Fast and Affordable Tips for Staging Your Home for Sale
Successfully selling your home requires more than simply snapping some amateur pictures and putting a listing online. Top-quality images make a huge difference, with research showing that professional photos sell homes up to 50 percent faster. Hosting an open house further supports a faster sale as it can allow you to court multiple potential buyers at once, and increases the likelihood of receiving multiple offers.
Before you can take great photographs or invite people to tour the house, however, you need to stage it appropriately. Get the property looking its best with these easy and affordable tips.
Depersonalize the space
Even if they share your taste in real estate, odds are that potential buyers won’t share your taste in art, books, or interior design, and Angie’s List points out that overly personal decor can be a real deal breaker. Before taking photos or hosting an open house, depersonalize your space by getting rid of such unique items that reflect your personality. You want to appeal to the broadest possible audience. Removing intimate touches like family pictures can also encourage visitors to imagine themselves in the house with their family.
Remove clutter
Clutter makes spaces look smaller. This is the last thing you want when trying to convince buyers to splurge on a real estate investment. Clear your personal possessions off the surfaces in your home; from coffee tables to kitchen countertops, you want to present sleek, clean surfaces. Put those items you don’t need every day into a storage facility near you. This is also a great place to keep valuables like vases or artwork that you don’t want to get jostled and potentially broken when crowds of people are milling around at an open house.
Hire a cleaning crew
One you’ve managed to clear out clutter and personal possessions, your house will be ready for a deep clean. Get it sparkling before visitors arrive. This means not only taking care of the basics like dusting, mopping, and vacuuming, but also attending to larger tasks like washing the windows. If you’re not up to the job yourself, you can use an online platform like Maids.com to find a professional cleaning crew.
Add flowers and mirrors
To enhance the aesthetic appeal of the property’s interior, add vases of flowers as well as mirrors throughout the rooms. Flowers add a pop of brightness and a lovely aroma—plus, they are actually shown to make people happy, and you want guests to feel at ease during your open house! Mirrors play a role in making spaces appear larger as they reflect light coming in through the windows, creating a more expansive impression. Hang them opposite windows so they reflect the outdoors, creating the illusion of an extra view to the outside.
Boost your curb appeal
Curb appeal refers to what people see when viewing real estate from the street. This is the first impression your house will make; ensure that it’s a good one. Make sure the lawn is mowed and hedges are trimmed, and if it’s fall, rake up leaves. Don’t have a sea of beautiful blooms in front of the house? Add some color and create a more welcoming entrance by installing planters of flowers on either side of the front door. Home goods stores like Lowe’s have a diverse selection of planters available.
These tips are practical, easy to implement, and affordable. Follow them and you can stage a perfect open house all by yourself. While it is possible to hire staging professionals, they aren’t cheap: Costs for comprehensive staging services range upward of $3,000. There’s no need to spend your hard-earned cash on this extravagance. Do the job yourself with these tips, and you can anticipate a successful sale.
Photo Credit: Pexels.com, Article Credit: Alice Robertson of TidyHome.info
