Chances are, as a seller, you want your home to sell quickly and for the best possible price. The key to making that happen is first, to price your home competitively, and then, make the best possible first impression on a potential buyer – realizing that in the current market, buyers have lots and lots of inventory to choose from.
Effective staging begins with the mindset that once your home is on the market, it’s no longer really “yours.” Potential buyers want to walk in and picture themselves in your home. They don’t want to see your family pictures, evidence of your travels and your hobbies, and certainly not your clutter. Anytime I begin the process of helping sellers stage a home, I recognize that they’ve probably spent several years decorating and filling it with their unique tastes in furniture and home décor to make it home their own. Sometimes staging requires undoing some of that.
Keep in mind that staging starts at the street, if a buyer were to drive by your home, what would their first impression be? Make sure your landscaping is inviting. Paint and plants are key to curb appeal. Trim trees and shrubs so that would-be buyers can see your home clearly, and it looks like it has been well maintained.
As for your home’s interior: embrace the 3Ps – 2Fs Formula: plantings, paint, pictures, fixtures and furnishings.
The entrance to your home says a lot. Be sure to make this first impression a pleasant one. The proverbial “Welcome Mat” is a great start. As the buyer moves into the other areas of your home, the most important thing that you can do is to make sure that you’ve removed all clutter, and cleaned out your closets.
Especially if you live in a small home, you want to convey that there is plenty of room, and clutter conveys the opposite message.
This can mean taking down most personal photos, rearranging or removing furniture to increase the feel of spaciousness, or simply exchanging any unnecessary knick-knacks for candles, books, or other simple items that don’t draw too much attention to themselves. I’ve heard some of my previous clients describe living in a staged home as “hotel living.”
Staging is simply an act of accentuating the value of your home based on first impressions.
While it might seem time consuming on the front end, chances are that a well-staged home will sell quicker and help you to get where you want to be much sooner.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
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2 comments:
Hi- I just came across your blog and thought you might be able to help answer a question I have. We are currently saving money to buy a house in 3 years. We will likely have enough to put down roughly 10% on a home in our price range. Is 10% down the norm- or do you think that with the economy, that number will soon go up to 20%?
thanks!
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