Home staging is a marketing strategy along with a dash of psychology. It’s adding and rearranging furniture and decor. It’s upgrading curb appeal if necessary and doing whatever is necessary to dress up a house so it sells quickly and for the highest possible profit.
Staging a home makes it easier for a buyer to recognize when a house meets their needs, while a lack of staging could mean that a buyer is not able to visualize the space and what it can become in relation to their needs.
Client Checklist
Getting Your House Ready to Sell
Research shows that homes with high curb appeal tend to sell an average 7% more than similar houses with a less appealing exterior.
Check off these steps to help prepare your house for a quicker, more profitable sale:
- ✔ Powerwash the driveway and sidewalks.
- ✔ Refresh potted plants and garden beds.
- ✔ Consider painting the front door.
- ✔ Trim overgrowth and rake leaves around the house.
- ✔ Paint and repair chipped interior and exterior paint.
- ✔ Caulk and grout kitchen counters and bathroom surfaces.
- ✔ Clean the windows and open the blinds for showings.
- ✔ Clean and paint all baseboards, walls and surfaces where grime and dust tends to collect.
- ✔ Change bulbs and turn on the lights around the home during showings.
- ✔ Remove clutter and donate unwanted items or move to storage.
- ✔ Depersonalize the home by removing photographs and any other personal artifacts that may make it hard for prospective buyers to visualize themselves living in your home.
- ✔ Take the smell test - walk through your home and remove any sources of foul odors.
- ✔ Fix any loose handles, light switches and other appliances that may create a less appealing first impression.
- ✔ Hire a pet sitter for showing days. If possible, hire someone to watch your pet during showings or, at the least, vacate the premises before prospective buyers tour the home.e
- ✔ Take a cue from professional home stagers:
- ✔ Point loveseats and couches toward each other to “open up” the house.
- ✔ Set the dining room table as if preparing for a formal dinner.
- ✔ Add visual interest to asymmetrical spaces by arranging pillows, chairs, artwork and other accessories in odd numbers. Threes, fives and sevens are professional stagers’ “magic numbers” in design.
- ✔ Purchase new bath towels to refresh the bathrooms.
- ✔ Purchase new bath towels to refresh the bathrooms.
- ✔ Add a splash of color to brighten areas of interest, like a breakfast nook.
- ✔ Open up the space with mirrors that reflect light and can make small rooms feel bigger.
- ✔ Replace a heavy vanity with a pedestal sink to provide a fresh update in the guest bathroom.
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