Buying a new home is most likely the biggest investment many of you will make. As such, when the shoe is on another foot, you can understand why potential homeowners take long, slow walks through homes for sale.
That is why all homeowners selling their homes need to stage their homes. Fortunately, you can stage a home for sale without breaking the budget or hiring a professional staging company.
1. Clean & Make Easy Updates
The first and most obvious way to successfully stage your home is to clean. Before you stage your home, you must clean everything. That includes:
- All bathrooms
- Grout between your tile and backsplash
- Basements and attics
- Backyard
- Behind large pieces of furniture
- Back of the cabinets
While many homeowners can look beyond extra clothes or shoes in your closet or near the door, you might as well make it as easy as possible for them to envision their dream. Chances are, their dream home is pretty clean.
Additionally, you should make any and all easy improvements. Whether it’s touching up an interior wall, checking in on your HVAC or just sprucing up your front yard, make sure you complete all those tiny home improvement projects you’ve been putting off. Once again, let’s turn your home into a buyer’s dream home.
2. Declutter
Throwing everything in your closet may work for your parents or friends, but it won’t for house showings. Potential buyers will take slow walks through every single room, including your laundry room, basement, attic and closets.
Therefore, make sure your closets are as organized as can be. Better yet, if they are big, remove some clothes to show off its space. Everyone loves a big closet. Also, make sure all items in your attic and basement are either attractive or taken to a storage unit. Luckily, they are not too expensive.
3. Depersonalize
Next, we have to depersonalize the entire house. We love family portraits as much as any proud parent, but potential buyers won’t. They don’t want to envision your family in the house. They want to see themselves in your house. Therefore, try to remove all personal items related to your family or religious beliefs.
4. Improve Curb Appeal
As much care as you put inside the house needs to be shown to both the front and backyards as well. Even with a pristine house, potential buyers will not step inside if the outside of your home looks like it has been neglected for years.
Consider the following exterior projects before you list your house:
- Mow the lawn
- Add bright flowers
- Pressure-clean the exterior of the house, driveway and sidewalk
- Paint the front door
In fact, some go as far as replacing the front door. It has proven time and time again to garner one of the highest home remodeling return on investments.
5. Conceal Pets
We love pets as much as the next dog owner, but many potential buyers refuse to buy a house once occupied by a pet. Given the mess or smell some animals accumulate, it’s understandable.
As such, before any showing, remove your pet from your home and hide all food bowls, chew toys and kitty litter boxes. Even more important, thoroughly vacuum your carpets and upholstery to remove all traces of pet hair.
Conclusion
Staging is not difficult and ironically, it can greatly improve your odds of selling your home. Completing the preceding steps should put you on the right path towards your full asking price.
