Two Thumbs Up for Staging Your Home

Staging is more popular than ever when it comes to selling a home. But, you might wonder if it’s worth the inconvenience and upfront costs, especially in a seller’s market.

Even with a well-maintained (and well-decorated!) home, staging can increase the price you get for your home and decrease the time it stays on the market.

When it comes to the stage, we have two options. We can hire a professional stager who can use their furniture and décor for your home and stage it in a way that works for your potential buyer. Or, I can suggest how best to present your home with what you already have and even bring in some of my items to supplement what you have.  

Here’s a rundown of why staging is worth it:

Staging a home is not like “cleaning your home for guests”; rather, it entails coming up with a marketing strategy that will showcase your home in a way that will appeal to the most buyers. It’s still important to make your home sparkle and shine by cleaning, but this next step makes selling your home more of a “business” goal with a clear-cut purpose. How you live is not how you sell! For example, that third bedroom, part office, part storage closet? That probably needs to be turned into an actual bedroom. Easy to do with an inexpensive bedframe and some stylish bedding from a discount store. Or, make it an appealing office space only if you think your potential buyers are searching for that right now.

First impressions are essential and will linger after buyers leave your home. Staging creates a positive emotional tug for buyers when they walk through your door. We want them to dream of their perfect life in your home, so sometimes, we need to declutter, spruce, reorganize, and some extra storage space to get buyers to think with their emotions. It can be easy and cost just about nothing. I can walk each room with you to tell you exactly what to put where.

Sometimes all it takes is a fresh eye. The oversized leather couch or collection of pottery may be gorgeous and look great for your day-to day-life, but to buyers, it could mean your home feels tight and cluttered. Remember, don’t take it personally! When you sell your home, it’s a product for sale, not the house you’ll be living in anymore! 

When in doubt, go neutral. 

You may love that turquoise wall, but most buyers will be distracted and only see the wall, not the spacious room and everything else your home offers. Try to neutralize your home. The best colors are white for doors, trim, ceilings, and light grey for the walls. You want to present a soothing, modern, clean slate for new buyers to imagine their lives. 

Staging can give a room a purpose — create an office, a guest room, or a reading nook that usually isn’t there. You don’t want buyers to wonder what they can use this room or space for while living there. Instead, you want to show them what life could be like there, even if it’s not currently the way you are using the space. 

Think about who the ultimate buyer of your home will be and cater to how THEY would use the rooms in your home and stage accordingly.

Please take what you have and work with it by paring down, rearranging, or relocating furniture and artwork, and reconsider the paint colors. You can prioritize a list of things and then decide what you’ll do and won’t do based on your budget. Remember, you can take it or leave it since it’s your home for sale.

A carefully staged home looks more desirable in online photos. Your online presence can either encourage buyers to check out your home or could drive them away, so each room needs to look like it has a purpose and is ready to move right into! Doing so will get more people to look at your home; the more people who come and see it, the more offers and a higher contract price.  

When it comes to staging and making your home look its best, don’t feel like you have to figure it out yourself! Positioning your home for the market to get you the most money possible is my job, and I’ll also help you through this phase.