Staging a home for sale

Taking some time to prepare before you sell your home can help to make it more attractive to potential buyers. While price and location are major factors that can help to make or break a deal, making your home look its very best and presenting it as a desirable place to live is also important.

In real estate terms, staging a home is meant to highlight the selling features. Staging a home can help to sell it more quickly as it becomes more appealing to buyers. It also addresses the rising expectations of savvy consumers. In addition, home staging can help to capture a higher amount for your property.

Staging a home is not intended to cost a lot of money. In fact, there are many simple things that a seller can do that don’t cost any money.

Make sure your home is clean. It is surprising the high number of sellers who neglect to vacuum or dust or clean the bathroom before their home is shown. You do it before company comes over, so you should definitely be doing it for these special visitors.

Be sure that the beds are made, and there’s no clothing on the floor. This should come as no surprise, but no one will want to see your family’s dirty laundry. If you have a laundry hamper, you should use it. If you don’t have one, you should think about investing in one.

Taking steps to depersonalize your home is also something that should be considered. Most people have personal photographs all over the house. Unfortunately, this doesn’t allow the potential buyers to attach to the home. Simply putting photos, bills, and personalized degrees in a storage place while your home is being shown can do wonders to help buyers to connect to your home.

Also, try to remove any unnecessary clutter and furniture. It will help the house look cleaner and the rooms look bigger. And be sure to keep normal walkways throughout the house clear so buyers don’t have to walk around items in the way.

These are just a few examples of the types of things people can do that don’t take a lot of time and don’t cost any money, but can go a long way in helping to make your home more appealing to buyers.

There are also some fairly inexpensive home improvement projects that sellers can undertake that will enhance curb appeal and could actually increase the amount of money they can sell their homes for.

Paint any room needing paint. One of the best small investments a seller can make is to put a fresh coat of paint on the walls in a warm, neutral color.

You should ensure all of the bulbs in your light fixtures work. Adding 80-watt or 100-watt light bulbs will help to make your home seem brighter. Turn on all lights and lamps during showings, and make sure drapes and window coverings are left open. The only exception is if there is a strategic reason to keeping them closed – such as trying to screen out any unappealing views.

Clean any carpets or drapes that need it. In addition to making them look nicer, this will also remove any unwanted odors.

Clean both the interior and exterior windows. It’s a good idea to check the condition of windows in high traffic areas – such as in entryways – before your house is shown.

This is also a good time to take care of any minor repairs you’ve been putting off, such as the caulking around a sink or a leaky faucet.

There is no one correct answer as to how much money someone should plan to spend on staging a home. The amount to spend – or whether to spend any money at all – will depend on a number of personal factors. These include the current condition of your home and the amount of money you have available to spend on home improvement projects.

Your REALTOR® can help you to ensure that if you are targeting any repairs or improvements in the best areas to give you the most bang for your buck. Buy and sell with confidence. Call your local REALTOR® today!