Top 5 Home Staging Tips for Sellers
/By – Lindsey Savell, Home Staging Specialist & Marketing/Brand Manager Simple Solutions Home Staging
The busy season in real estate is in full swing and with buyer’s standards on the increase, it is more important than ever to incorporate home staging if you are planning to sell! Thanks to networks like HGTV, buyers have higher than ever expectations of what they want to see in a home. Proper staging before the listing goes live, whether it is occupied or vacant, could mean the difference between your listing sitting on the market for weeks or months. In fact, more than 77% of buyers find it “easier to visualize the property as their future home” when its staged, according to National Association of Realtors.
To help you put your best foot forward, we’ve come up with five simple solutions to help you prepare to list your home. The ultimate goal is to not leave any money on the table, so let’s get to work!
1. Declutter
Buyers find it difficult to visualize themselves living in a cluttered home. It is important to eliminate any distraction that could pull the focus away from the home itself. When a home appears clean and tidy, buyers automatically assume other items in the home have been well maintained. So detach from the stuff and get a head start on the packing process!
2. Depersonalize
While your family wall may be your favorite feature in the home, buyers find it difficult to see past the feeling of “invading someone’s space”. To help potential buyers become emotionally connected to your house, it is critical for them to be able to see the home as their own. Remove any personal pictures, wall art with names, etc. and think about where those will go in your NEW home!
3. Create Space
Whether it is a 1500 sq ft home or a 5000 sq ft home, buyers want to see space! Lots of large or over-sized furniture in any room gives the appearance of little space. The potential buyer will assume that their things won’t fit if the room appears small. Consider removing furniture or anything else that may be obstructing windows or arrange furniture in a way that creates the illusion of more space. Here is a perfect before and after example of the power of proper furniture placement. By moving the sofa to the center of the room, we create a cozier space while also giving the illusion of a larger living room.
4. Less is More… But Don’t Go Overboard!
In the first three tips, we focus on depersonalizing, decluttering and creating space – all of which involve removing things. However, it is also important for the space to look warm, inviting and livable! If you remove too much, you end up with a house that looks cold and empty. Be strategic and create a space that you would want to live in. It should be neutral, comfortable and livable so that potential buyers can “feel” themselves living there.
5. Keep it Up!
It is important to make sure the home look exactly like those amazing listing pictures of a beautifully staged home for all of your showings and open houses. Buyer’s will fall in love with your listing online, call up their agent and want to “feel” the house in person. Make sure what they see online matches the reality and I promise you will have offers rolling in!
The key takeaway here is that simple changes can have a profound impact on the quality and effectiveness of your listing pictures, which ultimately drives foot traffic to your front door. The more buyers who see your house, the better your odds are of selling quickly and not leaving any money on the table! A little work on the front end can mean a BIG payout in the end! And you can sit back with confidence knowing you’re putting your best foot forward.
About Us:
At Simple Solutions Home Staging, we offer vacant home staging and staging for occupied listings in and around the Greater Houston area. If you are planning to sell, we would love the opportunity to put our knowledge of what motivates a buyer to work for you!
