A successful home sale means a quick process, a purchasing price for at least what you were hoping for (if not more), and a new owner you know will treat your home with the love and respect it deserves. Staging your home is a critical part of this - simply put, staging means preparing your home for a potential buyer, or “setting the stage”. By staging your home, you make it appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more efficiently.
Staging involves cleaning, redecorating, rearranging furniture, and many other things to boost its aesthetic appeal as much as possible. This not only makes the selling process quicker but is a financially savvy investment as well. Here are some tips from Loveland real estate agents on how to stage your home for a successful sale.
Importance of Home Staging
Staging is a fundamental part of the home selling process. Research shows that home staging has a big impact on potential home buyers. According to potential home buyers, staging makes it easier to visualize a place as their future home, makes them more willing to walk through a home they saw online, and positively impacts home value if decorated to their taste.
Source: Statista.com (2021)
It’s also important to know that 7% of responders felt that a home decorated contrary to their taste would even negatively impact the value of a home. Because poor decorating can decrease a home’s value while good decorating can increase the price and chance of a potential purchase, home staging (done well) is an incredibly important aspect of the home selling process.
Tips for Effective Home Staging
Tip #1 - Declutter
This is the very first step you need to take if you want to stage your home. Excess clutter can ruin the look of an otherwise perfect property, so get everything stowed away or shipped out.
Don’t be tempted to simply shove everything into cupboards and drawers, however. You’ll be surprised at how many buyers will walk straight up to the storage area in question and, to your horror, open the door.
Neatly pack things away, give things away, or rent a storage unit if necessary. You’ll feel better for doing it and, furthermore, it’ll only make the rest of the staging and cleaning process easier.
Tip #2 - Focus on Flooring
Unlike many other jobs where you work from the top down, home stagers should think about what’s underneath their feet first. This doesn’t mean that you have to act on what you find immediately, but it will give you a greater idea of what needs to be done in order to achieve the look and feel you are after.
Check for creaky floorboards (especially along the likely route buyers will take when being shown around your home) and have those fixed before your first viewing. Look at your floor coverings next. Do you have thoroughly worn carpet that has seen better days? Or maybe your hardwood floor has become scratched down to the wood itself? Could the carpet in the hallway benefit from a professional cleaning before you show your home?
Whatever the problem with your flooring, fix it. Poorly maintained floors give properties a disheveled feel, which is not conducive to quick sales or high prices! Making things right underfoot can truly make a world of difference.
Tip #3 - Think About All the Senses
Home staging tends to be about boosting visual appeal, but playing on other senses can have a big impact. Think scented candles or plug-ins and soft music playing in the background to create a peaceful feel.
Make sure your home’s at a comfortable temperature too. That might mean putting the heating on for viewings in winter, or opening the windows or switching on the AC in the summer.
Tip #4 - Bring in the Outdoors
A big help to the above tip is opening up your home to the outdoors. Opening a window or two (even cracking some open slightly during winter) allows fresh air to waft through your home removing unpleasant smells.
The same goes for bringing in natural light. Make sure your windows are clean and not obscured by curtains so that warm light can flood in throughout the house.
Tip #5 - Freshen Up
As with flooring, walls with dirty marks or dings can really drag a property down. Thankfully, a simple coat of paint can make a huge difference, provided you choose your colors wisely. While you don’t want to remove your personality entirely, it’s vital to remember that your love of Pumpkin Orange may not be to everybody’s taste.
Consider getting new linens, towels, throws, and pillowcases for your furniture as well. You’ll benefit from being able to bring these with you when you move while also giving your home a much newer feel.
Things to Avoid
It’s easy to get carried away with home staging and it’s important to always use a critical, aesthetic eye to any changes you make.
Don’t get carried away with new paint - color choice can have a big impact on the first impression of a buyer so it’s best to stay modest instead of going all out with a vibrant hue. The same goes with excessive dark paint which will make rooms feel small, and with dramatic changes of color which will feel overwhelming.
Too much furniture will also be something to avoid. More space tends to make rooms look bigger, so filling your home with excess furniture can be a big mistake and will hinder potential home buyers from imagining how their own lives and furniture will fit in your home.
One final thing to avoid is unfortunately all too common: neglecting outdoor spaces. Your front yard and entrance is the first thing any potential buyer will see and will set the tone for the rest of their visit. Your backyard is also an extension of your home. Give some attention to the lawn and bushes and your garden might just be the thing that sells to your dream buyer.
Hiring a Professional vs. DIY Home Staging
The ultimate question becomes whether you should do home staging yourself or consult the help of professionals. If you remember the statistics from earlier in this article, not only will good decorations improve the value of your home, but bad decorations can actually cause your perceived home value to fall in the eyes of potential buyers.
To avoid losing value and to maximize the selling price, it is always worthwhile contacting professionals to help in this process. Professional home stagers know their stuff. They know the most current trends and tastes in the market, how to emphasize your home’s strengths, and create focal points that will win the hearts of anyone that schedules a walk-through.
There is so much involved with selling a home, and for many people, staging can be overwhelming. You can certainly be successful doing it on your own, especially if you have interior design experience, but in most cases, it’s best to hire a professional.
Black Bear Real Estate and Property Management
Black Bear Real Estate and Property Management are the best partners for home staging in the Fort Collins and Loveland area. Our Loveland real estate agents have superior local market knowledge, provide personalized service, and have experience you can trust.
In addition to our house staging services, if you are selling your home we can help with professional photography, 3D tour technology, drone footage, marketing (including social media), and listing on multiple MLS services.
Keep your peace of mind and know that your home will be successfully sold for the best possible price and in the shortest amount of time. Contact the Loveland real estate agents at Black Bear today!