Staging Your Home For Sale
Staging is nothing new. No one reinvented the common sense wheel here. This practice of decluttering and rearranging one's home for sale has been done by agents for decades and now for the past 10 years by professional stagers. Anna has been pleading with clients since the 80's to remove all sorts of things from their homes be it taxidermy to towels on the floor and then some. Here are some basic and mostly intuitive tips on rendering your home more appealing to the average buyer regardless of your bugdet and price range of home.
1. To Fix or not to Fix
There is nothing worse then reaching for a door handle and watching it tumble to the floor. You get the idea. If it it's broken, please fix it! Broken bits and bobs around your house make a potential buyer think that your house is uncared for and that potentially there are even bigger problems if you can't fix easy and highly visible things. Usually a good run-through any home will allow us to spot potential areas of concern that can be quickly remedied by a proper handy man that may be referred to you.
2. De-cluttering & De-personalize anyone?
As mind numbing as this is it has to be done. Most of us are busy and don't even see our clutter when we come home from a long day. Unfortunately if you're selling your home, this is crucial. Nothing is cheaper and more effective then giving the illusion of space and tranquility in your home minus any chatchkas. That means your hanging spoon collection, bust of Elvis, guns and ammo and the like need to be "relocated". Think of decluttering as partially moving! You'll have hopefully half the stuff to move when you actually do move! As for de-personalizing, this means removing any family photos, pictures, childrens's drawings and the like. As fun and cute as all this is, sometimes buyers get distracted by photos rather then the home they're viewing. Strange but true. A buyer needs to picture themselves in your home and not YOU in it! Sorry that was a bit rough 
3. Appeal with Curb Appeal
This means the collection of "antique" cars and your junk yard dog need to go. The last thing a buyer needs to think when they drive by your house is: "Great...Steptoe and Son live here.." Keeping the outside of your house swept clean, hiding all green bins/ garbage bins and attractive landscaping all add value to your home. Depending on the season, please think about using plants, foliage, or other decorative items that are appropriate for the season. Hint: please take down your xmas lights after Christmas.
4. "A clean house is a sign of a wasted life", not true!!
Nothing is worse then a lovely home that has not been cleaned. Compound that with food and pet smells and it's a recipe for disaster! Cleaning your home from top to bottom including linen cupboards and closets, scrubbing floors and rugs, cleaning windows, shining up woodwork etc. are all a very inexpensive way to dramatically improve your homes chances to compete for buyers and their dollars. It sounds so obvious that it's almost embarassing to write but this is soooooo important.
5. "But I'm no Michael Angelo?!", said the reluctant homeowner not wanting to PAINT any part of his home...
Yes this is a pain to do but please don't look at it this way! It may be great that you have an adventurous colour palette but most buyers don't. Stick to the neutrals and try to add pops of colour with decorative accents such as pilows, lamps and any tasteful piece of art either borowed, bought or rented. If you see paint peeling on doors, windows, walls, inside closets and the like, please budget the time to paint yourself or allow us to refer a reliable painter to you.
6. "Sorry mom but that 80's leather sofa you gave me and Tony has to go!", said the daughter reluctantly to her mother.
Furniture, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Your relatives meant well but that blush pink leather love seat mom gave you in an effort to declutter her own house will not work any longer in your house when you're trying to sell. If you think it's dated, it probably is. We can do a proper room-by room assessment of your current furniture to see what you can use and what you can remove to make your space work. In some cases, we work with an accredited stager to help add to what you may already have in your home.
All in all this makes sense because when the shoe is on the other foot so to speak, as a buyer you yourself would expect this of a home you made time to view. As a future seller, please consider these points and you will be amazed at what a difference all this makes! So quit watching HGTV and get to work!!
