Staging Your Home to Sell
Imagine that you have been single for months, and you have a first date with someone you’ve been dying to go out with. The big night rolls around, and you’ve forgotten to get a manicure and pedicure, you don’t have time for a shower, and you throw on the first thing you find that’s warm, which happens to be a sweatsuit. After all, it’s all about your personality anyway, right? Wrong! Just as any of us who are sane or actively trying to get good results wouldn’t do that-- you shouldn’t let the dice roll or hope that the “personality will shine through” when it comes to the selling of your home, either.
The activity that the home receives the first two weeks on the market will often set the impression for the entire rest of the sales period. Staging is so important. Here are some helpful tips you can use to stage your home effectively:
● “Spruce” up your home -- Everyone loves greenery and flowers. Plants clean the air, and bring freshness and nature to your home, they’re also beautiful. Having well maintained (ie, not dying) plants shows that you care about your property and you spend time on everything from the big to the little touches.
● Change every light bulb -- not only are dark homes harder to see (and sell), but subconsciously can convey feelings of fear, anxiety, shadiness, or deceit. It’s important that you make your home warm and full of light. It’s such an easy and simple fix!
● Bust that Dust -- This is a big one, but is often forgotten. When prospective buyers tour your home, they often do things you wouldn’t-- like open a 10 year old curtain to see the window behind it. You definitely don’t want them to create a huge cloud of dust - as this can lead them to believe that you don’t take care of your property and haven’t cleaned in some time.
● Clear your home of clutter -- Make sure that your home is easy to navigate, and has only the proper amount of necessary furniture and decor. You may want to rent a storage unit to take out some of the clutter and store (or sell) items that are not necessary. Additionally, check the closets and storage spaces -- buyers will open cabinets and doors, and if a space is bursting at the seams it may convey that your property doesn’t have adequate storage.
● Remove personalization -- This is the hardest one to convey to homeowners sometimes, but it’s probably the most important. In the staging process, we want to remove monograms, family portraits, and anything personalized throughout the home. You may think that these items show how well loved your home is, but truthfully, they just make prospective buyers feel uncomfortable to pry you from your beloved space and wonder if they can ever make a home in someone else’s paradise.
Above all, the greatest thing that you can do in the staging process is to hire a real estate agent who knows exactly what needs to be done and can organize efforts with ease.For more information on how we can help you stage your home to sell, contact us on the web, on social media (@KatrinaEileen) at our office (701 5th Avenue, Seattle WA 98104), by phone at 425-230-4499, or via e-mail at Katrina@KatrinaEileen.com .