The Inman Team Tip of the Week:
When you are trying to sell your home, staging can be an invaluable tool. That is - if it is done right. An investment for a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand dollars can bring you huge returns. So that is reason enough to make that investment and have your home staged.
Home Staging is a way to help the buyers visualize what the home has to offer. You take it for granted because you live there. Staging helps to take away from your home looking like your home and helps a buyer visualize how it "could" look if it were their home. A staged home will sell at an average of 45 days versus an unstaged home that will sell at an average of 135 days.
Additionally, you will generally see an increase in the sales price anywhere from 5% to 25%.
Here are some tips and tricks you can use to properly stage your home.
1. Curb Appeal. This is the very first thing a buyer will see when they pull up to your home. This step is where the buyer decides , before they even see anything else, how they are going to feel about your home. So ask your realtor for their best ideas for enhancing your curb appeal.
2. Your Entry Hall Or Foyer. This is the second first impression the moment the buyer steps foot into your home. Rule of thumb: declutter, put away anything that does not need to be there and make sure that there is nothing blocking the path of entry. You want your house to have a good flow to it.
3. Fresh Flowers. Put fresh flowers in as many places as possible.
4. Declutter Your Entire House. Most people have too much stuff and this leaves a bad impression in the buyers mind. Your house will look too small from the beginning and your buyers will decide to look elsewhere. Go ahead and get a storage unit if you need to. Box up everything you absolutely don't have to have immediate access to. Remove some of the furniture if you need to. This will make your home look and feel bigger and will help the buyer to visualize their things in your home a little more easily.
5. Paint. A neutral coat of paint will help your home sell more quickly than just about any other measures you take.
6. Add A Few Accessories. Remove all the personal items from your bathroom and add a few accessories.
7. Clean, Clean, Clean. A house that is not clean says to the buyer that you do not care. They may take this as a sign that you did not keep up with the routine maintenance either. Therefore, if you do not have time to clean, hire a professional to do it for you. It will pay off once you get that higher offer.
8. Update. You should try to update everything you can. Perhaps some new countertops or maybe replace the cabinet doors. Sometimes all it takes is some new hardware. Look around and see what other inexpensive updates you can make.
9. Fix What Is Broken. It is very important that you fix everything that is broken. If you have a faucet that drips - fix it. What about that toilet that continually runs - fix it. Whatever it is go ahead and fix it. If you don't your buyers will use anything and everything they can to devaluate your home and you will constantly receive low ball offers.
10. Erase Your Personality. Your buyers must be able to picture themselves living in your home. They cannot do that if your personality is glaring at them around every turn. So remove your personal pictures, the 1950's decor that you love so much from your kitchen, remove all of your hobbies from sight, put away blow dryers, makeup, toothbrushes and don't leave your dirty clothes laying around etc. You get the picture.
Talk to your realtor about more ideas you can use to stage your home. Staging is a wonderful practice that will bring in much higher offers. So do whatever it takes to stage your home properly and you will reap the rewards later.
Thank you for Reading & Happy Holidays!
From,
The Inman Team
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