Quick and wallet-friendly home staging tips
When you hear the word home staging, your mind probably drifts to the shows on TV that rent high-end furniture to help a home sell faster. But honestly, who has the time and the budget for that? Staging can be completed on your own and in simple terms, is just the process of cleaning and de-personalizing your home to make it more attractive to buyers.If your home is on the market or you’re thinking about listing soon, here are 6 tips to stage your home quickly and on a budget so you can be ready for the first showing.
De-personalize
This is the number one rule of staging. In order for potential buyers to be able to picture themselves living in your home, you need to remove things that are specific to you and make it as neutral as possible. Go through your home with a buyer’s eye and take down excessive personal items, such as family pictures, awards or certificates, taste-specific artwork, collections and any personal items. Replace with inexpensive neutral items that won’t distract potential buyers.
Clean up
Buyers expect homes they are seeing (and potentially buying) to be clean. If you can afford it, hire a professional cleaning crew to deep clean your home before you list to ensure it is in tip top shape. If you are short on time or funds, clean the home thoroughly and pay extra special attention to the kitchen, bathrooms and closets. Wipe down surfaces, hang fresh towels, remove clutter from countertops to maximize space and empty all garbage cans before every showing.
Update hardware
An inexpensive way to update your home is to add new hardware to doors and cabinets. It’s an instant way to modernize your home and make it more attractive to buyers, without too much effort or cost.
Open curtains
Make sure to open all of your curtains prior to any showings. This will allow the maximum amount of natural light to come into your home, which is important to today’s buyers, and helps rooms appear larger.
Pleasant aroma
Buyers don’t just want a clean looking home, it needs to smell good too. But before you go overboard on the air freshener, think again! Overly perfumed homes can be a turn off too. Your best bet is to remove anything that has a strong odor and open the windows if you are able. You also may want to consider adding fresh flowers to tables and rooms to give off a light scent and add to the ambience. And if you have pets, be sure to clean up their areas prior to any home showing.
Fresh paint
Giving rooms a new coat of paint will help your home appear cleaner and more updated. It’s also is a good excuse to replace any bold colors that you may have used to decorate with in the past. Choose neutral colors that won’t deter potential buyers which may also help make your rooms appear larger.