Staging Your Home For Successful Sale

Home staging is becoming an increasingly common selling tactic in real estate. Home staging is often considered to be strategic decorating. However, home staging differs from decorating because the home owner’s personal taste is omitted. The décor choices made in staging a home are to appeal to real estate buyers, not the current homeowners.

Photo courtesy of REAL ESTAGING

If carried out properly, staging your home can result in multiple offers and ultimately drive up your home’s selling price. If your home is currently on the real estate market or you are considering selling your home, here are some tips to guide you through the home staging process.

Curb Appeal

Have you heard the expression “A first impression is a lasting impression?” Well, the same holds true in real estate. The exterior of your property is the very first part of your home that prospective buyers will encounter. It is imperative that your curb appeal, is in fact appealing. Make certain that the first impression that is put across by your home is classy and leaves buyers eager to see more. Often times, when the exterior of a home is drab and dated, buyers will expect the inside to be equally as unkempt. To ensure that buyers will be greeted with a pleasant first impression of your home, keep the exterior of your home tidy and updated.

Perform a maintenance overhaul on the front of your home. This includes planting fresh and colorful flowers; mowing your lawn; trimming overgrown hedges; laying sod on areas that cannot be rehabilitated in time for an open house; stashing bikes and scooters in your garage rather than displaying them on your front lawn; replacing dated mailboxes, porch lights and house numbers and if necessary painting the exterior of your home. These updates are relatively inexpensive and can be completed in a single afternoon. After all, this blog is called “Frugal Real Estate,” I would never send you on an exorbitantly priced renovation. When your curb appeal is up to par, it sets the tone for the rest of the home.

Kitchens and Bathrooms

If you ask a real estate agent which two rooms sell a house, he is likely to reply, “The kitchen and bathroom.” If you are staging your home to sell, updating your kitchen and bathroom is practically a necessity. When home stagers are contracted to stage a home for a quick real estate transaction, they focus the mass of their attention on these two rooms. Contrary to what you may believe, staging these two rooms doesn’t have to be a costly experience.

To inexpensively stage your kitchen, apply a fresh coat of paint on the walls in a neutral shade; install a back splash that complements the primary paint color; purchase new window treatments; eliminate clutter by storing your kitchen appliances in the cabinets and place fresh fruit in a decorative bowl on your kitchen counter.

To inexpensively stage a bathroom, replace a dated and bulky bathroom mirror with one that is modern and sleek; apply a fresh coat of paint in a neutral shade to the walls; purchase shower curtains in a color that will complement the primary paint color; apply wood stain to cabinet doors and place fresh flowers in a vase behind the toilet. Once you have properly staged your home, real estate agents will be giddy to show your home to their clients.