You can’t judge a book by its cover; but, a discerning buyer is going to turn and run if your home doesn’t scream “Come In” and welcome them during a open house. When you want to sell your home quickly, not only do you want to attract more potential buyers than other local properties which are selling in your area, you want to elicit the highest offer as well. In order to do this, your home has to have the right level of curb appeal. It has to call out to discerning buyers, it has to yell luxury, and it has to showcase something other neighboring properties for sale do not offer.
When it comes to listing your home for sale, staging is the first step in the process. These are 4 easy tips for DIY home staging any homeowner can do, without hiring a professional, and without spending an arm and a leg to get their home properly staged for listing.
1. Personal touches – Get rid of them.
Sure, it is still your home and you are living there with your family. But, the last thing a potential buyer wants to see is your family’s portrait over a dining room table, or a macaroni wall-art your child made. You need to create a blank-canvas. You need to decorate the home in neutral tones, use generic art pieces, and make the home as inviting as possible, to as many potential buyers (as many people who walk through the doors) as possible.
Make sure you remove all personal items, art, your kid’s belongings, and so on. The more generic it is, the easier it is for a potential buyer to imagine where their personal belongings would go, and where they would begin to create their own memories in the home.
2. Extras: Keep it simple.
You can add some simple finishing touches throughout, which would go well in any home. Something as simple as an ornate fruit-bowl on the dining room table adds a pop of color and creates a vibrant feel in the room. Replacing an old shower curtain with something clean and easy to care for, gives the discerning buyer a sense of cleanliness and good vibes when they enter the bathroom space. Fresh flowers really freshen up a home and give it that “just-cleaned” scent which will attract any buyer.
Additional items like new knobs, LED lighting, and even cleaning the gutters and siding, will go a long-way. And, these are cheap ways which you can truly give the home a new look and feel, and attract more potential house buyers when you are ready to list your home for sale.
3. Clean it up.
You know those sneakers you throw in the doorway when you walk in after work, or the umbrella that’s been lying in the entryway for weeks? These items call out to potential buyers. Not only are these personal items something which detract from the appeal of the property, but they also make the home appear dirty.
Wipe off counters, have the windows professionally cleaned, remove dirt/debris from surfaces. If you have a chimney or furnace, make sure it is clean. You’d be surprised just how much of a difference it will make. And, if you’ve ever walked into an extremely home, you are all too familiar with just how much this can detract from the home. So, why not do something as simple as cleaning the home, prior to staging it for sale. What good is it going to do if you have a fresh coat of paint, gorgeous floral arrangements, and new lighting, if the only thing visitors are going to notice is the dirt which is piled up throughout the home? Seems simple enough because it is; a clean home is far more attractive than one full of dirt thrown all over the place in it.
4. De-Clutter: Open Spaces Equal Greater Offers.
If the home seems cramped, closed in, or if buyers feel like they can’t move, they aren’t going to be running to put in an offer on the home. Even if they love the location, the school system, local parks and neighborhoods, any buyer wants space. Whether it is a studio or a 5-bedroom mansion, the home has to vibe. It has to flow, it has to be clutter-free.
Not only does this create a clean, fresh place where buyers can start their o
wn memories, it also ensures they can fit their belongings into the home. If you are listing a 2-bedroom and den, which is fully packed with furniture, or items piled on top of each other, no buyer is going to believe they can fit their belongings in there. So, open up spaces, remove junk and clutter, and create an open, airy feel when you are ready to host the open house for buyers to visit.
When there aren’t items piling up on top of each other, it is far easier for a discerning buyer to notice the nice wall art you have hanging, or the new chandelier which is in the living room. And, when the home is clutter free, it is obviously going to open up the space, and it is going to bring everything together (from the living and dining room areas, to the bedrooms and other rooms of the home which you are going to stage).
The very first step in any process is to prepare for what is to come; the same goes when it comes to trying to list and sell your home on the market. For such reasons, you have to properly stage the home for sale when the time comes for you to list it. Whether you are working with a tight budget, or simply don’t want to hire professionals to stage the home for you, there are several things you can do on your own as a seller. These are four simple tips which any homeowner can use when the time comes for them to list their property for sale, and want to ensure the highest offers are elicited during that open house process.
