If you’ve been seriously thinking about putting your house on the market, chances are you’ve already heard a thing or two about the concept of “Staging,” or the art (and, often, science) of maximizing your home’s appeal to prospective buyers. It’s a practice that, with proper planning, can make a big difference once you’re ready for offers to start coming in.
While many home sellers opt to hire a Staging Professional to assist them in this process, there are a lot of things that you can do yourself – and with the guidance of your real estate agent – to ensure your home has the strongest buyer appeal possible. Regardless of which route you choose, here’s a brief overview of projects to consider when staging your home.
Strengthen Your Curb Appeal
While it may seem obvious, you can never underestimate the value of taking a few simple steps to beautify your property. After all, these exterior features will be the very first impression any prospective buyer gets of your home. There’s good reason to make sure you start off that relationship on the right foot, so be sure to take care of the little things – mowing your lawn regularly (or reseeding or sodding as needed), planting blooming flowers, and freshening up your greenery, and keeping your front windows clean. It’s also usually a good idea to power-wash your siding and walkways and consider repainting or staining your porch or other wooden exterior elements. Anything you can do to ensure that the outside of your home is inviting and welcoming should be considered a high priority when staging.
A Home So Clean It Sparkles
Hard floors should shine. Windows should gleam. Counters and surfaces should be spotless. Even the grout should be so clean it looks new – well, you get the idea. Giving your entire home a deep clean is hands-down the cheapest (if not necessarily the easiest) way to help your home make the best impression possible, and maximize its perceived value to homebuyers.
De-cluttering: Appealing to the Buyer’s Imagination
While it may feel impersonal to you to store away your knick-knacks and mementos, the truth is, those are just the things that will make it difficult for a potential buyer to imagine their new lives in what could quite possibly become their new house. And remember: clear surfaces, floors, cabinets and closets equal more space in the eyes of prospective buyers.
Neat, Warm, and Welcoming
All of the above certainly doesn’t mean that walking into your house should feel cold or like the home is unlived in. It may sound like a strange balance to strike, but the trick here is to create a somewhat “generic” sense of comfortable – after all, since you won’t know the personal tastes of your potential buyers, you’ll need your home to cast the widest possible net of appeal. Vases of fresh-cut flowers, a basket of produce on the counter, and a bowl of lemons next to the sink. Essentially, you’ll be trying to hit just the right combination of neat, warm, and welcoming.
If you’d like more in-depth guidance on how to maximize your home’s appeal to prospective buyers, the agents at RE/MAX Results are here for you. Feel free to reach out anytime, and we’ll be happy to help.