Staging Your Home for Sale
Walk in to two identical homes. One is filled to overflowing with family treasures, one is pristine and almost barren looking. Both are identical in price. I guarantee you the almost barren home will sell faster and at a better price than the one filled with your treasures.
What is that saying, “Thank goodness we’re not all alike?”
Well, that goes for our taste in how we decorate our home. When a home is cluttered, prospective Buyers have a hard time imagining what their particular decorating style will look like within the walls. Take your personality out of your home before putting it up for sale. Remove all family pictures and even some of your furniture. Make sure your counter tops in bathrooms & kitchens are free from appliances & general clutter. Children’s toys should be in their toy boxes.If you have a dog or cat, take the appropriate steps to ensure their are no pet odors. If you have a room or rooms painted in NEON colors, a little paint in neutral shades goes a long way, and puts on a fresh face. We have a tendency to put what we are not using in our basements. Box & label everything, and make sure there is room for a person to walk around. Remember, usually you have at least two people plus a REALTOR® in a given space at the same time. Prospective buyers like to see clear walls, not ones with boxes & junk piled against them. They think you’re trying to hide something. A Home Inspector will need these walls cleared for an inspection, so prepare for this right in the beginning.
Curb appeal is extremely important. Take a good look the next time you drive up to your home. Imagine you are a Buyer looking at your home for the first time. Is the yard neat, grass cut, garage door closed? All of this plus, can give you an edge in getting your home sold.
If your home is vacant, a few strategically placed pieces of furniture can give it a homey look. Ask your REALTOR® for suggestions. They feel more comfortable to freely give you their input when you ask for it.
Curb appeal is key to capturing our buyers’ attention online as well in our main photos and visual tours. The property needs to look desirable at all times. If this is adding stress to your home selling experience, remember to ask your Realtor for reinforcements – home cleaning & lawn & property maintenance can help you. Even a cleared and salted walkway leaves such a good impression with buyers after they’ve trudged through deep snow and ice to get to the front doors of the other homes they’ve seen.
Curb appeal is one of the most important keys to selling your property. Keeping your driveway plowed is especially important during the winter months. Most purchasers will not attempt to pull into a driveway full of snow or ice. They may decide not to see your property. Questioning, if you can not keep your driveway and walkways free of snow and ice how might the interior of the property be kept? Also keeping your entryway free of winter apparel will allow the purchasers to enter without tripping over your belongings.
Quick Tip: Your’e in the middle of doing the family Laundry…your Realtor calls and tells you that another Realtor would like to show your property in the next 10 minutes. Panic sets in, you have sorted Laundry all over the Laundry area. If the dryer is empty put all dirty laundry in the dryer out of site if possible. Proceed with staging your property turn on lights, and put some soft music on for background noise.