To stage a home means to make it a scene where the assets of the property are highlighted. You do not stage your home on a normal day, though. No, this is a method reserved for when homeowners are turning into sellers and are hoping to have someone buy their home quickly. In other words, staging a home is meant to give potential buyers a chance to view the property up close and without obstacles.
So, how do you stage a home to sell it fast? Here are some tips.
De-Personalize
The main objective of staging a home is to give home buyers a chance to see the space as their home. To give them that ability, make your home a clean canvas. Remove pictures of family, any sentimental decorations, and avoid personal touches that would suggest the home is not for sale. Keep most of the items, minus less personal decorations, out of sight.
Rid Rooms of Clutter
Since you are moving, you should not have tons of belongings scattered all over. Doing that will not give the potential buyer a good impression. Make sure you have removed toys, games, personal papers, clothing, and other effects from the closets, cabinets, drawers, and bathroom. Open up as much space as you can.
Patch Up
One rule of home staging is to think of it as a fresh start. That means you are going to have to get rid of any signs of use, including nicks, cuts, holes, scratches, or any other blemish that a potential buyer can spot.
Grab a melamine eraser pad and visit every room. Use the eraser to remove scuffs and other marks on the walls. Then, get to smoothing, sanding, spackling, and caulking the places the need the most attention. Remember, buyers want to see that a property has been maintained, so you want to make your home look as new as possible.
Fresh Focus
Just as too many hoarded items can diminish the perceived value of a home, so too can dead things. If you have a number of scraggly dead plants, you might want to swap them out with flowers and healthier looking plants instead. The idea here is that greenery is fresh and bright. You can get the same effect by eliminating lingering odors from cigarette smoke, pets, and garbage. Avoid overpowering smells in air fresheners as well.
Light It Up
Continuing on with this idea of freshness, let’s talk about poor illumination. A dark, unlit room is a depressing room. When you have someone coming to view the house, open the blinds on every window. Turn on the lights and arrange them so every part of the house is bright. Having lights on also prevents guests from stumbling around, looking for the light switch.
Rearrange
Make as much space as you can. Aside from de-cluttering, arrange the future to give ample walking space. Remove extraneous furniture from the floor, including anything that is damaged or oversized.
Neutrality
The last staging tip we have for you is going to be a bit more cost and time intensive, depending on the current condition of your home. While many homeowners enjoy bright colors on the walls and floor to express themselves, home-buyers do not. That is why one of the best things anyone hoping to sell a home should do is paint over those bright walls with neutral colors—white, gray, and taupe. Neutral colors will not detract from the features of the house, allowing buyers to see the potential.
Wrapping Up
Staging a home might take a bit of work, but it will increase the perceived value of your home. As long as you cut down on the clutter and rearrange the furniture to show off the best parts of your home, there will be at least one buyer who falls in love with it.
