Staging your home to sell

Staging your home to help sell it is worth attempting

Staging your home to help sell it will probably be worth the effort. I have seen staging make a huge difference in buyer’s response as they walk through assessing whether this is the house for them. A few hundred dollars and some labor can bring you a buyer in half the time that it might take to sell and bring you a higher price, generally thousands of dollars more. When I sold my own personal house this last year did I ever stage it! Let me walk you through some staging “to do’s.”

• Look at the front door critically. Buyers begin to get an attitude about your house as they approach the front door. So make the walk a good one, if you are going to spend money here is the place. Paint the front door if it needs it. Certainly throw out the tired door mat and get a new one. Scrub the cob webs off, make it pristine. Place a potted plant- bright beautiful flowers are great- remember to water them, but the good news is this is going to make your house sell faster. A wreath can look great especially if your door is not the highest quality- no sense showing it off. Make sure your lock works if not replace it. You don’t want the realtor fumbling at the front door unable to turn the key. Trim back the shrubs, sweep the walkway.
• If you can move, move and leave it perfectly staged. In other words, leave furniture in most of the rooms. (Here’s a secret: rooms without furniture look small, and rooms with too much furniture look small.) If you can’t move out, then pack up a bunch. Get a storage locker and move out all extra furniture that makes your house seem cramped. It is even better to move extras to the garage or basement so that the living area seems roomy.
• Set the table like your favorite friends are coming over for Thanksgiving Dinner. Deck it out: table cloth, placemats, wine glasses, goblets, candles, cloth napkins, etc. Make it inviting!
• Clear off the clutter on your kitchen counter (be ruthless). Really ask yourself if you want all those appliances to greet the potential new home owners who say, “There will never be enough room in this kitchen!”
• Pack up the personal photos. Remember, you are moving so go ahead and pack! You want the potential new homeowners to be able to see themselves living in this house. If you have too much of your personality calling out, they may not be able to get the vision necessary for them to make an offer.
• Consider repainting. This is probably the most important element of proper staging. If you have a room that is painted in a very dynamic, loud or dark color it is time to think neutral. I love color! I have intense colors in every room of my house, my office is painted Garnet Red and I am not tired of it yet. However, you will not believe how many buyers cannot see past a bucket of paint. They just can envision it ever being something they would like. It doesn’t have to be painted white but it needs to be subtle and colors that are very popular. Remember, you are moving! You can paint your new house all the colors in the rainbow. That goes for children’s themed rooms and nurseries as well. I love these creative rooms, but they do keep houses from selling.
• Eliminate potential odors. Bathrooms need to smell great and look more like hotel. Do not use a heavy scent plugins they are overwhelming and often buyers are allergic to them, but soft smells like a scented candle that smells good even when they are not lite, cinnamon is a scent that most people are not allergic to. You can even sprinkle it on your carpet and vacuum it up and your whole house will smell great. Buy new towels and don’t use them- remember this is a stage-pack away all the clutter that finds its way onto the bathroom sink. Just pretend your stuffy aunt is coming to stay and you want to impress her or at least not dismay her. Get new bath rugs you can take them with you that match your new towels.
• Keep the bedrooms neat. For bedrooms, make a super looking bed! Perhaps you can set up six to eight pillows all arranged with a breakfast tray on the bed, or perhaps an afghan draped across the end. You want to make the potential new owners feel like the tour just makes them want to stay! Don’t forget to clear off the tops of the dressers and end tables. think Bed and Breakfast look.
• Decorate outside. For decks and outside patios, make it look like fun. Put some logs on the fire pit. Buy some new outside cushions to brighten up the deck furniture. Put out an American flag (which really can make a “Plain Jane” front entry pop.)
• Keep the basement clean. Basements can be left as storage areas, or recreation rooms but make sure they are well lit and not damp. Use a dehumidifier if you need to pull out some humidity, throw a rug down to give a vision of how it might be finished with an interesting seating arrangement. Work out equipment, lawn equipment, just store it or arrange it in an interesting manner.
• And keep the whole house lit! Last of all, when showing your house turn every light on including every lamp, open every drape and put on soft music.

Now having finished all the staging, it is time to pray.  If you want help with staging your home, it is time to contact Deborah Korlin at 865-765-6157, or email her:  deborahkorlin@gmail.com.