Some houses are good to go – they have no clutter, are decorated well and are in excellent condition. Closets, even the basement, attic or garage, are organized! Decks have an umbrella and inviting seating arrangement and flowerboxes. They look like they could be in the pages of a magazine. These houses do not have to consider staging.
But most houses can use at least a little help. The idea is to help buyers picture themselves living in your house. Home staging, or preparing your home to make it more appealing, is one of the best ways to do that. It helps your place stand out in online searches, shine during open houses/showings and secure competitive offers sooner, possibly resulting in a higher sales price.
I often assist my sellers in determining how and what to declutter, how to rearrange furniture, what to clean or fix, and generally get your home to show well. This will cost very little, often nothing at all but a little work. Bins of unnecessary things which will move with you can be stacked in the basement, shed or garage. I am very good at this. It is a team effort with my sellers and we’ve seen excellent results.
Another route to take is hiring a professional stager and renting furniture and furnishings. This is much more costly and not generally necessary.
I have been very impressed with virtual staging. If it is not possible to stage your house, the photos of your house can be staged so that it looks impressive online. Here is an example of virtual staging I had prepared for a recent sale.
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Here are some strategies to save on home staging costs.
- Get the ideas without paying to implement them: Many times, the home sellers stop at the consultation with a professional stager just to get ideas and then do some of the staging themselves.
- Choose your rooms: See if you can negotiate with the stager to reduce costs by having only certain rooms staged.
- Ask about minimums: If you need to rent furniture, try negotiating how long you have to pay for it. Some designers have three-month minimums for furniture rentals. If your home flies off the market in a few days, you don’t want to be on the hook for unnecessary rental charges.
- Consider virtual-only: The cost to stage a home virtually is around 10 percent of what a physical staging would run you. (I will pay for some virtually staged images.)
- Clean up: Declutter and clean your home to make sure buyers can actually see what they’re potentially purchasing. Box up, clear out and spotlessly clean every surface to make it sparkle. Confirm there are no bad odors like from pets. Pack up your out-of-season clothing to make closets look roomier. Give away, donate or throw away what you don’t want. You can rent a storage unit or ask a friend to temporarily store bins of things you do want to move to your new home.
- Paint it yourself: Painting interior walls with a white or off-white color can change things dramatically. I once heard, “Off white is the Sara Lee of decorating, no one loves it but no one hates it.”
- Let there be light: A simple cleaning of the windows can help showcase your home’s natural light. Removing heavy window treatments will let in more light. Updating your lighting fixtures can also enhance rooms and make them seem more open. You can also add decor such as mirrors or lamps to help brighten things up.
- Rearrange furniture: Doing this will sometimes create the ideal flow in each room, helping buyers envision how they can maximize the space.
Another thing to consider, especially if the house needs a lot of work, is getting a pre-sale home inspection. It can be a wise upfront investment by identifying any structural or mechanical problems before you list. It will alert you in advance of issues that buyers will either notice or that will come up during their inspection. You might consider doing some repairs in tandem with other home prep work.
Links:
Adding curb appeal – The first impression is very important and may even determine whether the buyer will come in to see the wonderful interior. https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/add-curb-appeal/
Why Staging Matters Even in a Sellers’ Market – You may think you don’t need to do any staging since properties are now selling so quickly. Is this true? https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/styled-staged-sold/why-staging-matters-even-in-a-sellers-market
12 Tips on How to Stage your House for a Quick Sale – Some of this is just common sense. Here is a good guide for how to get started. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/08/staging-home.asp
