How to Stage a Home to Sell

by Quick and Dirty Tips

Make sure your house makes a great first impression on buyers with these 7 steps to stage a home.

Real Estaging // Flickr

The real estate market these days can be very competitive. With property values going up, more and more houses are getting listed to sell. The more homes in your area are for sale, the more competition there is to get buyers to pay attention to your home when you list it. If you are listing your home to sell, you want to make sure your home is in tip-top condition to attract the most and best buyers.

While staging a home may seem like something that only needs to be done with fancy homes, there are certain things buyers of all price points are looking for. Not only do staged homes create better pictures for the MLS listing, which in turn gets more buyers to visit, but they also help buyers start to envision how they could make your home into their new home. By investing a weekend or two in these ideas, you’ll likely be able to sell your home the quickly and more profitably than if you didn’t stage it at all.

The tips today are only going to focus on the inside of the house, but remember that home buyers are going to be looking closely at the outdoor spaces too. Make sure your home makes a great first impression by cleaning up your front landscaping and fixing up your front entry.

EvelynGiggles // Flickr

-Step 1: Declutter-

Open any home magazine, and you’ll see examples of perfectly staged rooms and homes. If you look closely, there is one thing you won’t see in those pictures, and that’s clutter. There won’t be any piles of laundry, shelves full of collectables, or tables full of papers. The closets they feature won’t have clothes overflowing from drawers and hangers sticking out sideways because they can’t get crammed onto the hanging bar. That’s because no one thinks clutter is pretty.

Now, decluttering your home to stage it for market can be a little tricky. The problem is that you are going to still need to live in the house until it sells. So, you need to hold on to the things that you need to function in the house. The good news is that most of the stuff in our homes isn’t actually getting used. I’ve talked with a number of other home organizers, and we all agree that most people only use about one-fourth to one-third of the items in their homes. This means that you can probably pack up about 70% of the stuff in your home, and not miss it one bit.

Yes, I am indeed telling you to pack up 70% of the stuff you have in your home right now. It will make your house appear like it has tons of space, and lots of room for the buyers to move right on in. This includes decluttering your walls, and removing any personal items, like family pictures and diplomas. You want buyers to picture themselves in your home, not you living in your home.

To keep your stuff nice and safe while it’s out of your home, pack it in boxes, label it, and then order a portable storage container to be delivered to your home. You can pack up all the stuff you need to store, and the storage company will come back to haul away the container for safe keeping until they deliver it at the next destination.

smilla4 // Flickr

-Step 2: Finish All Your Projects-

Imagine walking into what you think could be your dream home. You are falling in love with the big windows in the living room, and the custom cabinets in the kitchen. But then you see the bathroom that looks like it’s from 1987, and even worse, it's half torn apart. Most home buyers want a home that is move-in ready, so seeing your unfinished projects may scare them away.

Other things that can scare them away are projects that were completed, but without the essential finishing touches. A great example of this is if you have any water damage on your ceilings. The water damage could have been from something as simple as an overflowing condensate line, and you probably fixed the problem already. But if you didn’t put the finishing touches and fix the drywall and paint, home buyers are going to immediately assume the house has a leaky roof. Finish all the projects that have been started around your house to give buyers the peace of mind they need when looking at your home.

Christaface //Flickr

-Step 3: Determine a Purpose for Every Space-

You know that room you use as a storage room or junk room? That’s not going to cut it when you stage your home to sell. Buyers want to see how much livable space there is in a house, so each and every room needs to have a purpose. Make sure all rooms show how someone can live in them, like as a bedroom, an office, or if you’re short on furniture, a reading or meditation room. By showing the many ways potential buyers can live in each room of your home, you are giving them reasons to buy your home instead of the one down the street.

Even your storage areas should have a purpose. Whether it’s a utility room, a closet, a garage, or even a pantry, all of these areas should be decluttered and given a purpose as well. Show potential buyers how roomy the linen closet is by having just a few neatly folded towels in it. Display the amazing work station in your garage by making sure the countertops are clean and accessible. While most buyers won’t open every cabinet in your home, you can expect them to open every door to see how much storage space the home has, so make sure you have these areas looking their best as well.

charlotte holmes // Flickr

-Step 4: Arrange and Rearrange-

Once you’ve removed all the extra stuff from your home, it’s time to start arranging or rearranging your furniture and décor. Having determined the purpose of your rooms will help you figure out how to arrange the furniture in each of the rooms. Instead of facing all your furniture towards the TVs in the house, consider arranging your living areas to be conversation rooms with furniture pieces facing each other. Think of all the ways potential buyers could want to use the rooms, and arrange the furniture to meet their expectations. If you’re having trouble figuring out alternative ways to set up a room, try inviting a friend over to help you come up with ideas. Sometimes an outside perspective is all it takes to create a great floorplan.

Another thing to consider when arranging furniture is the path that people will be walking when they are viewing your home. Your family may have been OK turning sideways to sneak between the table and the kitchen counter, but to a potential buyer, this will be a red flag when they don’t have enough room to walk comfortably around in a room. Make sure you have nice, open pathways, with at least 36” in between furniture and walls to make sure no one bumps into your stuff.

futurestreet // Flickr

-Step 5: Brighten Rooms-

Lighting can play a huge part in how people perceive your home. Houses that are well lit show better than dimly lit houses, which can make buyers think your house is like a dungeon. To maximize the amount of natural light in your home, remove any shade screens and make sure the windows are all freshly cleaned. If you don’t have many windows, you’ll want to make sure you have enough lights in your home to make it feel welcoming to buyers. Make sure all your overhead lights have working bulbs in them, and add lamps to any rooms that don’t have quite enough light.

Another trick to brighten up a room is to paint the walls. A light, neutral color paint is always a good idea to show buyers they have a fresh palette to work with, and it will brighten a room when the light bounces off the walls. Besides, dark paint is usually a red flag for buyers because they immediately start to think about how much effort it is going to take to cover it up when they move in. Paint the rooms a light color, and you’ll be doing yourself a favor.

Chris Devers // Flickr

-Step 6: CLEAN!-

One of the worst things you can do when selling your house is allow buyers to see it dirty. Buyers want to think about how the house is going to become their home, and seeing grime and dirt will gross them out. They don’t want to think about your greasy stove every time they cook in their new home, nor do they want to think about your soap scum every time they take a shower. I would recommend hiring a house cleaner to come in and help with this step. Cleaning can be very time intensive, especially when you need to do a deep clean, so hiring someone can save you hours in the long run. Just make sure to be very specific with the person you hire so they are super clear on your expectations for the home.

Rebecca Sims // Flickr

-Step 7: Add Soft Touches, Greenery, and Decorations-

The final step, after everything has been decluttered, fixed, arranged, and cleaned, is to bring in a few finishing touches. Soft touches for rooms include throw pillows, which should be on every bed, couch, and chair possible, folded blankets on the back of couches and the foot of beds, and sentimental looking stuffed animals in kid spaces. Adding a few plants and green items around the house will make it feel more alive, and adding back a few knickknacks and décor pieces will make it feel homey again. Make sure your bookcases and shelves have a few strategically placed items on them, and your walls have a few paintings or wall hangings filling the vertical space.

how to stage a home to sell, home decor, how to, real estate

By investing a weekend or two of work, and maybe a little bit of money, you’ll be able to use these tips to get top dollar for your home. Just remember, you want buyers to be able to picture themselves living in the house, so give them every reason to fall in love with your home.

Are you trying to sell your home? Which of these tips were most helpful? Weigh in over at the Domestic CEO's Facebook Page.

Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home.

Originally posted at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/money-finance/real-estate/how-to-stage-a-home-to-sell

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3 of 20 comments

Gini on Sep 12, 2015
Decluttering when you have a husband that was a collector of everything is definitely a time consuming job. It has been over 4 years and I'm still getting rid of my husbands things. Just the other day I took a box of books to a book store to have them only want 1 book. They offered me $0.25 or $2.75 in merchandise there. Now these were car books on older cars. Schematics etc. plus a set of another group of books. Ended up taking them to Goodwill. With all this "you can get it on the computer" just is a heart breaker and amazing how hard to get rid of things. I needed a bunch of DIY'ers to come over, but I'm getting there. New house will not have extra things moved in. Everyday I try and get rid of something.

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- Kat on Jan 22, 2017
  Gini, I know exactly how you feel! hubby worked over 30 yrs in construction and the stuff he has....whoa, he could have his own hardware store!!! 2, not 1, but 2 garages filled with tools, all kinds of machinery, etc. Plus momentos, books(he never reads), etc, and I cant rid of anything!! "what if I need it?" house has been for sale for over a year, I'm working at decluttering, but do you think he is? nope, everything is still there....he just wont get a move-on. he says when we get contract, then he'll do it...meantime, I'm packing/decluttering the house anyway...be less I have to do at contract time! Men.......
  
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Jewellmartin on Feb 25, 2018

A few years after this article was written, each piece of advice still applies. The neutral light color today might be gray, but the gray needs to be soft and spacious looking, not like a murky cave. And I think that getting rid of more stuff is more important than packing up to be reopened in a new house, especially if you are downsizing. Best wishes to all who read this ☺️

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