Lancaster PA Luxury Real Estate - Sell Your Home: Six Staging Tips

How a home is presented can have a significant impact on how quickly a home sells and for what price.  Especially now, when most markets have an abundance of homes for buyers to choose from, it's important for sellers to carefully consider how their home is staged.

Buyers generally want to get as much space as their money can buy.  A moderate sized home that is presented well can often feel more spacious that a larger home that is not presented well.  In turn, that smaller home is likely to sell quicker and for a better relative price that the other home.  Here are 6 tips for making your home feel as spacious and attractive to buyers as possible:

1. Keep the number of wall and flooring colors to a minimum.  A home that has just 1-2 carefully selected wall colors and just 2-3 floor coverings will feel larger than a home that has a different color scheme and/or flooring materials in each room.  If selecting new colors, consider that most of today's buyers want warm neutral tones.
2. Minimize the amount of furniture you have in each room.  There should only be as much furniture as is necessary to make the room feel comfortable and properly demonstrate how the space is to be use.  If you have too much, either sell it or store it.
3. Clear the clutter!  Sellers should use putting their home on the market as an opportunity to prepack excess ... stuff.  Keep decorative objects to a minimum. Porcelain figurines are distracting and can be easily broken.  Put away personal/family photos as they are also distracting and make people feel they can't make an offer because "where will that nice family go?"!  Pick up newspapers and magazines.  Put away--or pack away--unnecessary items from countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Clutter can make rooms seem smaller than they are.
4. Make sure your rooms or spaces properly demonstrate their intended function.  The formal living room is not where buyers would expect to find kids' toys!
5. Position mirrors in the right places to make a room appear larger. Make sure the mirrors reflect what you want to see more of, such as a favorite painting or a lovely window. 
6. Let the light in!  When preparing for a showing, turn on every light and make sure window coverings are open.

              

Remember ... a clean, well-maintained and spacious home is not only more marketable, but can often command a higher price.

 

Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA