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The key to selling any home can be the presentation, or staging. Professional home stagers work to present a home in such a way that it shows off all its best qualities to buyers and makes it stand out from other properties listed on the market.
Staging a house can make a significant difference in how quickly it sells. It’s common for real estate agents to have some unstaged properties listed for several months with very little interest from buyers. By comparison, a professionally staged home generates a lot more interest and usually sells in a matter of days or weeks.
Home staging can also affect the final sale price of the property. After all, buyers are keener to bid higher on a property that appeals to them on several levels.
(See Also – 51 Mistakes to Avoid While Selling Your Home)
So here are some quick insider secrets to staging your home for maximum effect.
Start Packing Early
Before you even list your home on the market, start packing up all those personal knick-knacks and ornaments ready for the move. Remove any family photos and pack up the kid’s toys. De-clutter each room, remove any additional furniture, and pack everything else away.
The objective here is to remove any of your family’s personality from the home. After all, you want buyers to start imagining their own things around the house, not checking out yours.
Ask for Advice
Speak to your real estate agent about any tips or advice they can offer about improving your property’s buyer appeal. Ideally, you would have chosen a real estate agent who has a high familiarity with the local area, so they’ll know exactly what buyers are looking for and what’s likely to turn them off. Listen carefully to the advice you’re given and act on it the best you can.
Get Professional Staging Help
Engage the services of a professional staging consultant. The estimated cost might be approximately 2% of the final sale price, but the results could yield a much bigger return than you think.
Discuss your schedule for selling with your staging consultant and work out together what needs to be done before inspection day. Your staging consultant will have plenty of tips and suggestions about what works and what won’t, so listen carefully and follow the advice you’re given.
Start at the curb
Look at your home objectively from the front and be honest about its street appeal. Trim any overgrown trees or bushes, mow the lawns, touch up any peeling paint, repair any broken gutters, and wash the windows.
After all, the first time buyers see your property is from the street, so make a good first impression. You can read my other story, 5 Investments To Increase Sell value of your Home.
Don’t Take It Personally
No matter what advice you’re given from your real estate agent or your staging consultant, don’t take it personally. Remember, they know the market and they know what buyers are looking for.
When they tell you to change furniture positions around, get rid of certain furnishings, or alter the styling in a particular room, don’t be offended. They aren’t criticizing your personal style, nor are they implying your stuff is awful.
However, they are viewing your home as a potential display that should appeal to buyers. That means creating visual effects that highlight each room with the right furniture, styling, and decorations. It also means looking for ways to appeal to the broadest possible audience.
Hire a Professional Photographer
Many real estate agents recommend using a professional photographer to take pictures of the fully-staged home. It’s estimated that approximately 92% of home buyers search for properties online, so they’re looking closely at the photos.
Presenting the home with professional photos that showcase the best aspects of your property can make it stand out from the crowd.
Get Rid of the Tenants
It may sound harsh, but if you’re selling a rental property it might be wise to get the tenants to move out. You have no guarantee that your tenants will present the house in a clean, tidy manner on inspection day. You also have no idea what their furniture style is like, so it could potentially detract from the property’s appeal.
Selling any home can be a stressful process, but there are ways to reduce the stress levels and speed up the sale. The right help and advice could mean improving your home’s buyer appeal, which can translate into selling the property must faster overall.
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Having a good picture of your house would definitely one of the big reasons that can help you to sell your house fast. I agree that most buyers check through the internet first.
Professional staging help is well worth it in most situations, simply because the buyers usually have a difficult time picturing themselves in the home they see. It’s even worse if the home is empty. A professional staging will allow prospective buyers to get excited about the home. In order for anyone to buy anything, they must first see it in their mind. 2% or so of the sale price is nothing if you get more anyway.
I’m all for perking up your house’s appearance before selling it off because it really does make a difference, but there are some buyers who don’t need that kind of convincing to seal the deal. I haven’t really heard of anyone trying to sell a house while their tenants were still in it because usually people spend a month or so fixing things, like leaky faucets, cracks in the room paint and so on. Plus, you want the house to look tidy when prospective buyers come along, and so that means you keep the house as minimally decorated and as minimally occupied as possible.
Curb appeal is definitely important because it is the first thing that most buyers will notice and will give them a good first impression of your house. I also agree about getting a professional staging help if you have the budget and you want to sell your house fast. Awesome blog. Thanks for sharing!