A quick guide to staging your home for sale
Want to sell your home for its best price, in the quickest time possible? Then why not think about staging? Home staging is maximising your home’s potential by creating the mood, atmosphere and aspirational lifestyle that buyers need and want.
When you’re selling your home, you need to market it in a way which attracts and appeals to the broadest audience. Buyers view and make purchasing decisions based on the way you present your home.
Staging your property may not be as expensive and you think. Recently we took on a property in Stirlingshire, which had been on the market for over a year. The client was comfortable with spending around £2K. For this we used the majority of the client’s furniture and invested in some key accessories to dress sofas, beds, the bathrooms and kitchen, as well as rearranging some of the client’s own pieces which we felt suited other rooms.
‘The week after Jane “staged” our house we had an offer. The “staging” involved us agreeing a budget and Jane sending us off for a day while she transformed our house. It looked amazing when we came back.’
There are lots of ways you yourself can improve your home yourself for selling. Here’s a few to get you started:
1. Make a great first impression
- Weed paths and tidy your front garden
- Paint your front door
- Invest in some pots and flowers to dress your entrance
2. Declutter
One of the most important things you can do to prepare your home for sale is to get rid of clutter and personal effects, especially personal photos.
3. Make it sparkle
Get the rubber gloves on and make your home shine
4. Create as much light as possible
Open up blinds and drapes to make sure there’s sufficient natural light throughout the home. Take down really tired and old drapes especially in bathrooms and kitchens –and replace with a simple roller blind.
5. Apply a fresh coat of paint to some rooms/walls
To make a room appear bigger, paint it the same colour as the adjacent room. If you have a small kitchen and dining room, a seamless look will make both rooms feel like one big space. Whileyou might love your feature wall in tangerine orange – paint it out! Farrow and Ball Slipper Satin is a timeless off-white that works in just about any room.
6. Reposition / remove furniture
Think about removing or replacing any very worn or out dated furnishings and get rid of extra pieces. The big chair in front of your TV might be very comfy but by removing it and leaving just your 2 sofas might make the room seem bigger. Try furniture in different rooms.
7. Carry out minor repairs
Repair squeaky doors, chipped or smudged paint should be touched up. And a good tip is to use white chalk to fill in nail holes where a picture has been removed from a white wall.
8. Consider replacing some soft furnishings
New cushions and throws over a tired sofa or to dress a bed can make a big impact without having to spend large amounts of money.
Final tip…the golden rule is to consider staging before you approach your selling agents for your final evaluation to sell. A good set of photographs of your property staged well on their website will inevitably motive potential buyers to the next step – making a visit.
Please feel free to contact me for advice on how to present your home to its optimum potential in a cost effective way. I’m happy to suggest a number of packages which can suit everyone’s budget and timescale. The cost of staging is cheaper than a price reduction.