Your Furniture Actually IS Important When Selling Your Home.
One of the things I tell clients during a home staging consultation is that your potential buyers are buying your space and the possibilities your home has to offer, not your things.
However…
The furniture you have, or don’t have, in your home can impact your sale.
Here are 5 ways your sale might be affected.
1.SIZE
No one loves becoming engulfed in a large overstuffed chair more than I do but that same chair is also eating up square footage. Unless you have a right-sized room for it, it is best to store those pieces or do some editing.
You don’t want your buyers saying the
the room is too small.
2.CONDITION
While it’s true that buyers will want to see what your space offers, your worn and tattered furniture could be distracting to them.
Rather than envisioning themselves in the family room, for example, watching football with the family, they may be wondering what else in the home may have been neglected.
3.STYLE or ERA
Having very taste specific pieces can limit your buyer pool as might pieces that are of an era long before your buyer was born. Instead of focusing on the possibilities of your home, your potential buyer may think “old.”
A home I am consulting on has had expensive updates (such as impact windows and a new roof, as well as a new seawall and dock) that a new homeowner would love. However, the home is older and the furniture shouts it out. I’ve suggested staging it with furniture that speaks to the younger demographics that are buying in the area.
4.AMOUNT
Listen to your agent! When they suggest you pack up a lot of what you have, it’s because they’re out on the frontlines of this buying/selling process.
If you don’t need it now, or use it now, place it in storage or donate it or sell it.
Just as oversized pieces will eat up your space, too much does too.
5.NOT ENOUGH
If your property is vacant and you have rooms that are unique in shape, then bringing furniture in could help your buyer see how that space can be used.
The bowling alley room or the larger than usual room may leave buyers wondering what to do with the room.
Furniture also acts as a buffer against the echo effect you get with a totally empty room and gives the room personality.
Helpful tips…
Resist the urge to buy for your new home unless you can delay delivery or store it! (and you don’t want major purchases to interfere with your getting a mortgage.)
Invest in an off-site storage unit. These can rent by the month.
Cover a worn sofa with a slip cover if your budget does not have room for a new purchase.
Staging isn’t smoke and mirrors nor is it merely moving furniture around. It is styling the home and removing the distractions so that your buyer will see all of the possibilities it has to offer.
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