It has been proven and is continuing to be proven that staging your house does help generate a sale. Most realtors or homeowners may try to “stage” a house themselves, but the reason that there is a market for staging companies is because it takes a true professional to know how to take a unique floor plan and mold it into a creative layout that is both functional and attractive. Some staging techniques are obvious and easy enough for the homeowner to implement on their own, but to obtain an overall result, well that is where the professionals come in and bring with them the “less obvious” tools that will really make your house shine. Although it is always best to seek a professional stager to ensure that you are getting a true impartial and well calculated method that has been proven to get results, there are some tips that homeowners can do on their own to get started.
The first thing, and this may be the hardest thing, is to depersonalize your house. The home buyer needs to visualize your house as their own and they can’t do that with photos of an unfamiliar family decorating each room. Next, and this may be the most obvious one, although you would be surprised at how often it goes undone, clean up! Make the beds, clean out closets to contain only minimal clothing items, make sure toilets are flushed and cleaned, and trashes are taken out.
The kitchen is a good place to focus a lot of your efforts. If getting new appliances and cabinets is not in your budget, try painting the cabinets a neutral color and replacing their hardware, maybe replace old linoleum with new or inexpensive tile.
The outside of your house needs to shine just as much, if not more than the inside. In order to get potential buyers in you need to first get them to the door. You can have the most fantastic looking house on the inside, but if you have an overgrown lawn or unnecessary items cluttering the porch than buyers will pass you by for a more appealing home. After all, the outside is your first impression. Start with mowing the lawn, remove the leaves from the gutters and remove out of date furnishings, such as lights or awnings. Add flowers for color and trim overgrown bushes.
By touching on just some of these changes can help give you an advantage over your neighbor. Think of what would turn you off if you were looking for a prospective home, for everything else, ask a professional stager!
Right now the majority of my business is short-term furniture rental.
I have been doing some research lately about real estate agents and home staging. The results of this research are both interesting and disturbing all at the same time.
Home staging uses many techniques to help make your home appealing to the buyers. A style that may be appealing to you, may not be appealing to all. With home staging, we are conscious of designs and styles that will satisfy the needs and desires of a variety of people that need to visualize your home as their own. When someone tries to prepare their home to sell it is hard for them to separate themselves from their own personal taste and accessories, professional staging can do that. Staging can keep unnecessary accessories to a minimal to help keep the space grounded. Often times a homeowner may be too timid to use color, but if used correctly, it can open up a room to its true potential. Many people think that colors should stay neutral so that they appeal to all buyers, but today more than ever vibrant colors are used to accentuate other accessories in the room. If color isn’t your thing, don’t be afraid to use patterns and designs to offset a more bland wall color.
Everyday I speak with realtors and homeowners who think home staging is simply about making a home more appealing as potential buyers walk through. The reality is that staging is a much more valuable marketing tool, if used correctly.