Staging helps buyers visualize themselves living there. Staging a home can even help you to sell your house quicker. When your home is staged, it will look showroom-ready, and allow buyers to envision themselves living in the house. Staging a home can help you sell your house because buyers expect to see picture-perfect homes. This is what they’re used to seeing in person, on home décor shows, and in online listings.
What is staging a home?
The process of staging a home involves strategically arranging furniture and décor in order to make the house look as good as possible while it is being sold. It may be necessary to pare down your belongings and refresh them, or move all your stuff out of the house and rent furniture and décor.
How to stage your home
Now that we’ve talked about what staging actually is and why you should do it, let’s talk about how to stage your home. Here is a list of 8 tips for staging your home.
1. Understanding why you are staging a home
It is important for sellers to stage their home. According to a 2017 National Association of Realtors survey, 49% of buyers’ agents think staging influences the majority of buyers’ perception of a house. 77% said that staging makes it easier for buyers to imagine a home as theirs.
Staging may also help to increase the sale price. In the same NAR survey 29% of sellers’ agents said that staged homes sold between 1% to 5% more than homes without staging. Staging a home can also reduce the number of days a house spends on the market. 39% of real estate agents said that staging shortened days on market. Understanding the benefits of home staging can help you decide whether it is right for you and how much you should invest.
2. Get rid of clutter
When staging a home, the most important task is to clean and declutter. A house that’s as empty as possible will appear larger. Remove all personal items and knickknacks from surfaces. Do not just place them in the closets. Potential buyers will look inside the closets when they visit your home. You want to make the house appear spacious. Get all your extra items out of the home.
After the clutter is gone, deep clean. Close the lid of your toilet before showings. Make sure that you clean up your bathroom and kitchen. Open the windows to air out your entire home. Air fresheners and scented candles may trigger allergies. You don’t want potential buyers feeling itchy. Wash everything your pets touch. No one wants to smell like a pet. If you can afford it, consider hiring a professional to do a deep cleaning of your house before selling.
3. Aim for an airy and light look
Lighting is a crucial part of staging your home. Buyers like bright, airy rooms. Before a house showing, open your blinds and pull back your curtains. Make sure your light fixtures look appealing. Consider replacing your old fixtures or lampshades. Dusting your fixtures and bulbs can allow more light to pass through.
You can also experiment with the color temperature of the lighting. The whiter it is, the closer the light will be to daylight. Check the Kelvin rating of light bulbs to choose the correct one. Soft white is usually 2700K-3000K and daylight is between 5000K-6500K.
4. Stage important rooms first
Renting furniture or removing certain pieces, which may require a storage facility, can be expensive. If you do not have the money or time to stage the entire house, staging certain rooms can save you a lot of money. According to the NAR survey, 55% of the agents surveyed said that staging the living room was “very important”. Then comes the master suite, followed by your kitchen. Last on your list should be any additional bedrooms.
5. Rent and/or remove furniture
As a rule, remove half of your furniture. It may be hard to remove all the furniture, especially if you still live in your home. Your house will appear larger and more appealing with less furniture.
Renting new furniture is a great option if your old pieces are not showroom-ready or if they have already been moved to your new house. If you’re not taking your furniture with you, you can put it in storage or sell it or donate it. Pop-up furniture is another option if you have already moved. It is made from corrugated cardboard or plastic, and looks good enough to give the sellers a sense of place.
6. Arrange your furniture
After you have chosen the furniture for the home staging, move couches, tables, and chairs away from the walls. The furniture is “floated” in this design technique. Even if your room is covered in carpet, you can anchor the space by using an area rug. This creates an intimate, cozy space that is perfect for talking with family and friends.
7. Improve the curb appeal of your home
Curb appeal is the real estate term used to describe how your home appears at first glance. The exterior of a home is what potential buyers will see first. You can get buyers to enter your home by:
- Wash your home and sidewalks with power washers
- Keep your windows clean
- Make sure that your house number can be easily read
- Cut the lawn
- Trim back overgrown plants
- Plant flowers
- Place a welcome mat with potted plants on your front porch
- Include outdoor furniture if you have a porch
8. Add little extras
Add some finishing touches to your house once you have learned how to stage a home. Fresh flowers in vases and a bowl of fruit on the counter in the kitchen are always appreciated by buyers. Also, folded towels in bathrooms are a nice touch. You can store your extras in the closet if you are living in your house while you sell it. This will make them ready to be sold quickly when you receive a call from your agent to tell you that a buyer has arrived.
You can sell your house in no time if you know what to do. You’ll be prepared for your next adventure with our moving checklist.