How to Stage Your Home For Success

The way you live in your home and the way to market and sell your house are two different things.

When you get ready to place a home on the market it becomes a product, and just like any product on the shelves at your local store it has features and benefits, pluses and minuses as well as competition. To gain an edge in your marketplace you must be priced right, and look better than the competition. Sometimes it can be difficult to think of a home as a mere product, but it helps to think that way so that you can get top dollar for your property and sell it in a reasonable amount of time.

When you sell your home you’re going to have to move, when you move, you’re going to have to pack. Most of the principles of staging just mean that you’re going to pack up some things early. It’s a little bit of work, but you’re going to have to do it anyway, so lets do it now so you can get top dollar for your property!

Staging Criteria

• In every room…stand in the doorway and look at the room through the eyes of a What do you see? Be tough on yourself: What can you live without while your home is on the market?
• Most carpets need to be Have them professionally cleaned before coming on the market.
• Check all light Replace all burned out light bulbs. Increase the wattage of bulbs in areas that seem dark.
• Repair and repaint cracks on all walls and ceilings
• Repair or replace broken light switches and switch plates. Clean any dirty areas around
• Keep all curtains and blinds open during the day to let light in.
• Reduce the number of pillows on couches and remove all blankets and
• Pack up all valuables and if necessary take them to a safe deposit box.
• To create more space you may want to remove a chair, love seat or other piece of
• Pack up all collections. They become a distraction from the desired focal
• Reduce the number of family pictures on shelves, pianos and
• Reduce the number of wall hung photos and paintings in every room to one large piece on a wall or a small group of three. Make sure they are hung eye level.
• Be sensitive to odors, because buyers are. Excessive cooking or smoking odors, dog or cat odors, baby, laundry and mildew odors will turn buyers away. If there is a challenge with odors in your home use room deodorants or disinfectant sprays and keep windows cracked open for ventilation.
• Wash all windows and make sure they operate freely. If  a seal is broken, window cracked or screen torn replace it
• Repair items that are This will show that your home is well -taken- care-of.
• Don’t be afraid to move furniture from room to The extra chair from the living room or dining room may just look great in the master bedroom.
• In general pack up little Little things create clutter and they need to be packed up anyway, so pack them up now.