First impressions are critical in sales, especially with homes. Most people I know have some anxiety about selling their home. It is a very stressful time, especially if you are still living in the home while it is on the market. There are several things you can do to prepare your home prior to being listed for the best success. One of the most controllable things you can do to sell your home is staging.
You want to make the best impression from the very beginning. This means you need to control the tone and you can do that with staging. The most important thing to remember is that you are trying to make your home appeal to the buyer. Buyers are going to pick up on a myriad of things in a very short amount of time so you want to make sure those are positive. Aside from the obvious of keeping your house clean and tidy, you want to leverage the features that wowed you. While I could spend all day discussing different ways to influence your buyer that your house is THE house, we will stick to a few that are very realistic for anyone to stage.
Intrigue your buyers with the Entrance
Just like you want to dress your best when you are preparing for a job interview, you need to stage your house for success. This is back to the first impressions callout. I’m referring to both the entrance as the buyers pull into the home and as they walk in. Here are some tips:
Curb appeal goes a long way! Make sure you have a good balance of color that you can tie into the rest of your home and keep the landscaping to realistic maintenance. I know that I do not have time to water plants several times a day, so I’ll prioritize simplicity. Keep your landscaping cleaned up too. This can be a tedious task, but it is so critical especially for the buyers who drive by the house prior to setting up an appointment.
What do you want your buyers to see when they first walk into your home? Between the entrance into the house and the outside curb appeal, they are already starting to make decisions on whether they want to seriously continue looking at the house or not. Try to put a beautiful piece in view for them to focus on right when they enter. This could be a piece of artwork or an updated chandelier.
Make sure you have a WOW Factor
This can be really intimidating! Fret not, it can actually be really simple. Some of the houses that leave the market fast, the owners made minor updates like putting fresh coats of neutral paint on the walls or updating flooring. The buyers may already be making some notes of things they don’t like so try to keep this to a minimum. If your kitchen is amazing, focus some staging efforts to leverage that space and highlight the amazing features!
Keep the Staging Functional
If you are living in your home while you are trying to sell it, you’ll need to take that into consideration, because it still has to functional for you and realistic for you to maintain. If you have kids or pets, you need to keep the toys picked up. This doesn’t necessarily mean completely out of sight, but it needs to be in a specific space. The toys need a home. Additionally, keep the toys to a minimum. This can be a challenge for parents! Just remember, the home will ideally be on the market for only a short amount of time and, in actuality, the kids and dogs do not need the entire department store!
If you are not living in your home while it is on the market, you can do a lot more inside to create a space specific to the buyer. However, keep in mind that it may not be easy for you to maintain landscaping on a daily basis whenever you are designing the curb appeal.
Hopefully, this gave you some ideas on how to best stage your home so you can find the right buyer quickly! Staging is so key to tie in all the best features of your home and to show the buyers your home is beautifully done!