When you’re trying to sell your home, it’s extremely important that you make your home as attractive to potential buyers as possible. The process of setting up a home in such a way is referred to as “staging.” Staging your home correctly can make a difference in whether your home sells quickly or if it’s on the market for months before getting a viable offer. Read on for some tips that will help make your home more inviting and attract more potential buyers.
Curb Appeal
The first thing that anyone sees when they arrive at your home is obviously going to be the front yard. If your lawn is looking a bit thin, now is the time to apply fertilizer and to reseed as necessary. If you already have a lawn full of growing grass, you need to make sure that it’s still being mowed several times a week. It’s worth paying someone to mow the lawn and pull any weeds if, for whatever reason, you’re unable to attend to that yourself. If possible, you should also consider giving the exterior of your home a fresh coat of paint. Paint that is peeling, chipped, cracking, or otherwise simply old looking can dissuade potential buyers from making an offer.
Kitchen
If you’re still living in the home while trying to sell it, the kitchen can be a definite problem area. After all, you’re still presumably using the kitchen and making meals in it. If you have pots and pans that are less than completely clean on their exterior surfaces, you should either scrub them until they gleam or you should find a place to stash them out of sight. Since people will look everywhere when trying to decide whether they like a home or not, now is the time to organize your spice rack and to sort your pantry by color or whatever system you prefer. In addition, you may want to consider avoiding making potentially smelly dishes, such as fish, while trying to sell your home. A buyer may mistake the lingering odor for a problem with the home itself instead of a temporary issue.
Bathrooms
Your bathroom probably has little in the way of furniture but there are still definitely things you can do to make the room more appealing. Although inconvenient, hide any prescription medicines that you would normally keep in the medicine cabinet as well as any over-the-counter medicines that could be potentially embarrassing. Don’t let any of the soaps or shampoos in your bathroom visibly get below half full. You should also make sure that there are always fresh towels hanging on the rack. While using a towel a couple times is still sanitary and can be better for the environment, clean and fluffy towels look better and are more inviting to people who are touring your home.
Bedrooms
Clear out any bedrooms so that the rooms are uncluttered but still appear to be lived in. If necessary, rent a self-storage unit somewhere to store your sports equipment or clothes that are out of season, freeing up even more space. Always make the bed every morning, or at least pull the comforter or blanket over the bed to give it the appearance of being made. It’s possible that a potential buyer may want to drop in on relatively short notice and you don’t want to have to spend time making beds when you don’t have to.
Living room
If your living room is like that of most people, it probably contains an aesthetically pleasing jumble of personal belongings and family photographs. Unfortunately, staging your home for sale likely means that you should remove many of these items and put them into storage. A living room that is too cluttered will make it difficult for buyers to imagine their belongings there. On the other hand, a living room totally devoid of personal touches risks looking too sterile and uninteresting for many buyers. You should also invest in furniture covers for your sofa and any recliners, especially if they don’t completely match or have seen better days.
Tips for keeping things show ready when staging your house
Instead of waiting for there to be a full load to run the dishwasher, make sure to clean your dishes and cookware after every meal. Have a bottle of unscented or lightly scented fabric refresher on hand so that you can spray your living room furniture as necessary. However, don’t use more than a few sprays at once since these chemicals can bother some people. While you probably want to do anything else when you come home from a long day at work, spend 5 or 10 minutes every evening vacuuming your home. Focus mainly on the entryway and any other areas with heavy foot traffic. At the same time, your kitchen and bathroom should also be given a quick once-over with a dust mop or a sweeper mop to keep their floors clean.
Your real estate agent is the best source of information about the local community and real estate topics. Give Pam Hoefert a call today at 605-366-7119 to learn more about local areas, discuss selling a house, or tour available homes for sale.
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