The key to staging your home is to take a look at it from an outside perspective and view this as an investment: staging is a huge selling factor when it comes to putting your home on the market. It can greatly assist you in selling quickly and at your asking price. Although clearing out your memorabilia and personal touches can be a daunting task, it is incredibly important to prepare your house for selling. Your home needs to appeal to a broad range of people within the target market. So, once you’re ready, these tips will help you stage your home to perfection:
1. Enhance the Curb Appeal
First impressions are everything, and it will take a split second for potential buyers to form an opinion of your home and to determine whether it is for them or not. Although your house may be stunning on the inside, with all the best features, if the exterior doesn’t reflect this, potential buyers may skip the opportunity to check out the interior. Enhance the curb appeal with some TLC. Power wash siding and walkways, keep windows clean, maintain the landscape and repaint where needed.
2. Create a Welcoming Porch
An inviting porch can give potential buyers a dose of comfort and warmth that they likely desire from their future home. Add some simple touches, such as a welcome mat, potted plants, solar lights, and some stylish porch furniture.
3. Keep the House Clean
This can be a hard staging tip to follow through with, especially if you have kids, but it is incredibly important. If your home is not clean, homebuyers are going to assume that the house has not been taken care of either, which will mean repairs are likely in order for them. Keep furniture and windows fingerprint-free, floors shining, and countertops scrubbed to give your home the best look. The cleaner, the better!
4. Clear Away the Clutter
Clutter is one of the biggest distractions when entering a home as a potential buyer, and it can instantly take away from the true value and aesthetics of your property. You may want to consider renting a storage unit if you have a lot of extra clutter, but you’ll find it worth your effort to have a clear, distraction-free space to show.
5. Style Your Dining Room
The dining room is one place in a home that brings friends and family together regularly. A large, bare table can look uninviting, so add some flowers, or a series of smaller kitchen décor items, to make it easier for potential buyers to visualize their life in that space. Be sure to keep the added décor to a tasteful minimum.
6. Rearrange Furniture
Whether it’s in the living room, bedrooms, or kitchen, rearrange your furniture to give your home an open, welcoming appeal without the appearance of being too lived-in. Pull the furniture away from walls, and consider creating a conversation area for potential buyers to discuss their offer.
7. Stick with Gender-Neutral Tones
The reason for staging your home is to provide homebuyers the opportunity to visualize how this home can be made into their own. Neutral tones appeal to everyone, and they also look clean and crisp!
8. Entice Homebuyers to Explore the Whole House
Your home has a lot of potential and you want homebuyers to explore all areas so they can get a thorough idea of what it has to offer. Place captivating décor at the top of stairs, in corners, and in hallways to pique their curiosity and encourage them to explore further. This décor could be as simple as a hanging light, a vase of flowers, a nice lamp, or neutral piece of art.
9. Consider Your Closets
One of the first things people do when looking at homes is open the closets. You must keep these clean and clutter-free, then, as they’re a huge selling factor for many people. Consider purchasing closet organizers, and aim to have at least 20% of the closet free of any items.
10. Remove the Personal Touches
This can be an emotional part of staging, but it needs to be done. Take down the overload of family photos; remove the magnets from the fridge and the memorabilia from shelves and walls. Potential buyers will have a much easier time imagining their personal touches in their own styles this way.
Staging can be a bit of a process, but it is highly important to the success of your home selling. Following these staging tips will not only help your home to sell, but it will potentially make the process faster and help to boost the selling price.