It’s no secret that staged homes sell faster and for a higher price than others. Hiring a home stager can become costly but often pays off in the long run. Whether you decide to put in a little elbow grease and DIY it, or hire some help to get it done, you’ll see the effort pay off. Here are 3 design tricks that will help you get your home ready to sell and give you the edge you need in today’s hot real estate market.
Hiring a professional stager can be expensive but will pay off in the long run.
1. Declutter & clean
A sleek storage ottoman will easily let you stash clutter when showing the house.
When it comes to getting your home ready to sell, cleaning and decluttering is half the battle. As soon as you decide that you will listing your home to be sold, it’s time to start decluttering and stowing away personal belongings. Take down all personal photos and memorabilia and clean out at least half the items from closets and cupboards (you have to pack up everything when you move, anyway). Swap out your coffee table for a modern storage ottoman that will hide away blankets, toys, and magazines in a hurry.
A console cabinet is an easy way to corral items that you still need daily but don’t want to leave lying around.
Streamline a shelving unit with stylish baskets and bins to stash memorabilia or kids’ crafts and create a uniform look. And tidy up a messy-looking entertainment center with a sleek media console. After all, buyers don’t want to visualize you in your home. They want to picture themselves there.
A clean home will sell faster than a dirty or cluttered home
Once things are packed away, get out your cleaning supplies and prepare to use a little elbow grease. A sparkling home shows pride of ownership and sends a message to the buyer that you’ve taken good care of it over the years. And clean, decluttered spaces make your home feel larger, even when compared to other homes the same size. So, get to work – or better yet, hire a professional cleaning service. Many of them offer “ready-to-sell” cleaning packages.
2. Give every space a job to do
Try to increase the functionality of every corner of the house
Imagine walking into your home for the first time. Would you know that the empty wall by the front door is a magnet for backpacks and shoes? Could you determine at a glance if that spare bedroom, currently used for crafts or storage, could be a child’s dream bedroom? Don’t make buyers work to interpret spaces in your home. Instead, show them that every space has a job to do. Clear out clutter from a spare bedroom and stage it with a nicely-made bed, nightstand, and a fresh bouquet of flowers. Tuck a hall tree and bench in the foyer to help buyers imagine a place where they can drop their keys and take off their shoes when they come home. Do you have extra space in a master bedroom or under the stairs? Don’t make a buyer wonder what to do with it. Fill it with a modern desk and chair, so they’ll look at it and think, “Ah, yes. This is the perfect place for an office.”
3. Appeal to buyers’ emotions
Creating cozy and inviting spaces in your home will appeal to the buyers’ emotions
Buying is an emotional process, and there’s no buying experience more emotional than a home purchase. So it’s important to not only make sure that your home looks appealing, but that it warms the heart, too. Create little scenes throughout the home that will help buyers imagine themselves enjoying special moments. Tuck a bar cart along a dining wall and accessorize it with coffee and pastries so they can visualize having a tranquil breakfast there. Or create a reading nook with a cozy chair and ottoman in a corner of the master bedroom and stage it with a book and a comfy throw. When a buyer is looking at several homes, they will remember the ones that give them a window into these little moments of what life would be like to live there.
By rolling up your sleeves and turning a fresh eye to every space, it’s easy to take buyers on a visual journey and show your home to its greatest potential. Are you planning on selling your home anytime soon? Have you sold recently? We would love to hear about your experiences with prepping your home and buyers’ reactions in the comments below.