When you put your home on the market, you will want to sell it quickly and as close to your asking price as possible. If your home looks clean, well-maintained, and spacious, it will appeal to many more buyers and their real estate agents. Following. home staging tips can help in your selling process.
Properly staged, your home will appear move-in ready, and buyers will feel more confident that you have kept on top of necessary repairs. As the seller, you want to make the potential buyers better able to see themselves living in your home. They want to feel as if the asking price you have set is a good deal. On the other hand, a home that is cluttered, cramped, dark, and dated will sit on the market for a long time. Eventually, the sales price could be well below your original asking price.
Why Staging Your Home Helps It Sell Faster
According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2017 Staging Stats report, 77% of buyers’ agents believe that staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize the property as their own. Additionally, 21% of sellers’ agents believe that home staging increases the value of a home between 6% and 10%. And 39% of those agents believe that home staging significantly decreases the total amount of time it takes to sell a home.
Helpful Home Staging Tips
You can hire a professional stager to help you. If you are on a tight budget, do some of it yourself. Here are five of the most important home staging tips:
1. De-Personalize the Home
You want people to see themselves living in the home. Help them by taking down photos of your family members and monogrammed towels. This is a good time to get started on packing. In the bedroom, replace linens with nice new duvets, pillows, throws, and so forth. Bed linens are very important to staging a home.
2. Declutter & Clean for all Viewings
Some agents believe that an unkempt home can lower a home’s value by 5% to 15% because buyers are less inclined to make a higher offer for a messy house. So, this is the time to bring in a professional maid service to do a thorough cleaning. Get rid of things that you don’t need and don’t want to move.
Start identifying the things you want to keep but need to move out of the way. Pack them in boxes and take them to an off-site storage facility. If you start filling up your cabinets and closets with your things, buyers will think your home does not have enough storage. Decluttering means moving things out of the way in your living spaces and cleaning out your storage closets as well.
3. Update the Interior Space With Neutral Colors
Fresh paint will instantly freshen the space. Make sure you use neutral colors – avoid using your favorite color of green. And remember that you want your house to appeal to a wide range of potential new owners. One inexpensive way to update “brown” kitchen cabinets is to paint them off-white.
For walls and ceilings, keep it light and airy. Paint the walls and ceiling the same color. Do not use a dark-colored accent wall. If you think a room needs a little color, use it in throw pillows, rugs, and draperies.
4. Increase the Amount of Light
A light, bright home improves its appeal.
Make sure your lighting fixtures are updated, which is particularly important if your home is older. Outdated lighting fixtures immediately make your home look dated and neglected. Replace old fixtures with more modern ones. If you need to, add a few modern floor or table lamps. Take down outdated or dirty window treatments, and let more natural light in.
5. Rearrange the Furniture
You want the rooms to seem bright and spacious. One way to achieve that is to remove excess furniture and rearrange what is left so that the room is light and bright. If the furniture is worn and dated, try to find something fresh and updated to replace it. Borrow something if you can, buy something inexpensive, or use slipcovers to freshen your upholstery. In the living room, you’ll want a sofa, chair and table and lamp. In the dining area, have a table and chairs. In the bedrooms, have just a bed and a dresser. When you arrange it, make sure nothing impedes traffic patterns and pathways, and that all doors can easily open without bumping into something. Brighten the house up with plants or floral arrangements on entry tables, coffee tables, dining tables, and bedroom dressers.
Contact The Katie Zarpas Group For More Information
If you feel overwhelmed with the home staging process, you can always hire a professional stager. Before you list your home, get help from our professional real estate agent at Katie Zarpas Group. Katie Zarpas has the expertise you need for all aspects of the home selling process. From offering home staging tips to conducting negotiations and closing, she can help you every step of the way. Reach out to one of her agents to receive help with selling your home, call today at 757-685-4400, or schedule an appointment online.