Five Tips for Staging a Home.

Five-tips-on-staging-your-home

We have come up with a list for staging a home to look its best to prospective buyers. This is hardly an earth-shattering piece of information, but what is alarming is the number of homes that aren’t staged well or staged at all. It’s not as easy as many homeowners think, and just because they’ve seen some examples on social media, it won’t necessarily make them a staging expert. 

The following are five tips on what expert-level real estate agents and highly motivated sellers say when staging a home for sale.

“De-Personalize” The House.

Experts will tell you to “de-personalize” your home before hosting any showings. One primary objective of staging a home is to allow potential buyers to visualize their style and belongings in place. The best way to get this to happen is to set as blank a canvas as possible in your home. Sellers should want the house to retain some style and charm but be clear of personal touches that suggest prior ownership.

 

To start “de-personalizing” a home, remove obvious personal items like photos. Ensure clothes are in closets or stored out of sight and bathroom counters cleared. Finally, make sure there are no piles of anything or clutter around, which means cleaning up the chair we all have that “holds our clothing.”

Curb Appeal Is Crucial.

 

Our parents often said, “First impressions matter!” and it’s always been great advice. When it comes to selling your home, the street view needs to be picture-perfect, or at least as close as you can get it! Add some sweat equity before buyers arrive and make the exterior look nice. Pressure washing sidings and other exteriors, cleaning the gutters and washing the windows are highly recommended. Remove weeds and dead plants from garden areas, and in the fall and spring, remove any leaves that may have fallen on your lawn. 

You can also do a few other cosmetic things: Ensure all the outdoor lights fixtures work, the house number is visible, the welcome mat isn’t too tattered and worn, and make sure the doorbell works. Not all these features will be touched or looked at by potential buyers, but those small details being complete suggest that the house they are buying was looked after.

Curb-appeal

“Let There Be Light!”

Many real estate agents recommend that homeowners take advantage of their home’s natural light when buyers are inside. So open up all the blinds and curtains and let those freshly cleaned windows do their job. Ensure the lights are on in more dimly lit areas of the house or rooms that don’t get much natural light. Brightness adds to the positive aura of the place, thereby making it a more attractive purchase. Dust the lights off and ensure all the switches are working. Replace globes and remember to use soft lighting, as neon lighting can be overly stark and annoying.

Don’t Neglect Spare Rooms.

Real estate agents commonly observe that not enough sellers utilize the extra or spare rooms properly during the staging process. Don’t treat spare rooms as dumping grounds while staging, as it will seem to buyers that the seller is poorly prepared. Each room in a home should be shown to have a distinct purpose. If it’s supposed to be an office room, then make it look like one with a desk and chair at the very least. If it’s a guest bedroom or kid’s bedroom, it should look like one. If this means you need to borrow furnishings just for the staging, call in some favours with friends or family.

office-room

Have Questions?

The home selling process can stressful, but we’re here to help! 

Contact Us

Focus On Freshness.

A few healthy-looking, green, well-placed plants or flowers can add freshness and life to any home, regardless of the fittings or decor. Space these out to avoid any clutter and focus on freshness in areas that will be focal points. The kitchen table should have an arrangement; a small potted plant or some succulents will look great in the living room, and try a larger potted plant in the corner of it. If you’ve never had many plants around, artificial plants will also do a similar job as a homeowner. Chances are buyers will not go around the house touching and sniffing the plants anyway.

The other key for home freshness is to eliminate odours; a deep clean will likely take care of these. Ensure to clear away any trash, and bins should be hidden from view. If you’re a pet owner, you will most likely have to double your cleaning time to ensure your home is spic and span. Very little goes a long way, especially when it comes to scented plug-ins. If you think they are necessary, keep it on a low setting – you want the smell to be pleasant but subtle. As a homeowner, the last thing you would like is that enthusiastic buyer to be put off by an overpowering scent or trigger an allergic response. It might also create questions with buyers about what sellers are trying to hide.

Celebrate! You are now ready to list your home!

Have any questions?

The selling process can be stressful, but we’re here to help! 

Contact us if you need any support throughout the home selling process, we’re a hands-on, full-service realty team for Carleton Place and West Ottawa area. This checklist is a great foundation, but nothing can replace an experienced realtor.

Contact Us