Advice for Sellers: Your House is Center Stage
Shakespeare once wrote “All the world’s a stage” and we believe the house to be at the center of it. By the time your open house visitors make an entrance, have each room staged in such a way that is designed to make the buyer feel right at home. When you’ve decided to sell your house, your best bet is to try and appeal to the widest range of buyers possible so they can picture it as their own. Make it easy for visitors to visualize their furniture in the space by calling in a home staging professional or attempting to do-it-yourself. Putting your house on display with tasteful decor, furniture and lighting has proven more effective at selling a house faster and for more money than a one that is shown empty or with too much stuff.
Professional Home Staging
It’s always a good idea to ask your real estate agent for a list of vendors they trust and work with closely, but often times, real estate agents will also become certified in home staging so there is no need to hire a third party. If your real estate agent is not also certified in home staging, he or she can point you in the direction of a recommended home staging professional. You can do-it-yourself, but we highly suggest hiring a professional as home stagers have access to warehouses of furniture, decor and other props to choose from. Their knowledge and resources can greatly benefit you in selling your house.
What to Avoid
If you’re gung-ho and insistent on staging your own home for sale rather than hiring a professional, keep in mind personal tastes widely vary. That beautiful, bold shade of red you fell in love with and painted the dining room with last summer, might be the best decision you’ve ever made when it comes to wall color… but it might also be the most offensive eyesore you’re potential buyers have ever seen. We’re not judging your choice in a red dining room, but it may conflict with the style preferences of potential buyers. Studies show neutral colors are safest when trying to appeal to a wider range of buyers and if you’re selling, it’s a good rule of thumb to just stay away from anything too bright or bold. Same goes for general decor, though wall color has the biggest impact.
What to Pay Attention To
As soon as you’ve decided to sell is when you should get around to cleaning out those closets. Yes, we’re talking about that closet no one wants to go into because it is so disorganized. Now is the time to organize it. Put yourself in the shoes of any buyer and think about the impression they’ll have if they happen to look inside the closets. Staging is not just plush sofas and lamps; it is also rows of neatly arranged boxes on shelves inside tidy closets. The last thing you want potential buyers doing, is being disgusted by the stacks of old newspaper and clothes thrown in a pile rather than raving about the delight in having the kind of storage space found within the closets themselves. Don’t forget to tackle organizing the junk-drawer while you’re at it. The goal is to create the thinking that if the rooms are well-kept, it makes sense that the house is well-maintained, too.
