Are you looking to sell your home this winter? Get your home sold fast and for the price you want – set the stage for success with these 6 Staging Tips.
Clean, Clean and Clean
This may seem obvious but many people forget to do a deep clean before potential buyers visit. Deep clean every crevice and make everything look like new. Focus on high-use areas like the kitchen and bathrooms. Make everything sparkle!
Focus on First Impressions
Your house should look inviting, inside and out. Many potential buyers will do a drive-by and just check out your home from the outside. Make sure the house number is visible, the windows are washed and that your yard is well-kept. Tip: Winter is around the corner and the days are getting shorter. This means that many potential buyers will be seeing your home in the dark. Remember to keep your porch lights on and make sure your home is illuminated enough to be properly seen. Installing a few solar lights along your driveway can make your home feel extra inviting.
Spruce Things Up
Invest a bit of time and energy in making your home look its best. This could mean painting your walls, staining the floor or doing some simple landscaping. Be honest about what aspects of your home are not looking their best and do a bit of a make-over. A few little updates can go a long way. Remember to keep things clean and neutral.
Create Space
It may be necessary to go the extra step and put a few items in storage during the selling process. Your home needs to appear spacious and that could require getting rid of some of your large furniture. Create space in any way you can – whether it be by getting rid of some of your furniture, rearranging key pieces, or simply de-cluttering. Keep surfaces clear with minimal decor. You can create the appearance of space in different ways. For example: you can make your closets appear larger by keeping them 75 per cent full.
De-personalize
There is a misconception that staging is decorating – when in fact, these are two very different things. Decorating is personal – it is about taste and preference, while staging is about possibility and neutrality. The idea is to create a space potential buyers can see themselves in and imagine their own preferences. Remove any family photos, personal items from the bathrooms, and collections or hobby items. These items are very personal and can take away from someone’s ability to see themselves in your space. It is important to strike a balance between the look of a ‘model’ home and a ‘lived-in’ home. You can make your home appear lived-in by adding a few touches such as a bowl of fruits in the kitchen, fresh-cut flowers on the dining room table, or a plush luxury robe in the bathroom.
Give Rooms a Purpose
Every room should have a distinct purpose. If you are currently using a spare room for storage, it is important to give this room a different purpose when staging. Many experts say that rooms should always have a bed in them so that potential buyers will view them as bedrooms. (This is mostly the case if your home has four or less rooms.) For example, if you live alone and have a three bedroom home and are currently using one room as an office and another as a tv-room, potential buyers might not think that the rooms are fit to be bedrooms. Remember that every home is different and every buyer is different – use your instinct.
A little staging can go a long way. If you would like some advice on the best way to stage your home, give me a call at 416-960-9995 – I would be happy to help.
