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Staging Tips for Selling Your Home Quickly

Attracting the most buyers is the key to getting a solid offer on your home, and ensuring that it is appealing and attractive is an absolute must. You can pay some serious bucks and hire a professional stager to help you get things buttoned up, but truly if you got these issues nailed down, you can expect to sell your home more easily:

Curb Appeal Matters: It’s a fact that many buyers will decide if they want to come into your house when they are still on your driveway and haven’t even turned the knob on the door yet. You want to lure buyers to come inside by making the outside look inviting (as seen in photo 1) and free of anything that might look like an eyesore or a problem. It doesn’t take much effort or money to:

• Powerwash the exterior of the home, driveway and sidewalk.
• Make sure your lawn is freshly mowed weekly, shrubs are cut back and pretty flowers (as seen in photo 2) are displayed for color.
• Check that your mailbox is in good shape and that your house numbers can clearly be seen and have a pleasing look.
• Wash all your windows, blinds and curtains to freshen things up.
• Check for any chipped exterior paint such as on your front porch, windowsills and door.
• Make sure your entryway lights are working and attractive.
• Welcome visitors with a new doorway mat.

Clean Like a Fiend: No one want to buy a grungy looking home to move into, so make sure you every corner is as clean as it can possibly be. Dust, sweep and mop everything from the floors, lights and ceiling fans, to the tops of your kitchen cabinets. Yes, even move your refrigerator and furniture to grab all those dust bunnies you’ve been ignoring for years. Rent a rug cleaner to give your carpets a fresh as new look and get rid of odors and stains.

Banish Clutter. Any realtor will tell you that clutter is will kill any possibility of getting a contract on your home. No one wants to see your extensive personal collections, newspaper and bill piles or clothes that are heaped on your exercise bicycle. Since you will be moving anyway, take the opportunity to go through all your stuff and get rid of what you don’t need and box what you will be taking with you to your new place. Make sure every surface such as tabletops, desk and kitchen and bathroom counters are completely clear and gleaming. Straighten out your kitchen cabinets and closets and make sure everything is organized and neat as a pin. Clearing unnecessary things out of the way will make everything look more spacious, which translates into a bigger offer (as seen in photo 3).

Neutralize: This is not a time for overt personal themes to take over the home. You may adore your kitten art and knickknacks, but that does not mean that your potential buyers will agree with your decorating. Your objective is to have a neutral scheme when your house is on the market in terms of color and decor. You need to detach yourself emotionally from the home since it is now a business transaction that you are trying to make with a new owner. If you want a quick offer, you have to make the house alluring to the highest number of shoppers--so keep everything simple and comfortable. Ensure all the bedrooms have a relaxing feel and that the bed linens are fresh and made up every day. Inviting paint colors in a light tan shade are elegant and inoffensive to most folks. Though you may love your navy blue dining room, it certainly is not a color that appeals to a broad set of buyers.

Furniture Finesse: Shabby furnishings, pieces that are too large or interfere with a good flow of your floor plan are a surefire way to turn off buyers. Make sure furniture is properly scaled for your room and doesn’t stick out into areas where home shoppers will walk. If a piece has seen better days and looks ragged, either get rid of it or perhaps paint it to revive it. The less furniture you have in the home, the bigger it will look.

Play up Bonus Space: If you are lucky enough to have spare rooms, ensure the buyers can see they have a clear function. Buyers want to see a sophisticated guest bedroom or a useful office with a defined purpose. No room should be filled with junk, storage boxes or appear like it has no distinct use. You want your buyers to not have to guess what they would do with a particular room.

Eliminate Child and Pet Chaos: Kid or pets are great, but come with all sorts of gear that your buyers do not need to see all over the house. If you’ve got kid toys and stuff everywhere, be sure it stays in the child’s room and not in the main living areas. Brightly colored plastic toys should be put in boxes or bins that you can quickly grab and put away when people are visiting your home. If you’ve got bicycles and other outdoor stuff in the yard, make sure it’s neatly stowed in the garage or shed. Pets should not not roaming freely around the home when buyers are present; and pet beds, litter boxes and food bowls should not be within view either.

Garden Retreat: Outdoor space in a home is always coveted whether it is a large garden, a courtyard or even a balcony. Don’t miss out on a great staging opportunity to get your buyers excited about the exterior of your place by ignoring the outdoors. Fill handsome pots with flowers or with a pretty low-maintenance shrub like a boxwood. A table and chairs with a colorful umbrella will beckon visitors to sit a bit in the sunshine and contemplate and offer.

All photos courtesy of Creative Commons