February 09, 2015
It is hard to sell a house. You quickly need to gain the attention of prospective buyers. That’s where staging comes in. Home-staging is nothing more than creating the perfect model home. Before your real estate agent schedules the first open house or appointment to show your home, make sure you’ve considered the following “Home Staging 101” tips.
Most real estate experts cite clutter as the number-one challenge in showing a house. If you’re like most people these days, chances are you’ve got too much stuff. For buyers considering your house as their own, clutter is a cardinal sin. Throw out, recycle, or rent a temporary storage space if you must – but before you put your house on the market, clear out the clutter. There’s a reason why people have garage sales and rent dumpsters before hanging a for-sale sign.
If what was intended to be your formal dining room has a playpen, a sewing machine, and a desktop computer in it, buyers will be baffled, and not know if it’s a nursery, a sewing room, or a home office. Even if you use the room as all three, define it for them. And that doesn’t mean furnishing it to excess – a couple of simple furniture pieces to merely suggest the purpose of the room is more than enough. Example: a small bistro table and two café chairs is sufficient to convey that yours is an eat-in kitchen.
Since you’re moving, you may not care how spotless your home is – but lookers will. Cobwebs in ceiling corners, the unwashed dish in the kitchen sink, the kitty litter box in the hallway, a toothpaste tube on a bathroom counter – they all have to go. You’re no longer simply living in your house – you’re selling it. It’s a product, and it must be appealing. Presentation is everything.
Anything in your home that’s too specific or personal to you, your family, or your interests, should be stored away. Walls covered with family portraits and photos, for instance, no matter how attractive, will make it harder for a new family to imagine themselves in the space. Likewise, anything hobby related that might strike a potential buyer as offbeat, eccentric, controversial, or objectionable – guns or hunting trophies, for instance – are a don’t. Anything that will distract or turn off someone looking at your house is better off shipped to your new home.
Remember, you’re not decorating your home to live in it anymore, you’re staging it to appeal to the widest possible range of individuals, personalities, and tastes. And that means neutral is best. When you replace worn or soiled carpeting or tiles, or repaint dirty walls, middle-of-the-road earth tones and beiges are the safest color choices. Then accessorize with pillows or throws that offer “pops” of color. Nothing avant-garde!
Is your master bedroom frilly and feminine, as many are? Remember that the master has to appeal to both genders! Get rid of the pinks and florals, and accessorize with non-gender-specific bedding.
When your house is being shown to buyers, there’s no such thing as too many lamps or too much daylight. Lose the heavy draperies, and let the sun shine through freshly washed, spotless windows.
Roomy closets, clutter-free spare rooms, clean and empty attics all convey a single message to potential buyers: this house has tons of storage. Optimize that perception by emptying, sweeping, and painting closets, basements, cupboards, built-in bookshelves and cabinetry – anything that can be perceived as valuable storage.
If, in staging your home, you’re going to spend money, the kitchen is the place to do it. Stainless-steel appliances are still hot, though the new high-gloss “ice white” appliance finishes are gaining on them. And while granite counters continue to be home-buyers’ No. 1 choice, solid-surface, glass, and concrete are all growing in popularity. If your appliances and countertops are truly dated, dirty, or drab, this is one area of home-staging where it generally pays to engage a contractor before listing.
The bottom line: Although TV real-estate makeover shows sometimes imply it, your home doesn’t need to be showroom-perfect to sell. But it does need to be immaculate, clutter-free, and broadly appealing to bring top-dollar. Smart home-staging can make that happen.
