Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 40 million Americans moved each year.
If you’re planning to move and you’re selling off your home, you’ll likely need some tips on staging a home to make it look appealing to potential buyers. While your house may speak for itself, you’ll want to play up the good parts so you can minimize the not-so-great parts of it.
In this blog post, we’ll go over some tips and tricks on how to stage your home to make it look irresistible to potential buyers.
Read on for more information on how to make your home look it’s very best.
What is Home Staging?
Before we start giving you the best tips and tricks to home staging, let’s discuss what it is first. Home staging is rearranging your home so that potential buyers can imagine themselves living in it. Good home staging should also create a “mood” so that potential buyers can see their day-to-day life the way they want to live it take place.
If you home stage successfully, you can even increase the asking price by 5% or more, getting back as much or more than you put in into the staging itself.
Home staging essentially hides all of the flaws in the home and accentuates all of the best features. It also ensures that the home looks great in photos, as many people are looking at homes virtually before going into them, thanks to the pandemic.
Remember, the key is to create a mood that makes people feel as though they’re home. It can also turn oddly shaped rooms or other design flaws into something that appears useable, making it seem like a bonus to the buyer.
Some people do this by hiring companies to stage homes for them, whilst other people take on the project themselves.
Now, let’s talk about how to get your home ready to stage.
1. Declutter
When you move, you’re going to have to declutter anyway, so this is a great way to jump on that chore so you won’t have to do it later. A cluttered home isn’t something people think of when they imagine their perfect house, which is why it is so important to get rid of all extra things.
If your house is cluttered and you’re moving to a larger space that can accommodate it, you may wish to consider renting a storage space. That way, you can get things out of the way and give your house a nice minimal feel.
2. Clean
This sounds like a no-brainer, but if you want to stage your home truly, you may have to do more than your standard deep clean. You may wish to have a professional cleaner come in and help you scrub the bathrooms, the kitchen and steam the carpets. This way, the home looks fresh and inviting. A dirty home, again, isn’t one that people picture themselves in.
Additionally, a dirty home makes people think they will have to clean it before moving in. Moving is already incredibly stressful, so this already makes it look like they’ll have another item on their to-do list before they even move in.
3. Focus on Key Rooms in the Home
While you want all of the rooms to be clean, you’ll need to focus on the key rooms in the home that are the most important to buyers. These are the master bedroom, kitchen, and living room, as well as the master bathroom.
That doesn’t mean you’ll want to skip over the other rooms completely, but you certainly don’t need to spend an excruciating amount of time making sure they’re perfect. Deep clean them, make the beds and tidy them, and leave them as is. They won’t make much of a difference to potential buyers unless they have very specific needs or tastes.
4. Make Your Space Less Personal
This can make it admittedly strange to live in the weeks or months leading up to your move. However, depersonalizing your space can help a buyer picture themselves living in your home. A home with too many personal touches makes it feel like it isn’t their home, but someone else’s, something you want to avoid.
As such, you should remove all framed photos, personal photos on the refrigerator, or other personal touches around the house. This includes removing things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, and other everyday items you use. Of course, you don’t have to completely remove these items, as you’ll still need them before you move, but taking them somewhere out of sight is your best bet.
5. Repaint as Necessary
This is a bit more time-intensive, but it is necessary if you’ve painted a bedroom bright bumble pink or a crazy midnight blue. While these colors might be fun for your kids or even for you, potential buyers often want to see a blank canvas. This way, they can decide to keep it neutral or go for a fun color.
Staging a Home for Sale
Staging a home for sale does take a bit of work, but it is a great option if you want your house to sell quickly and for more money. You can do most of the staging work independently and will only really need to hire professionals to help you deep clean or paint as needed.
After you’ve staged your house, you’ll find it makes a world of difference to potential buyers.
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