Home Staging

Staging is an essential, and cost-effective, part of the home selling process. Staging your home to show off its qualities can only add to your final selling price. On average, people receive $2 in increased sale price for every $1 they put into staging a home.

When staging your home for sale, there are five golden rules to take into consideration as you work your way through each room of your house.

Five Golden Rules:

De-Personalised

The buyer needs to picture themselves in the house – not you. That wedding photo may mean the world to you, but the buyer it’s a distraction that prevents them from seeing a home for their family.

Maximise

Declutter and maximise the space in your home. Closets packed tight with all your clothes make a place like it lacks closet space. Consider temporarily storing the overflow offsite.

Sanitize

This golden rule is the easiest and cheapest way to stage your home – clean it. A sink full of dirty dishes is as unappealing to you as it would be to the buyer. It is well worth the elbow grease in cleaning floors, walls, baseboards, ceiling fans and windows.

Modernise

Unless your home has exceptional period built-ins, all home could benefit from some updating. If someone feels the house is dated, they will reflect that feeling in a lower offer. Consider a few simple changes like swapping out expensive fixtures for nickel or chrome.

Neutralise

Colour can make or break a buyer’s interest in your home. You may love that shocking red wall, but all the potential buyer sees is a great deal of painting in their future because of red clashes with their style. The picture is one of the most inexpensive ways to change a look of a home.

Bonus Tips

Closets

Clear closets of unnecessary clutter, and organise to maximise the amount of open storage space you are showing off to potential buyers. Use boxes stacked together to keep up and hide the clutter.

Use matching hangers for clothes – hooks are inexpensive so splurging on higher quality are inexpensive, so celebrating on higher quality hangers to replace free wire hangers from the dry cleaners will modernise your closets with visual impact and a more luxurious feel.

Bedrooms

A quick and inexpensive way to improve the appeal of your bedroom is to use gender-neutral colours when touching up paint jobs and re-accessorizing to have the broadest possible appeal. Colour coordinate where possible bedspreads, walls, curtains etc. should have a clear theme to their colours if possible.

Bathrooms

If walls are grimy, spray them using a standard spray bottle filled with a mixture of one part bleach and one part water, follow up with a fresh coat of paint.

Clear countertops of everything but the essential to make space look more open and more extensive.

Kitchen

Modernize your dated cabinets; they can be touched up for less than $200 with a coat of new wood stain and or even a good sanding a coat of paint. Replacing brass or wooden cabinet hardware with brushed silver or stainless steel is an effective way of updating dated cabinets as well.

While an open house is a great way to actually meet the perfect buyer for your property, it is also a great opportunity for people with bad motives to do their rude moves. More than allowing your house to actually accommodate good buyers, you might also be accommodating bad people. So how are you are exactly going to do the open house while securing your home? Here are some tips.

Keep away important documents containing pertinent information such as Social Security numbers and bank accounts. These digits of numbers can actually be the key towards committing crimes using your identity.

Remove jewelries, antiques, and other items of high values. These are eye candies and can easily attract robbers and thieves. Electronic gadgets like tablets, laptops, and smartphones should also be secured. Your personal and some confidential information can be leaked once these gadgets are taken away from your possession.

Photos of family members are advised to be hidden. You don’t know how criminal minds think. Your family members, even with just their photos can be easy targets of crimes, especially children.

Never leave keys of your house, car, or rooms – even if they are just duplicates. These things are small and can be easily grabbed. When possessed by bad persons, these keys can be used to enter your property.

Never hide anything of value in your rooms and other likely places. Rooms within your house especially those that are locked up during the open house can imply that there are valuable things in there. Though they are locked up, it is still advised never to leave things of high value in those rooms. Some curious and naughty persons might be unnoticed sneaking in those rooms to peep on those things and plan something bad afterwards.

Have a logbook of guests joining the open house. This is a helpful record to see who came to visit the house. Make sure that the arrival and departure times are recorded too.

Take photos or videos of the rooms and other parts of the house before the open house in its staged state. After the open house, review the photos or videos to see if there are some alterations on how things are placed and ordered.

Remember that an open house should be an opportunity to meet buyers, or even meet new connections and friends. It should not be an opportunity or an invitation to persons with bad intentions. However, we won’t know bad people until they have done wrong. So better stay safe and secured than be sorry later on!

A lot of sellers don’t put enough emphasis on fixing up their homes when they put them on the market. Even sellers with recently renovated homes need to do this work. There is stiff competition and every detail is important to help you sell fast and for top dollar.
So if you want to sell your house, take ten minutes to read this list. Then start packing!
1 DO de-clutter and de-personalize the space! It’s simple advice but this is the most difficult step for sellers. Say good-bye to the home and then erase the memories from the space by putting away personal items. The more prospective buyers can visualize their own belongings in the space, the better.
2 DO create a welcoming entrance that feels great to walk into. Make this space clean, well lit, and up-to-date. First impressions are critical.
3 DO invest in low cost, sweat equity. Repaint the walls a neutral light color, update light fixtures, faucets, doorknobs, and backsplashes. If you don’t have time, hiring someone to get these things completed is money well spent. If you don’t have the talent, hire an interior designer or home stager to consult for a couple of hours. Small cosmetic improvements add up.
4 DON’T do any major renovations on your home if you don’t have the time, money, or energy. Jobs like re-doing the flooring, kitchen, or bathrooms are large and stressful, particularly if you are living in your house during the work. Think rejuvenation not renovation.
5 DO invest in fixing up your outdoor patio or sitting area if you are selling during the warm months. Potential buyers love the added value of an outdoor eating or sitting space. Repaint the deck and create a comfortable space with outdoor furniture. An umbrella and barbecue will be great selling points.
6 DON’T invest in a swimming pool, hot tub, or fishpond. You won’t make your money back. You may even alienate many prospects who are put off by the maintenance involved and the potential hazard for small kids.
7 DO give your kitchen or bathroom a surface makeover. These two rooms are the most important in any home. There is no need to change your entire set up. New faucets, knobs, backsplash, moulding, sink, and paint are all easy and inexpensive updates. Remember to keep it neutral.
8 DON’T forget about the landscaping and outdoor appeal. This is the very first thing buyers will see. If they are turned off, you’ll have to work even harder on the inside. So why not give it some care? Paint your front door, give it a new handle, fix cracks in the walkway, paint the mailbox or get a new one. Fix or get new house numbers. Make it charming by trimming all your trees, bushes, grass, and by adding flowers.
9 DO Be eco-conscious when moving. Donate home fixtures that are in working order to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and bring your debris to the eco-center. Consider re-facing or repainting kitchen and bath cabinetry rather than replacing them. The more you can reuse and repurpose, the better. The goal here is to spend as little as possible for the biggest impact.
10 DON’T leave any animal marks around the house. Scratched doors, a kitty litter box, messy eating bowls, hairy blankets, and chewed up toys need to go. Not everyone is an animal lover and they might dismiss the home altogether if they are allergic.

Not only should your home look appealing sporting every nice aspect through visual presentations, it should also engage other senses specifically the nose. And there is no better way to engage the nose than by letting it smell as good and pleasing as possible. Don’t let your prospects find their ways out of the house. Instead, let them find comfort by treating their noses with respect. Here are some tips to have a home scent that will take you closer to signing a deal with the buyer.

Clean the house as clean as you can. Cleaning the house doesn’t mean you only have to sweep or vacuum the floor or run the mop. To make it as clean as possible means you have to go beyond the usual tasks. If you need to shampoo the carpets, then do it. If you need to move huge furniture and appliances, you have to. Professional cleaners who go beyond the ordinary cleaning ways can help you in the cleanliness tasks.
Infuse the house with aroma of real fruits, specifically citrus. According to a study in which several homes were infused with scents of real foods, that which had the scent of real citrus was highly favored by potential home buyers. The scent was chosen over baked goodies and chicken. One precaution though is to avoid the use of chemical-based citrus such as air fresheners. It may create the notion that something is being covered up because the air is chemically infused.
Lit up few aromatic candles. Give your house the warmth and comforting scent of aromatic candles. They never fail to relax the mind and soothe the senses. They also send message to potential buyers how relaxing a stay in the house can be.
Invoke neutral scents of cleanliness. While some buyers will go for scents, some will just opt for the simple smell of cleanliness. Aligned with the first tip, the use of baking soda and other non-scent products will give off the image of simplicity. This is in contrast with the complex scent that potpourri and fresheners emit.

Scents condition the brain and affects the mood of people. Imagine how your potential buyers would be turned off when there is bad smell circulating inside the house that you are selling. Imagine how they will be tempted to give you offers if your house is appealing, inviting, and nice-smelling.

Many homeowners, learn from their real estate agents, and opt to take advantage of some of the principles of staging their home, in order to enhance the potential and possibilities of achieving the finest, possible results, in terms of selling their houses, for the best possible price, in the minimum period of time! We refer to staging, as a process, which improves, how, potential buyers, might perceive the specific home, in a positive way. In light of that, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, 4 basic options/ alternatives, for getting this done, effectively, and productively.

1. De – clutter, and touch – up, limited areas: In some instances, it only takes a little, well – considered, tweaking, to achieve the intended objectives. Before beginning to show the house, reduce the amount of clutter, significantly, remove excessive furniture and furnishings (put into storage, or dispose of), and proceed, to, touch – up, largely viewed areas (many people, can do this, themselves). When a house looks neater and cleaner, and distractions, and negatives, are removed, and/ or, addressed, it usually translates to better showings, and more, qualified buyer, interest, and, hopefully, meaningful offers!

2. Do – it – yourself (DIY) staging: Depending on the size, price, niche market, etc, it may be possible, to do – it – yourself! This DIY staging process, includes, reducing the amount of furniture, and fixtures, especially, any, which seem to show, wear – and – tear, or don’t enhance the overall appearance of the house. This should include: paying attention to curb appeal; reducing/ addressing any unwanted odors, and/ or, eye – sores; touch – up painting, cleaning fixtures, and adjusting lighting, and overall esthetics, etc.

3. Hire professional stager: Sometimes, it is necessary to hire a recommended, quality, professional home – stager! This process, often, includes: removing, existing furniture/ fixtures, and replacing them, with loaner items; enhancing strengths, and addressing areas of weakness, etc. However, because this is often, costly, to do, if you choose, a quality approach, the price range, and niche of the property, are relevant factors, whether this is an advisable approach, for you!

4. Study and understand some of the basics: It makes sense for homeowners, deciding to sell their homes, to thoroughly, study, and better understand, some of the essentials, and basics, which will add value to the transaction, and process! For example, to show a smaller room, such as a dining room, better, it often makes sense, to use taller furniture, and bigger fixtures, hanging from the ceilings. Understand, how lighting factors – in, as well, as where to highlight, and how to minimize attention, to some locations, Where some touch – up painting, curb appeal, etc, may be beneficial, are key considerations!