Staging 102 - How do you Stage your Home? What are your choices?

Staging 102 - How do you Stage your Home? What are your choices?

FIRST...  

It depends...  Is your house is vacant or furnished?

If the house is furnished you have a 3 choices.

• DIY - Do-It-Yourself
• Entertain the advise of your Real Estate Professional or 
• Hire a Professional Stager

DIY - Do It Yourself... 

• Clear the clutter...Minimize excess belongings. Remove large bulky furniture.
• Set up each room to feel welcoming an inviting.
• Remove personal items and photos, especially names of children on the walls, bureau etc.
• Do your best to organize toys, books, and minimize items on bureaus and counter tops.
• Paint any room that is overly bold - neutralize the colors. Should be pleasing to go from room to room.
• Go through closets and cabinets. Throw away, give away, donate... minimize, minimize, minimize. 
• Clean, clean, clean. Make the house sparkle.
• Air out the house. Natural smells are better than forced smells like candles, stale smells and animal odors.  Bake something that smells good.
• Check that all your lights are working and there is enough light in every room.
• Front entrances are very important. Be sure it is clean, freshly painted and attractive. It sets the stage for the rest of the viewing.
• Outside is important too. Mow lawn, remove leaves, remove snow, shovel walkways, clean an neaten up best you can. Add color with plantings.

Entertain the advise of your Real Estate Professional

Look for a Real professional who has a background in staging. Someone that will work with what you have. Use your furniture, plants, personal belongings and lighting.

Go room by room and take good notes.

Recommendations to move and remove furniture, personal items and photographs will be very important to follow. 

All of the DIY points above will be taken into consideration when advising you on staging your home and property.

The focus will be on making the house flow well for showings, be inviting to prospective buyers and be camera ready for photos, videos and virtual tours.

Hire a Professional Stager 

The home stager will evaluate what you currently have and make recommendation on moving, removing  and adding additional items. There is a cost for this service and for any items added to the home or grounds.

If Vacant..

The only option for staging is to bring in furniture, rugs and wall hangings. You can DIY or hire a professional Stager to set up the house for you. It is well worth the money to have it done if you have the means. It's a proven fact that a vacant house staged well will sell for more money and in less time then a vacant house. The money you will pay a stager usually will be less than your first price reduction if you price it too high to begin with which is often the case with vacant homes.

3 very simple staging tips:

• Clearing clutter.
• Cleaning and freshening up.
• Organizing and setting up your home to make it inviting.