Staging Your Home
Staging Your Home For A Sale
Real estate pros call it staging -- showcasing the best side of a home to create interest and help you get top dollar. Here are 20 tricks to help sell your home.
1. Make room. Clear out as much furniture as you can. Put it in storage, give it to Goodwill Industries or have a garage sale. Hallways and doorways, in particular, need to be clear and open.
2. Use counter intelligence. Go through the house and clear off all the horizontal surfaces like kitchen and bathroom countertops. Old magazines? Toss 'em. Knick-knacks? Pack 'em. Counters need to be clear and clean.
3. Follow your nose. A home should smell good. That means no noticeable odor -- no pet scent, no stale cooking smells and no cigarette smoke. If you just go through with Lysol before a showing, that won't help. Instead, get rid of scent problems at the source: scrub the house, have the air vents cleaned, replace old, smelly carpeting and smoke outside.
4. Remember, the next buyer is as lazy as you are. If the property needs work -- dated wallpaper, ratty carpet -- have it replaced now so that all buyers have to picture is moving day.
5. Do the baby test. Does your potential market include families with young kids? If so, ask yourself, "Would I put my child down on this floor to crawl around the room?" If not, you know what you have to fix. Likewise, if your walls sport grimy smudges or handprints, it might be worth it to paint.
6. Deep-six the cigarettes. Buyers are much more sensitive to cigarette smells. Having a smoker in the house also eliminates a lot of potential buyers. Many shoppers won't even want to tour a home if the owner is a smoker.
7. Make your home ageless. There's a difference between an old house and a classic home. If the house looks 40 years old with 40-year-old paint, 40-year-old appliances and 40-year-old carpet, that's a hard sell. Keep everything fresh and up-to-date (well-maintained) and you have a solid home in an established neighborhood -- a real looker.
8. Let there be light. People buy space and light, for the most part. One dark room is "cool," but if the whole house is dark, that's a problem. So open the blinds. Turn on all the lights. Add lights in rooms that are dark. And if Mother Nature isn't cooperating with your marketing efforts, "use more flowers and things that suggest sunlight." You want a space that's crisp and sharp and vibrant.
9. Get a home inspection. Most buyers will have one done anyway, so do it now -- and make any needed repairs before you put the home on the market. Depending on where you live, the service will run approximately $300 to $400.
10. Learn to love white walls. When it comes to walls, color is popular. The problem is that the next buyer might not like the same colors. Paint is a relatively inexpensive way to make a house look clean and fresh. And if you're going to repaint prior to selling, stick with neutrals. Despite the fact that it's more boring to live in, it's still an easier sale and remember that white reflects the light best and makes rooms look their largest.
11. Take a close look at the carpet. Get the carpet shampooed to get out any stains or smells. If that doesn't work, replace it.
12. Avoid controversy. If you have a deer head on the wall, you might want to take it down. It will be a turnoff to some buyers, and play it safe with the books and magazines they display while showing a home.
13. Replace deteriorating wallpaper. If wallpaper is peeling -- especially in bathrooms -- remove it and consider replacing it with a coat of paint. Likewise, if the kids' rooms need a fresh look. That way, buyers are looking at the house, not your decorating skills. And it's easier for them to see their things in the space.
14. Clean your closets. Sellers need to empty the closets of half the things they have in them. Partially empty closets look roomy -- and space sells. Do the same thing with kitchen cabinets. (And if you donate your extra clothes and surplus food to a shelter or food bank, you won't have to worry about moving it to your next home.)
15. Harness flower power. Flowers help bring the outside in! Buyers love it, giving the home a nice, softer feel. Showing your home on a budget? Go for less expensive bouquets, green plants or seasonal flowers from the yard.
16. Open the windows. If it's a cool summer day, have the windows open. Conversely, if it's cold and dreary, light a fire in the fireplace.
17. Take everyone's advice with a grain of salt. Putting colors and tastes aside, if a person drives by and the home is exciting and it's showy -- even if your colors may not be as neutral as they like -- they'll be turned on.
18. Keep it clean. No dust, cobwebs or trash. People looking to buy a home are extremely observant and meticulous, yes they will notice the dirty filters in the air intake vents. It is important to keep the whole house clean.
19. Set your house apart. In one real estate study in which potential buyers were shown many different houses in similar neighborhoods, all with similar features and amenities. The one that stood out? A home that had yellow roses on the dining room table. People not only remembered the detail, but they rated the home higher as a result. Give your home a hook, something that makes it different in a positive way from the other houses.
20. Keep it real. You don't have to go to the extreme of one buyer -- who before a showing set up the bedroom to look like the night maid had just been through. You don't want it to look so staged that it's artificial. What you want is for them to walk in your home and say '” could put myself here."
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