One of the most important things that any seller can do is stage his or her home. The term staging refers to arranging furniture and decorating in a way that you appeal to the buyer’s sense of what “home” actually means. Often, it involves focusing on the home’s best assets. Not all sellers take the time to stage their homes, so if you choose to do it, you will have an edge over the competition.
What a Buyer Really Wants
When someone looks at your home with the intention of buying, he or she looks at much more than the home’s structure and location. Buyers look at your home with their own dreams in mind, thinking of their existing and future children, or perhaps even their grandchildren. They think of where their guests will dine, where they will gather, and where the children will play. Staging, then, creates more emotion for potential buyers. If you stage your home carefully, you can sell potential buyers on their dreams – and that is how you will get the most value for your home.
Where to Focus
Although a little staging in every room, nook, and cranny is certainly helpful in selling your home, it is not always feasible due to time constraints. The focus areas for staging are the exterior, the entryway (and the entire line of sight from the entryway), the kitchen, the master bedroom, and the main bathroom. Buyers will consider these areas first before moving on to second, third, and fourth bedrooms or their attached bathrooms.
Clean and Declutter
The biggest part of staging is cleaning and decluttering your home. Remove any trace of dirt from the carpets, smudges on kitchen appliances, wrinkles in bed linens, and soap scum from sinks or shower stalls. All of these things impact potential buyers and the last thing you want them to think about is how quickly their new home will get dirty. Along the same lines, make certain that you declutter your home since this tends to make buyers think there is too little storage space. Finally, depersonalize your home. Take down family photos, remove art with family members’ names, and put away anything that is reminiscent of your family. Remember that you want your buyers to see the home as theirs.
Paint and Wallpaper
If you have wallpaper or custom paint colors throughout the house, the best thing you can do before you begin showing your house to potential buyers is to take down that wallpaper and repaint the custom walls. The things that you find appealing may not appeal to someone else, after all, and you do not want to force your personal tastes on your potential buyers. Instead, give them a blank canvas upon which they can express their own personalities and decorative styles.
Staging your home is one of the most effective ways to sell it quickly and for a high price. It is certainly a seller’s market in the Dallas area, but you still have plenty of competition. The goal of staging is to appeal to the potential buyers’ emotions and make your home feel like their home.