Generally speaking if you take the time to properly stage your home it will sell more quickly and for a higher price than a home that is not staged.  Although every agent or home seller has their own ideas on home staging there are some universal rules that everyone can agree on.

The most successful way to stage a home is to focus on three primary areas: increasing curb appeal, reducing clutter, and cleaning and/or repairing surface items. All three areas are relatively easy for home owners and/or their selling agents to tackle.  When staging a home always keep in mind that you should be trying to enhance your home’s appearance, not hide flaws.  If you have serious flaws with your home you need to address those before staging as they will definitely be caught in the final inspection, which will cause delays in the sale or even the deal to fall through completely.

Curb Appeal:
First impressions can make or break a potential deal. Curb appeal matters. The first chance for your home to make an impression on a potential buyer is the moment they get out of their car and head towards your front door. Make sure the lawn and greenery are trim, consider adding flowers to make a solid first impression. Consider painting the exterior or at the minimum thoroughly clean the exterior. These are all relatively inexpensive improvements that can greatly add to the curb appeal and make that great first impression.

Reducing Clutter:
Everyone has their own ideas on what makes a home special. By reducing your clutter you leave more room for the potential buyer’s imagination to create a good impression. Try removing bulky furniture and unnecessary items to create more space.

Personal belongings like family photos can become distractions and prevent the potential buyer from viewing the home as their own. Remove all personal photos in the main areas of your home to let the potential buyer start associating in their mind that the home is their own not yours.

Cleaning and/or Repairing:
Noting lessons a homes appeal more than a dirty appearance. Before showing your home make sure to wash the windows, vacuum the carpets, and put away any dirty dishes.  Spending a small amount to fixholes in walls, cracks in paint, chips in tile or other simple repairs can pay huge dividends in the final sale price. Fixing those issues means less work for potential buyers, which makes your home far more attractive.

Just working on those three areas of home staging can make a huge impact on how quickly and at what price your home sells for.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 1:16 am and is filed under Home Selling Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.