How to prepare and stage your home for sale
When it comes to buying or selling real estate, we all know that location is ultimately the deal breaker. We’ve all heard the widely used phrase “location, location, location”. While location is the major game player, appearance plays a huge role in selling a house and at a substantially higher price. Careful preparation along with cosmetic and functional touch ups can really make a favorable, long lasting impression on potential buyers. Successful preparation and staging of the property you are selling are the bargaining chips that always get you a sale. Here is how to prepare and stage your home for sale.
- One of the major, initial steps you must take when preparing your home for sale is getting rid of clutter! Nobody likes it and your potential customers certainly won’t find your messy bathroom or veranda appealing. You want them to focus on how spacious the house is not how messy it looks. Whatever you can live without, consider selling, donating, or throwing away altogether. Create a clear canvas for potential buyers; this helps them envision themselves in what soon may be their new home.
- Now that you’ve taken care of the excess items that cluttered your home, it is time to clean! Consider this a time to spring clean, even if it is winter. Clients like to explore, touch and open things. Therefore, it is a good idea to clean bedrooms, living spaces, floors, ceilings, light fixtures, patios, and garages. Dust off kitchen cabinetry, polish appliances and faucets. Give the windows a thorough washing and if need be, clean your carpets of any stains that may produce an eyesore. If you do not have the time or energy, consider hiring a professional cleaning service, because this is a crucial step you do not want to neglect.
- Now that your home is clean and imperfections are much easier to spot, it is time to make any functional and aesthetic touch ups on the interior and exterior of the house. Patch holes in walls, and fix leaky faucets. Fix doors that don’t close properly, and kitchen drawers that jam. Fix any cracked flooring, and replace burned-out light bulbs. You may want to hire a handyman to quickly and efficiently fix everything that requires work to be done. A handyman may also see flaws you haven’t noticed.
- To help buyers imagine themselves in your space, keep the décor simple and neutral. Painting the walls a fresh neutral color helps tone down any dated finishes in the space. Put away any risqué art that may interfere with another’s tastes. Rearrange your furniture into cozy groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in a room is obvious.
- If you have a room that serves only to gather junk, set it up into something that serves a purpose. If it is a guest room that you used as an office/storage space, pick a use and clearly stage the space to showcase that purpose. This will help show the buyers how they can use the space themselves.
- Add a little something extra to spruce up the house. Stage your home with fresh flowers and plants. Allow a lot of natural light in or place floor and table lamps in rooms that lack it. Do not be afraid to use color, but be mindful of pattern. You will want to avoid pattern, as the key to proper staging is to keep things more on the neutral side of things.
- Make sure the exterior of your home is at its best; it will be the first thing they see. Fix anything that needs to be fixed, like cracks in the sidewalk on the way to your front door. Make sure to keep the sidewalks cleared and your lawn mowed. Trim your bushes and plant some flowers. Use mulch to cover up neglected landscaping and add instant charm.