Preparing your home for a Home Staging Professional.
We think it’s fair to say that listing a property for sale can be an emotional and stressful process, especially when dealing with such a significant financial transaction as selling a home. So, why would you want to settle for a lower selling price or a longer marketing campaign than is needed? This is where the power of home staging for sale comes into play!
When potential buyers are comparing homes on the market, they aren’t just looking for a shell to inhabit, instead, they’re looking for an opportunity to fulfill their real estate dreams and improve upon their lifestyle. Home staging to sell can create a more emotional purchase for the buyer, which ultimately drives urgency and prices up, up and up!
Now, whether home staging to sell is a brand new concept you’ve just heard of or an approach you’re familiar with, opting to proceed with staging is quite the financial outlay. Yet, in order to drive the highest return on your investment, there are some important home staging tricks we can share that you, as the seller, can employ to guarantee your ideal result.
Home Staging to Sell: The Secrets to Success.
Declutter, it all starts here!
Let’s start with the basics and for home staging, that is decluttering. At the end of the day, excessive clutter takes up space and space is what we’re inevitably trying to sell!
The simple process of decluttering helps to make your home appear larger and more desirable by bringing it back to the bare minimum.
Remember, you don’t have to get rid of things forever, but taking the time to pack up your belongings and move them out of the house not only helps with the decluttering process, but also the overall move process too. What a win-win!
A good place to start is with any un-seasonal clothes, most of your décor items, and pretty much anything else that is not essential to daily survival.
Buyers will be opening your cupboards to look at their storage potential, so take your time removing as many miscellaneous and non-crucial items as you can.
Depersonalise the space
One of the main objectives behind the process of home staging is to help potential buyers visualize the space as their own. The fastest way to accomplish this is to set as blank of a canvas as you can.
You want the home to have style and charm, but it should be devoid of personal touches that suggest this home belongs to the seller, not the buyer.
Start by removing personal items like framed photos, certificates and memorabilia from the walls and keep clothes stored away and out of sight. Be sure to clear all bedroom and bathroom surfaces from any personal items like toothbrushes and personal care products that would otherwise be stored there.
While it’s true that depersonalizing your home can often be a tough process, it is incredibly useful for helping buyers build an emotional connection with the property. Buyers now have the ability to imagine themselves living in the home, instead of getting caught up in you and your life within the property.
Make those cosmetic improvements you’ve been putting off
Now is the time to make those ever-important cosmetic improvements!
Think about repairing minor damages, replacing missing light bulbs as well as patching and painting the walls in your place to tackle those pesky nicks and scratches that have built up over time.
If you feel up to the extra effort, we also suggest replacing light fixtures, door furniture and even the bathroom and kitchen tapware to give your home a fresh, modern lift.
It’s so important to tackle those minor cosmetic impurities to show potential buyers that you’ve put effort into maintaining the home and they’re making a smart investment when buying the property.
Time for a heavy-duty clean!
This is the moment you’ve been working toward, the biggest heavy-duty clean of your life! You want every square inch to shine, from the baseboards to the corners of your ceilings and everywhere in between.
If you’ve neglected certain tasks, like cleaning the inside of your refrigerator or regularly dusting your window blinds, now is the time to tackle them.
Again, a squeaky clean home suggests to buyers that you took good care of the property which will ensure you get the best sale price from your campaign and from your investment in home staging.
Hire a professional
If there are any outstanding areas or tasks that you haven’t quite got around to in preparing your home for sale, our #1 piece of advice is hire a professional!
When you’re spread thin and have bitten off a little more than you can chew, it might be worth investing in a professional to help. You’d rather know that you are getting the job done right, rather than giving it a half effort due to lack of time or experience.
Speak to your agent about your needs and they might be able to suggest a tried-and-tested supplier in your local area. We’re all about supporting local businesses if the opportunity rises!
When choosing to stage your home for sale, it’s so important you take the necessary steps in preparing your home for sale and the potential scrutiny of buyers. Unfortunately, you can’t rely solely on home staging to conceal all the blemishes of your property and the power is in your hands to make essential improvements that will guarantee the maximum sale price for your home.