Preparing to stage a home for open houses and photoshoots with real estate photographers may be the most important step in selling a home quickly at the price you and your sellers feel is appropriate.
The right staging can make a home look clean, new, and appealing to buyers. Want to sell fast and get a great price? Use these 8 home staging tips!
Spruce up the outside of the house. As potential buyers drive past a home, the first thing they will see after an “Open House” or “For Sale” sign is the exterior and front lawn. Grab their attention with a good first impression. Before a house goes on the market, be sure to power wash the sidewalks, sweep and clean the porch, and add flowers or décor in the front yard. A clean exterior will start buyers off on a positive note and create high hopes for the interior.
Invest in professional cleaning. The easiest way to set a home staging up for success? Simple – clean the house. Clear away clutter, pay attention to pet odors, and examine each carpet and wall for potential stains. If a house has been lived in for a while, a professional cleaning will be a worthy investment.
Set the tables. Adding décor to make a house look lived-in goes a long way because it gives buyers an idea of its potential. For example, a long dining room table takes up a lot of space, and leaving it plain looks awkward. But add plates and silverware and potential buyers will wish they could sit down and eat. Want some life in the living room or den? Set up a game of chess. Add new lawn chairs and uncover the grill in the backyard to show a house’s entertainment value.
These little details will encourage buyers to “play house” while they are visiting… and really give them the feeling that they could make this home their own. A word of caution though. While a bit of “color” can be great, too much often feels messy or overwhelming. Moderation is key.
Consider the season. A brightly lit home is an inviting home. Consider out-of-town buyers. They might not know the extremes in sunlight Anchorage experiences throughout the year. So open the curtains during the daylight, and choose brightly colored curtains and lighter wall colors to light up rooms during the dark winter months.
Finish any repairs. Replace any light bulbs that have burnt out, fill in any holes in the walls, and fix any appliances that are broken. Even a small issue can give potential buyers the idea that other problems lie within a house.
Show the potential in every corner. New technologies in 3D and virtual tours allow potential homebuyers to have access to every nook and cranny of your houses, even if they are looking from online. You can’t make every corner of every house look spacious, but you can make them look useful. Turn awkward areas into cozy reading nooks, a lounge for pets, or the perfect place for extra storage.
Use gender-neutral colors for the master suite. The quality of the master bedroom and bathroom are usually high on the list of both men and women’s priorities. Using gender-neutral colors, beddings, and décor will appeal to both sexes.
Fast staging, fast selling. If you start staging sooner rather than later, you can quickly schedule high quality real estate photos of your homes to properly show off their potential. Consider the above staging tricks before contacting a professional real estate photographer and putting the pictures online. With great images and smart presentation, your homes will be sold before you know it.
