Stage Your Home For Sale
Posted on February 21, 2010
Filed Under Foreclosed Homes For Sale |
Is all the world a stage? Going by the trend to stage homes before selling them, we might need to concede a point there. Homes that that are staged sell for a better price as they sell quickly as they don’t stay too long on the market. They sometimes sell as much as 40% faster than homes on the normal market. Prices tend to fall if the house is on the market for too long and people feel there may be something wrong with it.
The best way to attract buyers is to ensure the yard is staged. Done properly with manicured lawns and flowers, it will entice the buyer to look at the interior as well instead of just driving off.
Now people have more or less a fairly clear idea as to what type of home they are looking for. Very often they make up their minds about a house - whether it’s worth taking a look at or not - just by the way it looks outside. If you set the stage in such a way that the first round itself gives the buyer a chance to think positive, chances are he may get swayed in favor of buying. It’s all about impressions.
After the outside, the living room should act as the magnet for the home. Doing up the place with woodwork and other fixtures in place like drapes or furniture if any helps. In the kitchen, maybe one should go all out, down to the bowl of fruit on the counter top. The idea is that the buyer be able to visualize the house as it will be once they are living in it. Staging the house acts like a preview to the final act. Also ensure that there are no repairs waiting to be done. No one likes the idea of getting stuff done after shifting. Most buyers would like to move in on an ‘as is’ basis.
A real boost here is that a home that is staged will attract real estate agents and they in turn will ensure that it is advertised properly and gets a lot of attention so that they make a sale. Agents recognize the value of a staged home and will ensure it goes fast.
What is it about staged homes that make them see the sale going through faster? Is it the world trend for good presentation that has crept into this area as well? Is it the fact that people like to think they are buying a well-kept home? Is it because people just do not have the time to think of doing up a dilapidated old place and want something that needs no redoing? Whatever the reasons, it looks like ’staging’ is in. So before you sell, remember the magic mantra - ‘Stage it’!
Geoff Spencer
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/stage-your-home-for-sale-81182.html
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7 Responses to “Stage Your Home For Sale”
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What should you put above a refrigerator when staging your home for sale?
I have been in the process of staging my home, and I get that storing cereal boxes and other foods above your refrigerator can be considered unsightly and is a staging no-no. But when I remove everything from above the refrigerator, the kitchen looks very bare and the refrigerator seems too big for the space. Is there anything I could put up there (a plant or vases maybe?) that will spruce up the kitchen a bit? Links with photos would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
A wicker basket with a fake plant is real nice.
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put like a bowl with fruit and stuff, like apples and oranges
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I agree, with a nice fake plant up there. You can buy one thats the right size for your fridge with out being over whelming. Plus it never needs water.
Good Luck on the sale of your home!
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Yeah, I think a nice bunch of flowers would be nice
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I respectfully disagree with the other advice provided.
What you want to do is draw attention away from the refrigerator, not toward it. To use a rough analogy, imagine a tall man and several short men. The tall man worries that he looks too tall. You wouldn’t advise him to wear a stovepipe hat, would you? Instead, you’d want to even out the height as much as possible and draw attention away from him.
Same with the refrigerator. Set up your fruit bowl or flower basket(s) elsewhere in the kitchen. If it’s an eat-in kitchen, make sure the table is set with plates and silverware. If there’s a window in the kitchen with any sort of view, draw attention to the window and view–make sure the window coverings are nice, and drawn back to show the view.
You want to "hide the refrigerator in plain sight." Draw the attention away from it, not to it.
Hope that helps.
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The answer from "I buy and sell houses" is correct. You don’t want to draw attention to the refrigerator. Although they’re useful, it’s not what you want your potential buyers focusing on. You want them to focus on the best parts of your kitchen, whatever they may be. That’s the key to staging, you have to highlight the best features and play down the worst.
The refrigerator won’t look bare to the people viewing your home as they haven’t seen it any other way. You’re used to having boxes up there so to you, it looks empty. It’s just not what you’re used to seeing so it seems obvious to you. To your potential buyers, it will just seem open and clean. A plant or some flowers would be better suited for your dining room table, or even an entry table.
One thing I want to point out from the other answer, only have your table set with plates and glasses IF you have attractive dinnerware that doesn’t look "used and abused". You want to give the best impression and don’t want strangers looking at your scratched or chipped plates. If you have a nice set then by all means have them on the table!
The point of staging is to make it appear open, fresh, and clean and like it could easily be their home.
Some basic tips:
- Take all family pictures down - you want them picturing their family in the house, not yours. Keep the frames up if you want, but put a simple photo inside of something non specific.
- De-clutter EVERYTHING. Surfaces look much better mostly clear with one little touch then they do covered with decorations. You want to give the impression there is plenty of space to be had in this house.
- Don’t leave too many small kitchen appliances on your kitchen counters. Put them all away except one so the counters look spacious.
- Pick up anything off the floor, especially clothes and random items.
- Try to organize the closets as much as possible so they seem bigger as well as the kitchen cabinets. Buyers usually open at least one and you don’t want them to think they’re too small and won’t hold much.
- Clean all the windows and keep the curtains pulled back so plenty of natural light can come in. Buyers like bright houses.
- Use something to make your home smell fresh but don’t use anything with too much fragrance as different smells are offensive to different people. Just pick something that has a clean/fresh scent.
- Don’t forget to put personal items in the bathroom away. Buyers don’t like seeing someone else’s toothbrush or bath sponge when shopping for a house.
- Do whatever you can to help all rooms not feel so "full". If buyers see that you’re running out of space and the rooms or whole house seem packed, then they will think they will have the same problem. Buyers like space and more space!
Good luck!
Brit
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