Home Staging
Unfortunatelyprospective home buyers form an opinion about your home within secondsof getting to the curb. The clock will start ticking and you need tohave a game plan to increase your chances of getting your home sold attop dollar.
Staging is an important part of appealing your hometo the broadest clientele in Charlottesville real estate market. TheCharlottesville real estate market is very competitive and your homeneeds to shine above the competition. It is important to learn thedifference between decorating to live in your house and decorating tosell your house. Decorating usually implies about adding but stagingis all about paring away from personal decoration. You want homebuyers to be able to picture themselves living in your home as easilyas possible. Lets make it simple for them to fall in love with yourhome.
Top 10 Basic Staging Tips
1. Declutter The golden rule in staging is to DECLUTTER! Decluttering doe not meancleaning your bathroom and washing down counters. It means to removethe newspapers, mail, laundry, knickknacks and ALL magnets off yourrefrigerator. For instance, if you have a bookshelf do not fill itcompletely with books, unpack two thirds of those books, put them awayand neatly display only a few of your belongings.
This alsoapplies to furniture. The rule of thumb is take away half of yourcurrent furniture. You want the room to feel spacious and movable. Rearrange your furniture, make sure to highlight the focal point, suchas arranging chairs around a fireplace or create an approachablescene.
Counter space in your kitchen and bathrooms areCRUCIAL! Remove all coffeepots, toasters, toothpaste and toothbrushes,make-up etc. You want clean, sleek lines. You want them to SEE thecounter space, not your personal belongings.
Remember someexperts say you will return 4.5% more on a staged home. Do not letclutter eat up your equity or your time on the market!
2. Be a neat freak The only thing as important as decluttering is having an immaculatehome. That DOES mean cleaning your bathroom and washing downcounters. Also you may want to steam clean your carpets and freshen upyour walls with a little paint. Pressure-washing decks and aluminumsiding can do wonders for your curb appeal and the first impression ahome buyer will have on your home. It never hurts to toss out old bathmats and never leave more than two shampoo bottles. If your home looksdirty home buyers interrupt it as you do not change your filters and donormal maintenance. Remember they do not want to be reminded that itis your home. Allow them to easily find themselves in your home!
3. Hide the doll collection Staging should be called blanding. There is not reason to spice upyour home wiht your personal tastes because it will not sell yourhome. The space will sell your home! Remove family photos, religiousitems or any themed rooms such as superhero, sports room, ballerinasroom etc. You want home buyers to be on neutral turf!
4. Search and destroy odors If you can smell it, it probably won't sell! A home that smells odd,such as cat litter, dogs, exotic food or cigarette smoke will be amajor turnoff to home buyers. Ask someone you can trust to give anhonest answer as to whether or not your home has a distinct smell. Find the problem and tackle it, by steam cleaning carpets andfurniture, moving litter boxes elsewhere, scrubbing the kitchen etc.
Don'ttry and mask odors. It is a good idea to open up windows and lettingin some fresh air before showing your home. Just remember smokers donot even want to buy a smoked in home!
5. Curb appeal is key Believe it or not, studies have shown that the front porch is whereprospective home buyers spend the most time, as they wait for the doorto be unlocked! It doe not hurt to paint the front door, wipe awaydirt and paw prints and replace lighting fixtures if they looktarnished. You might even consider placing planters on each side ofthe door. Vibrant colors excite the eye! Make the home buyersexperience your home the way you want them to.
6. Fresh flowers Use fresh flowers through out the house. Always fresh!
7. Make it current You want your home to give off a feeling of being up to date,regardless of how long it's been since you bought your furniture. Pickup magazines, such as Better Homes & Gardens or InStyle. Then pickand choose your furniture and camouflage, if needed. If stream linesare important put a slipcover over your lumpy loveseat. You can evenbuy some inexpensive pillows from Target or Pier1 to update your look.
8. Think spacious Home buyers are often moving because they want more room, so make yourhouse feel as spacious as possible. Closets should be half full andyou should always be able to see the bottom of the closet. If you showpeople a jam-packed closet, they will think it's too small for themtoo!
Bedrooms should only contain a bed, nightstand, dresserand maybe a reading chair in the master bedroom. If possible swap outthe king size bed for a queen.
People often put their furnitureup against the wall. However you really want to move the furnitureback a few inches to allow the corners of a room to be visible.
9. Start pairing it up When decorating, think about groups of threes. Short, medium andtall. Maybe pair up three pieces of art work or even candlesticks. Itis about using shapes and colors to help the home buyers through theroom while making it more visually interesting. Get out your eyecandy!
10. Lighten it up You want as much light to come in as possible. Remove unneeded blinds,draperies or sheers. Never cover up your windows. Let the outside bean extension of the inside and let all that light shine in!
