Staging your home to sell

When selling a home it is very important that you “Stage” it properly. This simply means that you will focus on its strengths and try to avoid broadcasting its weaknesses. Below are 10 tips that will help you show your home better and thus increase your chances of selling it.

1. If you have a bookshelf, try re-arranging it. Place some of them horizontally instead of vertically. Take some out and put in a plant or statue or something. Mix it up a bit.

1. Furniture: Take note of how the layout is. Make sure everything is orderly and in its proper place. Arrange the furniture in a way that is inviting and makes the rooms appear as large as possible. With that said, you also don’t want to make it appear as a train station! If you have a really large room, try pulling the couches off the wall a few feet. Look through magazines to get ideas. Chances are there is a better layout that will look better than what you currently have. 

1. De-clutter the furniture. Too much furniture is not a good thing. If a room looks crowded, send some of it to another room, to the garage, or even to storage. On the other hand, empty rooms are no good either. You want your home to look as “homely” and natural as possible. Get some furniture in the empty rooms even if you have to rent or borrow some!

1. If you have curtains or drapery that is heavy in nature, get rid of them and replace them with a lighter curtain that is even transparent. The main thing you want is for extra light to come in. Lighted rooms appear to be bigger and inviting.

1. Speaking of lighting…..it is very important for all rooms. Try adding different lights to a room to brighten it up. End table lights, accent lights, pedestal lights. Think of the movie industry: “Lights, Camera, Action”.  Everything starts with the light!

1. Bathrooms should all be accessorized with baskets that have perhaps some decorative soap, folded towels, perfume, etc. You want your home to stand out from the average home. What would you see in a high-end hotel? Try to duplicate that image.

1. Remember that first impressions are lasting. The first thing a potential buyer sees is the front of the house. Does your door need a fresh coat of paint? Is the lawn cut? Are the bushes and flowers trimmed and looking fabulous? Are there kid’s toys or other junk lying around the yard? Clean it up and make it inviting. Nobody will buy unless they actually make it into your house!

1. De-personalize your house. Get rid of excessive family photos, religious pictures, and other personal showcase items. You may be the proudest Mom in the world that your child won first place at school for their art project but your buyers WON’T CARE! So take it off the fridge. Instead, replace most of your personal décor with generic items that will appeal to most people. “Some” personal items are fine but you know what I’m talking about here. More is worse! Not everyone will like the same things as you. Make your décor appeal to the biggest range of buyers as possible.

1. Sparky and Fluffy need to go on a vacation! Your cat or dog may be a part of the family but they could present a problem when selling your home. The obvious thing here is that the family pet will probably not be too happy with all the strangers walking through his/her turf and they may decide to make a statement about it! Other potential problems could be potential buyers being allergic, being offended by seeing doggie doo-doo, shedding hair on furniture or the carpet, smelling odors, etc. etc. If it’s not practical to send the family pet on sabbatical, then at least arrange to take them for a drive or something when buyers are walking through your home.

1. You don’t have to do a complete remodel to your home to sell it but you MUST do the small things. Fix the leaky faucet, patch up the small hole in the wall, touch up the baseboards with a fresh coat of paint, etc. etc. Spending a Saturday or two on the small things will go a LONG way when showing your home!

Some final things to do right before showing a home that are always a winner are: scented candles, soft classical music in the background, fresh baked cookies or bread that just came out of the oven (sounds corny but it really works!) Leave some on the counter for the buyers! It’s all about the ambiance! Do something that the competition didn’t think of.

Most of the things mentioned here are inexpensive and just take a little bit of your time. But if you do it, you are greatly increasing your chances of getting better offers and selling your home in a timely fashion! GOOD LUCK!