First Impressions Sell.
The importance of home staging cannot be overemphasized. People fall in love with a home when they first walk through it and later justify their purchase with all the sound “intelligent” reasons for buying the home. As the old adage goes, “sell the sizzle.” Help the buyer feel like they’re getting a home straight out of a magazine spread. Here are some useful staging tips.
Setting the stage for showings
As a seller you may already have made repairs, repainted, and cleaned the carpets. But there is great power in getting the small details right.
Stand at the front door and try to imagine that you’re a prospective buyer. Almost always, the rooms will seem too cluttered.
Start by removing the first thing in your way and going on from there. Gradually, a path opens up, and the features of the house start to emerge.
You will begin to see the results immediately. When you’re finished, the house will look bigger, brighter, and more open. Sometimes you may say, “It looks bare. It’s not like home anymore.” And then you know the job has been done right.
Setting the scene in each room sells the house—no question.
Example: An expired listing we uncluttered recently was beautiful but crammed to the rafters with collectibles, floral arrangements, antiques, tapestries, and other treasures. After we removed about 25 percent of those items—a typical amount--it was still beautiful, but now you could see the space, features, and detailing. It sold in three days.
In each room, we have three goals:
- Depersonalizing the space by removing family photos, taking everything off the refrigerator, and stripping the kids’ rooms of posters and baseball trophies.
- Clearing high-traffic areas of excess furnishings to maximize feelings of space and comfort.
- Highlighting the key features in every room--such as fireplaces or French doors--by making sure they’re not obscured by plants or furnishings.
Here are more tips to help you set the stage for buyers: Start with the front porch or doorway. This is often the buyer’s first impression and can have a big impact on the sale. Make sure it is ultra-clean, freshly painted door, polished knocker, and one or two healthy flowering plants.
Next the living room can be where your buyer falls in love. Partially clear off built-in shelves, cabinets, and countertops. These are important features that need to be prominently displayed. Removing clutter is a giant stress reducer as well as a good way to get a head start on packing.
Make sure the home smells fresh – not perfumed with candles of potpourri, which can cause a feeling that an odor is being covered up – but simply the smell of fresh, clean air.