Staging Your Home

Staging is the process of preparing your home for sale. When you place your home on the market it becomes a product. Similar to a product on the shelf in a store, the product has features and benefits as well as pluses, minuses, and competition.

Why should you Stage your home? To compete with other homes on the market you must be priced right and it should look better than the others. Your home is one of many homes for sale and you must present it to the buyers in the best possible light.

Before you show your home to any potential buyer be sure to go through your whole house with your agent to finish the Staging process. Meanwhile, here are some quick tips to point you in the right direction.

INSIDE
*Clear all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. In general, a sparsely decorated home will help the buyer mentally 'move in' with their own things.
*Rearrange or remove some of the furniture in your home, if necessary. Many times home owners have too much furniture in a room. When it comes to selling your home, thin out overcrowded rooms to make the rooms appear larger.
*Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it hasn't been used for three months...put it away! Clear the refrigerator of messages, magnets, pictures, etc.
*In the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from the countertops, tub, shower stall and commode top. Keep only the most necessary cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc., in one small group on the counter.
*Take down, reduce, or rearrange pictures and objects on walls. Patch and paint all walls, if necessary.
*Go from room to room, and paint any room that needs it, clean carpets, drapes and windows.
*If you need room to store extra possessions use the garage or rent a storage unit.
*Leave on certain lights during the day (your agent will show you which ones). During showings, turn on ALL lights and lamps.
*Play light music in the house for all viewings.

OUTSIDE
*Go around the perimeter of the house and move all garbage cans, extra building materials, debris, etc., to the garage or, if applicable, take them to the dump.
*Check gutters and roof, make sure they are clean.
*Prune bushes and trees. Keep plants from blocking windows: "You can't sell a house if you can't see it!"
*Remove any dead plants, weed all planting areas and put down fresh mulching material.
*Keep your lawn freshly cut, edged and fertilized during the growing season.
*Clear patios or decks of all small items, such as small planters, flower pots, charcoal, barbeques, toys, etc.
*Check the condition of the paint on your home, especially the trim and the front door. The first impression (curb appeal) is very important.

IN GENERAL
Try to look at your house "through a buyer's eyes," as though you've never seen it before. This exercise will help you see what needs to be done. Any time and money invested on these items will usually bring you the return of more money and a quicker sale.