When preparing your home for the market, these strategies for staging your home will help maximize your selling price. Staging your home is all about putting the best foot forward for potential buyers. By highlighting its most desirable features, you can draw more interest for your home and leave a lasting impression that is sure to bring offers. Here’s what you should keep in mind as you work on preparing your home for the market.
Staging Strategies #1: Visualization
Help buyers visualize your home as their own. Making it easier for buyers to imagine themselves making your house their home is a huge part of staging strategies. After all, if a buyer can’t imagine themselves in the home, do you think they’ll want to submit an offer?
One way to help buyers visualize themselves in your home is by removing personal memorabilia, knick-knacks, and photos. Instead, replace them with simple décors such as paintings, statement pieces that could add character to a room, and plants. When decorating, keep a minimalist mindset. No one wants to see a cluttered-filled room.
Another staging strategy to prepare your home so buyers can visually see themselves living in the space is to neutralize wall colors to tones of white, grey, or light beige. Bright colors, such as reds, greens, and yellows are usually too overwhelming for buyers. For most of them, it’s a detractor and doesn’t work in your favor. Think sleek instead of comfy. Today’s buyers lean towards modern, crisp interiors over comfy, homey looks.
And we’re sure you know this but we have to state it – clean!! No one likes to walk into a dusty, dirty home. It’s repelling, to most people, to see stains and grime and dirt, especially in a home that buyers are trying to visualize themselves in. Remember to also deep clean the small spaces. Take time to scrub porous areas like grout (that may hold on to stains) and baseboards, where pet hair and dust love to cling.
Staging Strategies #2: Furniture Placement
The first step in furniture placement is removing old furniture that is decades old or in bad shape. It’s better to have a room with little furniture in it versus a room with ample furniture that is outdated or falling apart. Be picky on which furniture you choose to remain in each room.
Don’t leave a room empty, even if you don’t have enough good furniture to spread throughout your home. If all you have for a room is a rocking chair and floor lamp and small painting, that is better than leaving it vacant. It doesn’t take much to soften a room and keep the buyer’s eyes from wandering.
Traffic flow through a home should be easy, obvious, and not awkward. Wandering through each room should feel effortless. Place furniture so the pathway is obvious; don’t force people to snake through a room. It creates an uneasy feeling and begs the buyer to question the purpose and functionality of a room.
Every room should have a focal point. Whether it be the view, a grand piano, or an elaborately hand-carved headboard, the focal point gives the room purpose. This, in turn, gives the buyer a message of comfort and ease. Keep the room’s purpose very clear by removing furniture that doesn’t add to that main purpose. Too much furniture in a room, detracts, rather than adds to a room.
Staging Strategies #3: Set the Mood
A home is so much more than just the way it looks, so appeal to the other senses. Prior to having potential buyers over, set the mood by burning delicious smelling candles or baking a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. And to appeal to their ears, play in the background your favorite upbeat, happy soundtrack.
Staging Strategies #4: Spruce Up Your Landscaping
The first impression your home gives to potential buyers is its exterior. Ensure you have a freshly mowed lawn, neat hedges and shrubbery. Trim trees, especially if branches are rubbing against the roof. Pull weeds from any gardens. Get rid of any wasp nests.
If your home has siding, a nice power wash goes a long way. And don’t overlook the driveway and deck. Sometimes power washing these can give a face lift to the home too!
Add fresh mulch. The dark mulch provides a nice contrast to the rest of the landscaping colors. Add brightly colored flowers and potted plants. Decorating the front door with a wreath is very welcoming!
Staging your home is a crucial step to getting the highest and best offer for your home. Appealing to the preferences and tastes of the majority of buyers improves your chances of receiving offers. First impressions only come once, so make it your best! Use the staging strategies above and contact Baker Realty today, so we can help you achieve the selling price you want.