Staging a home for a quick sale
REAL ESTATE MARKET PREPARATION
Are you wondering what you can do to sell your home quickly without spending a lot of money in home renovations? All you may need is some practical advice on how to showcase your home to attract potential buyers. A buyer makes a decision whether or not they want to buy your home within five seconds of walking in the front door. The idea behind home staging is to prepare your home to appeal to the widest audience of viewers.
Like a display suite, your house should encourage buyers to visualize themselves living there. If your home is cluttered, outdated, or is not selling, you may want to hire a professional home stager who can make your home more attractive to buyers.
Tips for a Quick Sale
Think of your home as a commodity
Remember, it’s not going to be your home anymore and should be marketed as a product. When looking at your home, you should decide on a general theme that emphasizes the best features of your home and portrays an overall mood.
Consider the outside of your house
Does your siding need washing, your gutters cleaning out, or your hedge needs trimming? A tidy outside raises less concern about maintenance issues.
Selling a vacant home?
Vacant homes should have the heat or air conditioning on for showing purposes. It reduces the stale odours that accumulate inside of a vacant house and gives a more inviting impression to potential homebuyers.
Make a good first impression
You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Clean up and revamp your front entrance way. It’s the first place a buyer will see! Polish doorknobs, replace burnt out bulbs, and repaint the door if it is stained or scratched.
Outdoor-planters and indoor floral arrangements are visually pleasing, so add some life to your space!
If you have pets, ensure that their dishes, sleeping areas, and litter boxes are clean. Any noticeable pet hair should be vacuumed, and dog droppings removed from the yard.
Do a thorough cleaning & decluttering
Do a thorough cleaning before putting your house on the market. Spotless walls, windows, carpets, flooring, and appliances make a lasting first impression. Key areas are the kitchen, bathroom and front entry. If your carpets or vinyl floors are stained, especially in high traffic areas, you should consider replacing them.
Remove any clutter. Small appliances on countertops, knick-knacks, jam-packed bookshelves can be packed away in preparation of moving. Family photos should also be packed away so that the potential buyer can more easily visualize their own possessions in your home. This also includes removing any excess furniture so your home has a spacious airy feeling. You may want to rent a temporary storage unit for furniture and other boxes that take up room in your closets or storage spaces.
Take a look at your possessions. Stained or tattered items should be removed from view. Fresh towels, made beds and clean throw rugs are a must.
Arrange the furniture & rugs
Arrange the furniture in your home to showcase its best features. Put a few pieces on angles to create cozy corners, and a less boxy look.
Remove any area rugs that are covering attractive flooring and a fresh coat of paint can do wonders for a dingy room. Try using currently fashionable colours to update your home’s decor. Cream or neutral tones warm up a room giving it a more homey impression.
Make those small repairs
Fix any small repairs, including leaky faucets, squeaky doors, and loose door handles. They may seem insignificant but minor repairs add up in the mind of a potential buyer.
Set the mood
The mood you create in your home is also dependent on odours. If your home has an unpleasant or mildew smell you will want to remove the source of the odour. Open up the windows to let fresh air inside your home before you show it. If you are going to use a scented candle or incense, try and use mild varieties as strong smells can irritate sensitive noses.
Baking bread, playing soft music, and adding additional plants to your home, are all psychological cues that make a potential home buyer feel like your home is a nice place to live in and they will spend more time previewing your house.
Consider your lighting. Natural light makes a home feel more welcoming, open and appealing. Drapes and blinds should be opened and mood lighting left on in darker rooms.
If you know the mood you want to create but do not have the furnishings, consider home staging services. Large pictures, designer coffee tables, and accessories that enhance your homes overall look may increase the appeal of your home without seriously denting your pocketbook.
HOME STAGING HELPS YOU SELL FAST AND FOR MORE MONEY
You’ve probably asked yourself why go through so much trouble to stage a home you’re just going to sell? For starters, in Brantford’s highly competitive housing market, home staging has become an important tool to effectively sell homes. It focuses on improving a property, highlighting important characteristics and transforming it into an attractive product for sale.
Even beautifully decorated homes need to be turned into a merchandised product that enhances the home’s best features and depersonalizes, making it more visually interesting to prospective buyers.
The goal of staging is to appeal to a greater number of perspective buyers, which will lead to better offers or even multiple offers. The Kate Broddick Team will put you in touch with a professional home stager to give your home the treatment it deserves.
CREATE EXCITEMENT FROM THE START WITH HOME STAGING!
Start the selling process off right! Staging creates excitement and interest from the beginning and sets your home apart from the competition.
Properties that have been staged will have a distinct marketing advantage over non-staged homes.
Staging provides an objective third party to tactfully and respectfully convey to homeowners all the important issues that need to be addressed in order to prepare a property for sale.
Staged homes provide beautiful photos – and when paired with professional photography – you achieve that wow factor! Consumers are savvy and most of them start their search on the Internet and those photos become their first impression.
The Staging Process
1) Staging Consultation
Your home staging experience starts with a full consultation and assessment of each room in your home. Together with your property stager, you’ll plan and execute all the important details for furniture placement, organization, theme and colours for each room.
Each client will receive a personalized report listing each item that is discussed. Included in this report is a contract for the items being used outside of your personal belongings to help give your home that wow factor!
2) Staging Preparation
Staging preparation starts with de-cluttering and interior organizing. This is one of the most important steps to staging your home. By either utilizing basement space neatly, or preferably renting a small storage locker, your personal belongings, oversized furniture, and items collected over the years can be stored away safely.
Decluttering eliminates distractions that could potentially hinder the successful sale of your home. One of the the best parts about the decluttering step is that you’ve ended up organizing your belongings well before your move.
3) Starting the Staging Process
Once the home has been decluttered, your blank canvas is ready. A time will be set for the staging company to take care of the necessary tasks to have your home ready for the market. This will often align with professional photos once your home once it’s ready to be showcased.
For more information regarding home staging and interior design, and how to prepare your home for sale, simply contact one of our REALTORS® from The Kate Broddick Team with Revel Realty Inc.