So now you are ready to sell your house. It’s a big decision! You want to sell and sell quick so you can move on to the next big stage of life! To do that though, you have to make your house seem like a great place to live. You want people to think your house is their next dream home. So here are 6 great tips for staging your house...
Remove Personal Photos
When staging your home, remove or hide any family photos. The folks coming to look at your home want to identify with it as their new home and that’s hard to do when pictures of someone else are reminding them that it’s not. Not many people like to buy something used, nut in the housing market, it’s hard not to do. That doesn’t mean a prospective buyer wants it thrown in their face so removing your personal touches helps them to visualize themselves living there.
Stage Your Home with a Fresh Coat of Paint
Throw a fresh coat of paint on the walls. You’re moving out anyway so this is a great time to practice packing and sorting your belongings for the final move. New paint also detracts from that “used” feeling by covering old dings and marks as well as giving the whole house that “new car” smell. Remember to use neutral colors such as white or beige. This is not the time to be artistic. Let the next family decide how they want to customize their new home. Most importantly, DON’T FORGET THE FRONT DOOR! This is the first impression buyers get as they walk in the house. A battered front door will automatically gives the subliminal impression that the previous owners didn’t care about the place. By paying extra attention to this poor portal, you create an instant feeling of welcome.
Fill Up Dead Wall Space
This is the time to be a little more artistic. Now that you’ve removed family photos, you want something to take their place. Keep in mind these few points when selecting your replacements though: 1. Don’t overfill. You want the walls to seem comfy without feeling crowded. If in doubt, replace on a one for one basis; for every picture you take down, replace it with another generic piece. 2. Don’t go overboard on “artsy”. Most craft stores have a nice selection of stock photos and framed quotes or sayings that will catch the eye without detracting from the overall look. Remember to keep it coordinated and subtle.
De-Clutter
This goes hand in hand with the painting. You’ll hopefully be putting your belongings on a moving truck soon, so pick out what you don’t need for day to day use and stow it away. Not only will it making final packing and painting easier, but, like removing family pictures, it gives new buyers a chance to identify with the house as “theirs”. Plus no one wants to have to trip over the stuff you’ve learned to walk around over the years.
Lighting
Ideally, the you’ll have buyers looking at your house on sunny dry days, so open up the windows and shades. Let the wind flow through and air out the house. Like fresh paint, fresh air will help to give a “new” feeling to the place and attract the buyers attention. Sunlight is also the best light for illuminating all the work you’ve put into making their new home presentable so open the shades and let it shine!
Make sure your using the proper wattage bulbs in places where the sun can’t get in to. Although compact fluorescents are on the way out, LED’s will lighten those back rooms up nicely. Be sure to ask someone from your local DIY store about the proper lighting color for each room however. The proper bulb can make all the difference.
Maintain the Yard
The first step to staging your house for sale is something you should have been doing all this time anyway so it should be the easiest. If not, get to it right now. Many prospective buyers have simply driven right past a house with weeds growing in the flowerbeds or dead patches in the lawn. They don’t want to be the ones to have to fix that so it’s up to you. It might even be worth the money to have a professional landscaper come in and make little touch ups that you may miss.
With these easy, and often low cost steps, staging your house to best effect will be a snap. Your old home will look refreshed, younger, and ready to be the next family’s dream home. Besides, your house has been good to you. It deserves a facelift. Remember that the nicer it looks, the quicker it will sell.
When you want a realtor who will make you their number one priority, it’s time to contact me to set up an initial consultation. Feel free to call True Performance Real Estate today and any questions you might have about selling your home!
Call: 303-317-6311