Home Staging is Not Rocket Science!
Getting ready to list your home for sale?
Do you watch those HGTV shows and read every thing you can because you want to stage your home yourself?
Are you a seller who is frustrated with your home sitting on the market?
Try some of these tips and then call your agent to take photos:
- Declutter. It’s that easy. Get rid of your magazines. Get rid of your candy jars, photos, extra plants, shoes by the door, candles, food items, papers, etc.
- Get everything that is not a piece of furniture, out of sight, even if you use it every day. You can just put it back up after you use it.
- Take large pieces of furniture that aren’t “necessary” out of the room. Pack it away, put it in storage. Hey-You’re moving anyway! Just move it now. China Buffets are a big culprit of space takers. Take out the middle table insert in your Dining Room table.
- Take all your family photos down. Buyers will focus too much on who “you” are, and not your home.
- Take all the stuff in your closet that is just laying around and shoved in, and put it in plastic cartons with drawers. You can get these at Wal-mart. Yes, buyers will look in the closets.
- Get a soft, yet subtle fragrance, Not 50 plug-ins, strategically placed in every space. Changing the a/c filter sometimes helps. I like Orange Oil myself. It’s natural.
- Keep the floor clean and clutter free. Remove baskets and anything besides the furniture.
- In the kitchen, take all the food and appliances off the counter and put them away. Put the soap, sponge, dishes, etc. away. If it looks plain, put a flower vase in.
- Take out the extra furniture you don’t need! If you have a 2 bedroom condo, you shouldn’t have seating for 10. 1 couch and 1 chair should do fine.
- In the bathrooms, put all your make-up, perfumes, deoderants, hair trimmers, and all those toiletries AWAY in the cabinets!
I always tell my sellers to envision that they are running a hotel/motel and that everything personal must go. Neutral enough so that the potential buyer will have space to walk through and can envision themselves in the space. I explain that the packing can start now. We only use about 20% of the stuff that we have anyway.
This article was contributed by Sandy Aichner. Sandy is a RE/MAX Realtor who specializes in Lake Norman real estate.
Tags: staging inside
