Tips for Staging a Home

Staging a home is an important part of a speedy successful sale. So what exactly is it? The process of staging a home is when the owner is trying to sell their home so they prepare their house for the market on the inside and the outside. When setting a house up for sale attention must be paid to all maintenance and home décor to build an appealing consistent home for potential buyers. The seller is not redecorating their home but instead removing the highly personal aspects from the view of the potential buyers. The benefit of this is that potential buyers have the opportunity to picture their personal aspects in the home. In addition, the seller is beautifying their home in preparation to be judged. The goal of a properly staged home is a warm and inviting feeling but the house should not seem used or lived in. To help with this staging process a few tips for the indoor and outdoor aspects of the home.

Staging Tips Indoors:

• De-clutter your home, leave trinkets in groups of one, three or five.

• Rearrange or remove furniture because it may make the room look larger. (This is not always necessary)

• Clean off kitchen counter, only the essential kitchen supplies needs to be left out. Remove photos, magnets and any clutter off the fridge.

• For bathrooms, remove all unneeded objects or organize them in one place. Coordinate towel colors.

• Remove, decrease or rearrange photos on the wall.

• Paint any room needing paint. Wash windows. Vacuum carpets and dust draperies.

• Turn on all lights during a showing and play light FM music in the background.

Staging Tips Outdoors:

• Walk around the property and make sure the house is presentable and safe for potential buyers to survey the yard.

• Check all of the plants, bushes and trees so the home looks inviting and well kept.

• Dispose of any dead plants, weed around planting areas and tree before applying fresh mulch.

• Maintain a freshly cut lawn.

• Make sure the home has great “curb appeal” as the first impression is very important.

These tips are just a few ways to help the home sell quicker. Remember first impressions are equally important with homes as with people. So make sure the home is presentable from the outdoors for anyone driving by and from the indoors for all showings. Staging a home gives a listing a better opportunity to sell faster for a higher price.