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Stage Your Home To Sell It Faster and For More Money
And Pocket 6% More at Closing
Would you like to sell your home in half the time?
Better yet, would you like to sell it for 6 percent more?
Stage it. Staging your home properly can make the difference between 6 months on the market or 3. Surveys have revealed that homes that are staged for selling success sell in approximately half the time of unstaged homes, and for approximately 6 percent higher selling prices.
What is Staging?
Staging is the act of preparing your home to present it in the possible light to potential buyers. Staging doesn't require excessive amounts of time or money. Rather, it consists of minor improvements, small tweaks, and thoughtful steps that will turn lookers into buyers.
Here are some steps you can take to stage your home for a fast sale and a good sale price:
- Clear out the clutter. Remove all the odds and ends, the closet clutter, the drawer clutter, the cabinet clutter. Rent a temporary storage unit, if necessary, but do whatever you have to to make your home look like you don't live there. The personal photos on the hallway wall? Away with them! The bowling trophies on the shelf? The kids' drawings on the fridge? Take 'em away. You don't want buyers to feel like the house is lived in by a family of strangers (even though it is). You want the buyers to feel like they could move into the house as it sits and belong there. Another benefit: With the clutter gone, your house will feel like it has a lot more storage space.
- Arrange the furniture like a showroom. Remove every stick of furniture that is not absolutely necessary. Look at what's left with a critical eye, and arrange it for looks, not functionality. Think of all those model homes you've walked through; you wouldn't want to live with your furniture arranged like that, but it sure makes the house look good, doesn't it?
- Clean and scrub everything. Do the windows. Inside and out. The windowsills. Inside the drawers and cabinets. Exterminate all the dust bunnies. Windex the tubs and showers. Don't forget the ceiling fans, the light switches, the doorknobs, the mouldings, behind the toilets, the lampshades, the blinds. Think showroom clean. There should be no evidence that anyone has been living there.
- Light it up. Buy some new lamps if necessary. Replace any burned-out bulbs with bulbs of the maximum permitted wattage. Especially in closets and smaller rooms. The brighter the better.
- Expose and highlight the home's special features. Don't hide the leaded glass behind a drapery, or conceal all that beautiful moulding behind the furniture. Make sure that the things that are special about your house are prominently on display. Have a river-rock fireplace? Move the furniture away from it, and shine a spotlight or two on it.
- Organize everything. Link up the shoes in the closet. Gather all the sports equipment into one area in the garage. Organize the linen closet -- put like with like, all the bath towels together, all the sheets neatly stacked. An organized home simply feels good, and will make buyers feel that they'll be organized, too, if they live there.
- Dress it up with pain. A fresh coat of paint will remove all traces of sticky handprints, scratches and scuffs, and a multitude of "sins." Remember: Leave no evidence that you and your family have been living there.
- Get to know your florist. Fresh flower arrangements and plants strategically placed in important areas can make the home feel homey. You know the end of the kitchen counter that always collects keys, wallets, and mail? There should be nothing there but a plant or a vase of flowers. The shelf by the tub, usually cluttered with shampoos, lotions, and notions? A leafy plant should sit there instead.
You can make buyers fall in love with your house. It's all about paying attention to the details.
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