Staging is a popular (and often very effective) way to improve your chances of selling a home faster and for more money. You can hire someone to stage your home or do it yourself. Most people are much better off if they hire a professional to assist them with staging a home but if you choose to do it yourself here are a few ideas to get you started.
De-clutter - CLEAN IT ALL OFF!
- Clean off the the refrigerator. Remove all the magnets, notes and child art. NOTHING on the refrigerator is best.
- Clean off most everything off the kitchen counters. Uncluttered kitchen counters make the countertops look larger. I know your decorations look great and you love them but please remove them and make the kitchen more generic and less personal. (only if you want to sell for a higher price...)
- Remove your collections. Do you collect frogs or thimbles or banks or.... You want buyers to look at and remember your HOUSE, not your collection. Box up your collections for the new house.
- Remove at least half the knick-nacks. Most people have twice as much "stuff" sitting on tables and shelves than is needed in a home for sale. Plan on taking at least 1/2 of the "stuff" around. Box it up for the new house or for charity.
- Remove the extra furniture. Is your house full? If the house is "full" buyers see the house as much smaller than it really is. They also have trouble imagining their own furniture in the home. Take it out.... (and, no I don't mean take it to the garage either.)
- Clean out your closets and pack everything away you don't need now. Are you marketing your house in the summer? Pack up all the winter items, Christmas decorations and things you won't need for months and months. Give your closets a more spacious look.
- Move your furniture so natural pathways and doorways are not blocked. This is often difficult since the television is in one place and you want your chair where you can easily see it. Sorry but the goal is to sell your house as soon as possible for the highest possible price. You may have to live with being a little further away from the television for a few weeks to earn thousands of dollars more.
- Clean, Clean, Clean! Everything should be clean and usually you can't do it yourself. Hire a professional to come in and get the dirt you don't even notice you have. Baseboards, ceiling fans, window sills and corners are places we often miss because we are used to the dirt. While you are on a cleaning binge, clean the a/c return vent and change the filter.
- Remove the animals. This is often the 2nd hardest one of all. If there are animals in the house and you want to sell for the highest possible price, the animals need to live elsewhere until the house is sold. Remove the animals, clean the carpets and floors, sell and move and then your pets may come home to the new house.
- Stop smoking. This is the hardest one of all for smokers. Cigarette smell is worse than pet odors. Don't smoke in the house. You may need to clean or change the carpets and paint the walls. Change out the a/c filters (maybe more than once) and do not smoke. Don't smoke outside and then come into the house and breathe... If you want the most money for your house - don't smoke period.
Ready to get started and find out how much your house is worth? Ready to get it staged and on the market to sell? LET us know!!!
Other posts you might enjoy about Getting Your Home Ready to Sell
Susan Hilton - Realtor & Sales Trainer for Century 21 Beal
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Selling Real Estate - Original post on The Century Tree Reader Blog
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Excellent advice, Susan! I have to repeatedly remind Sellers to keep the furniture (and certainly clutter!) to a minimum--if the Buyers are looking for 3000 SF, you need to make sure that it looks larger than any other 3000 SF home on the market! And, that means MINIMIZE, MINIMIZE, MINIMIZE!!