Need to Sell Your House? 7 Steps to Having a Well Staged Home
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There is quite a bit of inventory on the market right now. Staging your home is the easiest thing you can do to make it stand out and bring in top dollar. When looking at homes, prospective buyers usually spend more time in homes that are staged. The longer a prospective buyer is in your home, the better chance they will make an offer. Top real estate experts claim that homes under $600,000 that are priced right and staged well usually sell within 30 days, even in this market.
The longer your home is on the market, the more prospective buyers start to de-value it. This often results in you having to do a price reduction and you will be more likely to get "low ball" offers. If you want your home to stand out and sell quickly, spend just a little time and money staging it. Make your home an excellent value for prospective buyers. Here are 7 steps to get you started.
#1 De-Clutter! Create a "minimalistic" feel in every room in your home. This will probably be uncomfortable for you but it will sell your house. Order a storage pod or find a friend willing to store your things. De-clutter your cupboards and closets by clearing out half the stuff. Only keep the clothes, kitchen gadgets and other items that you absolutely need. The first thing most prospective buyers do is open your cupboards and closets. There should be empty space in every closet, drawer and cupboard. They want to know that all of their things are going to fit.
#2 De-Personalize. Clear off your refrigerator and clear out the majority of framed personal photos. Prospective buyers need to be able to visualize themselves living in your home. Most people have a hard time doing that if there are pictures of you and your family everywhere or if there are knickknacks and trinkets cluttering up your walls, tables and shelving. Box them all up and store them. Think about what a furnished model home looks like. There are no knickknacks or photos and absolutely no junk. You can easily picture yourself living in them.
#3 Fix It. Make a list of all of the things that need fixing, loose banisters, broken outlet plates, squeaky door hinges, nicked walls and so on. When people see broken things in your home, they will assume that you do not take good care of your house. They also see more work they have to do which results in them wanting to make a lower offer.
#4 Paint! Painting is the easiest and cheapest way to freshen up your house and add value. Use neutral colors and consult with your Realtor, a Home Stager or an Interior Designer when selecting your colors. If you have any wallpaper, regardless of how beautiful you think it is, strip it and paint the walls. Most prospective buyers will see wallpaper as work and will want to knock that off of the price.
#5 Relocate your pets. Ideally send all pets to a friend or relatives house while your house is on the market. People will spend significantly less time looking at your house if you have pets and many people have pet allergies and will not even go in your house. If the pets need to stay, keep them kenneled during showings. You may have the sweetest dog in the world but if a prospective buyer is scared of dogs, they will not walk through your home if there is a loose dog. Open your windows as much as possible to keep the air fresh. Continually run your ceiling fans.
#6 Clean Up! A sparkling clean house seems like a well-maintained house. It also gives buyers a chance to notice your house, not your dust bunnies. They will be more likely to want to spend time in your house, which means they are more likely to buy it. Clean your home daily while it's on the market. Just 20-30 minutes a day will make a big difference and keep it smelling fresh.
#7 Set-up your bedrooms as bedrooms. You could set up one bedroom as an office but eliminate all multi-purpose rooms and spaces. Every room and space needs to be well defined. Make all your bedrooms very minimalistic. They should only have a bed, nightstands and maybe a dresser in them, that's it. Pack up everything else and send it to storage. Clear off the nightstands and dresser, except for maybe a lamp or plant.
The key is you want people to notice your house, not your stuff. Your prospective buyers need to be able to visualize themselves living in your house and their things fitting in your house. Make your house neutral, minimalistic and show that it's well maintained. This will fetch top dollar and sell your house the fastest.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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