How to Stage Your Home for Sale

IA large part of preparing your home for the market is staging it. Staging is designed to showcase and highlight the best assets of your home in order to impress potential buyers and have it sell quickly at the desired price.

Staging can often be confused with decorating but this is not the case. Decorating is about personal style and taste, while staging is about making your home desirable to a large number of potential buyers. It is important because you do not want to settle for a low selling price or a longer listing period than necessary when all that may have been needed to achieve a great result is some staging.

 Here are some tips for staging your home for sale and getting it market-ready

Clean, Declutter and Remove Personal Items

A clean home shows potential buyers that you have taken good care of the property. Attention to detail is important here, from a clean front door for street appeal to wiping down light switches and skirting boards.

This should be the first step when it comes to getting your home ready. Potential buyers like to be able to envision themselves and their families in the space and it can be very hard to do that if the home is filled with lots of clutter and personal items such as photos. Go through the pantry and get rid of outdated items, you may be surprised at the amount of people that will want to check out the size of the pantry.  Sort any kids' toys and rehome what they have outgrown, having lots of items lying around can also highlight any storage issues.

Get rid of any odours that are lingering from pets or damp towels in the bathroom. You can also wipe out the sink with a lemon for that fresh smell. Try and avoid air fresheners as they may trigger reactions and make it appear like you are trying to hide something.

Lighting and Furniture

Take advantage of any and all-natural light available in the home. Open the curtains and blinds when taking FOR SALE photos or having an open home. You should also replace any bulbs that are not working. Remember to also dust and clean any light fixtures.  All of this will help to make your home feel brighter and more inviting.

It is important to make sure that the furniture used is the right size for the room and doesn't clutter the space. Furniture that is too big can make a room look small, whilst furniture that is too small can make a space feel cold and empty. Arrange the furniture in a way that makes each room feel spacious and easy to navigate. For instance, set up the living room in a way that helps the conversation flow and not make it difficult.

Don’t Forget the Exterior and Entry Way

The exterior and entry are very important because they can have a large impact on the first impressions of potential buyers and even determine their level of interest in viewing the rest of the home.

Start by ensuring the gardens are in good condition, neat, tidy and free of weeds. Put away any kid's toys that may be lying around the yard and make sure the path to the front door is clear. You may also wish to wash down the front door or if needed a fresh coat of paint.

 Creating an inviting outdoor area in the backyard is another way to showcase the potential of the home and its outdoor spaces.

Set a Budget

Just like anything when selling a home you are looking for a return on investment. When it comes to staging your home, set a budget and stick to it. You don't want to go all out and buy lots of new furniture when there is no guarantee of recouping that money back on the sale.

You can try smaller things like swapping out bright cushions that were picked with your family's tastes in mind for something that may appeal to more people. A small, relatively inexpensive step that may have a large impact. 

Check Out Other Recent Listings

Take some time to do some research and check out how other recent homes in the area have been staged and what is appealing to potential buyers. It would also pay to take note of what these homes are selling for and see if the way the home was staged prior to listing might have had an effect.

Remember Why You Bought it in the First Place

Have a think about what attracted you to the home when you first saw it. It is quite likely other potential buyers may be attracted to the same things.  Was it lots of storage, the view or possibly a great backyard? Whatever it was, try and highlight that feature this time around too as it grabbed your interest previously. 

Convert Your Dead Space

Do you have spots of dead space around the home such as an awkward nook or unused corner of a room? Try and transform it into something useful by 

• Adding hooks
• Adding a chair
• Indoor plant
• Adding lighting
• Hanging a bulletin board

Doing something small like this can stop the area from being seen as wasted space and make it feel more useful and aesthetically pleasing.

Whatever you need to do to get your home market-ready, NXTGEN Property are Real Estate agents with over 35 years of experience that can help you through the process.