When you’re selling your home, it’s extremely important that you make it look its best. Potential buyers want to see a clean, functional space that they can envision themselves living in. A cluttered, too-lived-in house that still bears your personal touches will likely turn buyers off and cost you a sale.
You can hire a professional stager or invest a few thousand dollars in renting furniture to modernize your home. Or, if you’re not interested in spending a great deal of money, you can follow these five simple tips for staging your house yourself.
De-Personalize Your Home
Personal touches like family photos, religious items and trophies make the house look exclusively yours, according to Bankrate. When buyers come in, they can’t visualize living in the home because they see it as belonging to you and your family. Take down personal photos. Remove religious items. Pack away stamp collections. Take the personal touches out of your home, box them up and store them neatly in a corner of your garage.
Remove All Clutter
Open up space in your house by removing the clutter. Shelves piled high and countertops laden with clutter turn potential buyers off, according to Realtor Magazine. They get distracted by the clutter and can’t appreciate the space your home offers. Clean the surfaces in your home. Remove food, magazines, containers and mail from the kitchen counters. Organize the pantry. Remove anything from the top of the refrigerator. Streamline your closets. Pick up baby toys. Store your items in the garage, at a friend’s house or in a small storage unit. Don’t forget the bathroom. Scale your assortment of shampoos, conditioners and body washes down to one each.
Neutralize Your Colors
Decoration is also usually highly personal. Bright red walls in the bedroom might be exciting to you and yours, but will make it difficult for a buyer to see his or her own furniture there. Walls freshly painted in a soft, neutral color, paired with glossy white trim, will make your home seem cleaner and brighter. Plus, it creates the perfect, noncommittal background so that buyers can mentally decorate the rooms for themselves. Continue this idea with neutral window dressing, shower curtains and bedding.
Arrange Your Furniture
You need to maximize the space in your home. With this in mind, visit model homes in up-and-coming housing developments. Observe the way the furniture is arranged. These contractors and realtors are experts at positioning furniture so that it takes advantage of the features in the house and optimizes traffic flow. Then apply this to your own home.
Don’t Forget Curb Appeal
The first thing buyers are going to see is the outside of your home. Cut the grass. Trim your bushes. Add mulch to the flower beds, around the bases of trees and under bushes. Make sure the sidewalk, walkway and driveway are free of debris and weeds. Straighten your mailbox. Make sure the house numbers are visible and straight. If your home shows signs of mildew or dirt, consider having it pressure washed. Repaint it if necessary, and replace broken shutters. A few potted flowers in bloom, strategically placed, can make your home look welcoming.
Remember that buyers aren’t just looking for a house. They’re looking for a lifestyle, for an ideal. No matter how imaginative buyers claim to be, many can’t see beyond what’s in front of them. Do the work for them, make your house neutral, appealing and welcoming. We guarantee you’ll be selling a house soon if you do.
Remember, when you when you do find the right buyer and move into your new house you want to make sure you have the proper home coverage for you new place to provide you that added peace of mind.