s attractive features that in turn catch the eyes of potential buyers.
There’s a lot of neat ways you can stage your home. These are DIY steps but you can also consider getting some expert help. There many professional stagers out there that can help you and they really do an excellent job. It could be just a few hours of consultation to use the things you have just so you have a professional guide. Still, if you think you can handle this on your own, that’s also fine.
Make a good first impression – People usually make up their mind about a home they’re going to like in the first few seconds. You’ll want potential buyers to like your home in that short span of time.
What to do:
- Enhance your home’s curb appeal. Trim your bushes, mow the lawn, sweep dead leaves in the yard, keep all your tools, and plant flower beds.
- Put a fresh coat of paint in your front door.
- Wash your windows clean.
- Put plants to adorn your front porch.
Declutter – The most effective way to spruce up your home is to clean it thoroughly and while you’re at it, you can also start decluttering. A clean home gives a positive vibe, it gives a good impression to your prospective buyers.
What to do:
- Purge the house of items you no longer need. Sort things into three categories: things moving with you, things to toss, and things to donate/sell/give.
- Give major attention to the rooms most buyers are interested in – kitchen, living room, bathroom.
- If repainting is not in your budget, carefully clean surfaces to removed dust or grime.
- Show your home’s space, the more space you’re able to show the better.
Depersonalize – Anything that personalizes your home needs to be removed or changed. You’d want buyers to imagine themselves living there not being a guest in your home. Buyers don’t need to see all the medals and graduation pictures of John from first grade to college.
What to do:
- Put away your photographs, souvenirs, religious items, certificates and other personal artifacts.
- Remove the utility bills, post it, notes, magnets in your refrigerator.
- Though you should depersonalize your home, don’t leave the walls bare of any design elements. Hang non-personal pictures to create a visual impact.
Space – Show your home’s space, the more space you’re able to show the better. Your home must flow together nicely.
What to do:
- Furniture grouped together nicely can affect the space of the room, it can also turn one room into two and vice versa.
- Remove extra chairs or other furniture to make the rooms in your house appear larger and inviting.
Painting – New paint can make your home appear fresh and inviting. It also makes your home appear larger and brighter. Painting your home also gives the highest return of investment without having to spend a lot of dollars.
What to do:
- Choose neutral colors because not only it is appealing to many, it also makes the room appear larger.
- Consider other features of the home, like the roof color, stonework and other elements when deciding for exterior paint color.
Lighting – Making your home appear brighter also enhances the home’s character. Natural lighting is a plus, but if you lack natural lighting, adding extra lighting to increase illumination to the room will ensure that every aspect of the room is showing.
What to do:
- Add lamps to light any dark corners.
- Open the windows to admit natural light, also washing the windows brings in more light.
- Replace watt bulbs with a higher wattage. The brighter the rooms the better.
Accessorize – Accessories enhance the furniture and style of your home, they tie the room together and enliven the space. Your house should appeal to a broader range of home buyers so keep that in mind when you are decorating.
- Pillows can be used to accessorize your sofas, chairs, beds and such. You may want to highlight the wall color in the room by putting a throw pillow in the same color.
- Bowls are great accessories for your dining room, kitchen or living room. A bowl placed in the middle of a dining table, filled with fruits of different colors, adds charm to the dining table or counter.
- Artworks like painting or sculpture can be use to highlight the color of your wall. It can also be a focal point of the room.
- Vases bring texture, color, and interesting shape into your home interiors. It is a cheap and effective accessory to add style to your living room, bedroom, kitchen or dining room.
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