Category: Selling A Home

Several years back when I moved to Ascension Parish I was shocked to see many model homes listed that didn’t even have a stitch of furniture in them. Very few were staged, and the ones that had little furniture in them only had it in the living room. Where I moved from it was unheard of to show a newly constructed home without having it “staged”. When I asked the builders why they didn’t stage their homes the answer was always the same – “We don’t need that here. The homes sell themselves.” Jump ahead 2 years when the market had fallen and you would be hard pressed to not see a home designed with the best furnishings and beautiful drapes. Builders here became wiser to the power of a wonderfully staged home. Currently in our market even the smaller newer homes are staged. The main reason – it sells homes faster…
not just new homes, existing homes as well.

What is staging?

Wikipedia defines Home Staging as the act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money. Staging techniques focus on improving a property’s appeal by transforming it into a welcoming, attractive product that anyone might want. People usually use arts, painting, accessories, lights, greenery and carpet to stage the home, to give potential buyers a more attractive first impression of the property.
Do I have to hire a professional?

I recommend you do, but there are some simple ways you can get your home “show” ready if you do not have the budget to hire a professional stager.

• Paint colors – A neutral fresh painted home always wins in the home selling wars. You may love your maroon accent walled kitchen with dark tan interior. Buyers see a home that needs an update. Nothing gets a buyers nose up in the air then the idea of having to paint as soon as they move in. You may be saying to yourself “the buyers can paint it any color they want,” but in the long run that may keeping your home on the market longer thus costing you more money with a possible reduced offer.

 

• Time to clean – I mean you clean like you never had before. Wipe down walls, wipe down baseboards, clean ceiling fans, clean on the top of cabinets, clean out your refrigerator (yes, buyer’s look in your refrigerator), clean under beds, couches, and tables. Wash drapes, and have your carpets professionally cleaned. Professional carpet cleaning companies do a much better job than the shampooer you bought for yourself at Christmas, I promise.
• Organize – remember people open closets. If its stuffed to the max with a ton a stuff it makes your home appear that there isn’t enough storage. Buyers want to see a home that looks the way it does in a magazine. If you have shoes thrown all over the place with sheets hanging off the edge of the shelves it’s going to turn off buyers.

 

• De-clutter – People laugh at me when I tell them this, but I’m dead serious, Remove half of your stuff. When a room has numerous things in it buyers can’t envision their items in it. Less is truly more when selling a home.

 

• De-personalize – Any photos of your children graduating kindergarten, wedding photos, that handprint in clay of your first born, and the dog collar of your first deceased pet must be removed. Those items mean a lot to you but to buyers it’s distracting.

 

• Wood Floors – Many homes have wood flooring, some being engineered wood flooring. With real wood flooring you can have them sanded to remove scratches and then stained with a fresh coat of veneer to bring them to almost new. With engineered wood flooring you don’t really have that option but you can have a polyurethane coating put on to bring back shine and disguise scratches. It’s a quick fix to a problem but does last making the flooring look much better.

 

• Light it up– Put in bulbs at the highest wattage your light fixtures can handle. Many stagers do this to make your home appear light and airy.

 

• Bathrooms– Make it feel like a spa, remove shampoo bottles and replace them with matching pump bottles. Put out decorative soaps. Buy fluffy white towels that make you want to take a bath and wrap yourself up in them. This always dresses up a bathroom.

 

• The Backyard– Now is the time to invest in new seat cushions and outdoor throw pillows, make the space feel like a living space outside as an extension to your home. Clean any patio furniture if its weathered or mildewed. Add candles to the outdoor table in various sizes. Possible hanging an overhead candle chandelier if the space permits. Make it look as if you could eat an amazing dinner out there sipping on your favorite wine.
  

The nose knows everything.

I’ve said it several times, and I’ll say it again, you may not smell your pet but buyer’s do. Make sure litter boxes are cleaned, and clean them out often. Pick up all your dog’s droppings in the backyard. In the heat of the summer buyers can smell those sun bathed piles. Put in fresh smelling plugins – ones that are not too strong like fresh linen or cotton fresh scents.

I know that some of you won’t be able to go with a professional stager, so hopefully these tips will help you home stage yourself. I will be happy to help you prepare your home when listing. Please don’t hesitate to ask.

“Because YOU matter”

#yourrealestatewhisperer