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Home Staging
Unfortunately
prospective home buyers form an opinion about your home within seconds
of getting to the curb. The clock will start ticking and you need to
have a game plan to increase your chances of getting your home sold at
top dollar.
Staging is an important part of appealing your home
to the broadest clientele in Charlottesville real estate market. The
Charlottesville real estate market is very competitive and your home
needs to shine above the competition. It is important to learn the
difference between decorating to live in your house and decorating to
sell your house. Decorating usually implies about adding but staging
is all about paring away from personal decoration. You want home
buyers to be able to picture themselves living in your home as easily
as possible. Lets make it simple for them to fall in love with your
home.
Top 10 Basic Staging Tips
1. Declutter
The golden rule in staging is to DECLUTTER! Decluttering doe not mean
cleaning your bathroom and washing down counters. It means to remove
the newspapers, mail, laundry, knickknacks and ALL magnets off your
refrigerator. For instance, if you have a bookshelf do not fill it
completely with books, unpack two thirds of those books, put them away
and neatly display only a few of your belongings.
This also
applies to furniture. The rule of thumb is take away half of your
current furniture. You want the room to feel spacious and movable.
Rearrange your furniture, make sure to highlight the focal point, such
as arranging chairs around a fireplace or create an approachable
scene.
Counter space in your kitchen and bathrooms are
CRUCIAL! Remove all coffeepots, toasters, toothpaste and toothbrushes,
make-up etc. You want clean, sleek lines. You want them to SEE the
counter space, not your personal belongings.
Remember some
experts say you will return 4.5% more on a staged home. Do not let
clutter eat up your equity or your time on the market!
2. Be a neat freak
The only thing as important as decluttering is having an immaculate
home. That DOES mean cleaning your bathroom and washing down
counters. Also you may want to steam clean your carpets and freshen up
your walls with a little paint. Pressure-washing decks and aluminum
siding can do wonders for your curb appeal and the first impression a
home buyer will have on your home. It never hurts to toss out old bath
mats and never leave more than two shampoo bottles. If your home looks
dirty home buyers interrupt it as you do not change your filters and do
normal maintenance. Remember they do not want to be reminded that it
is your home. Allow them to easily find themselves in your home!
3. Hide the doll collection
Staging should be called blanding. There is not reason to spice up
your home wiht your personal tastes because it will not sell your
home. The space will sell your home! Remove family photos, religious
items or any themed rooms such as superhero, sports room, ballerinas
room etc. You want home buyers to be on neutral turf!
4. Search and destroy odors
If you can smell it, it probably won't sell! A home that smells odd,
such as cat litter, dogs, exotic food or cigarette smoke will be a
major turnoff to home buyers. Ask someone you can trust to give an
honest answer as to whether or not your home has a distinct smell.
Find the problem and tackle it, by steam cleaning carpets and
furniture, moving litter boxes elsewhere, scrubbing the kitchen etc.
Don't
try and mask odors. It is a good idea to open up windows and letting
in some fresh air before showing your home. Just remember smokers do
not even want to buy a smoked in home!
5. Curb appeal is key
Believe it or not, studies have shown that the front porch is where
prospective home buyers spend the most time, as they wait for the door
to be unlocked! It doe not hurt to paint the front door, wipe away
dirt and paw prints and replace lighting fixtures if they look
tarnished. You might even consider placing planters on each side of
the door. Vibrant colors excite the eye! Make the home buyers
experience your home the way you want them to.
6. Fresh flowers Use fresh flowers through out the house. Always fresh!
7. Make it current
You want your home to give off a feeling of being up to date,
regardless of how long it's been since you bought your furniture. Pick
up magazines, such as Better Homes & Gardens or InStyle. Then pick
and choose your furniture and camouflage, if needed. If stream lines
are important put a slipcover over your lumpy loveseat. You can even
buy some inexpensive pillows from Target or Pier1 to update your look.
8. Think spacious
Home buyers are often moving because they want more room, so make your
house feel as spacious as possible. Closets should be half full and
you should always be able to see the bottom of the closet. If you show
people a jam-packed closet, they will think it's too small for them
too!
Bedrooms should only contain a bed, nightstand, dresser
and maybe a reading chair in the master bedroom. If possible swap out
the king size bed for a queen.
People often put their furniture
up against the wall. However you really want to move the furniture
back a few inches to allow the corners of a room to be visible.
9. Start pairing it up
When decorating, think about groups of threes. Short, medium and
tall. Maybe pair up three pieces of art work or even candlesticks. It
is about using shapes and colors to help the home buyers through the
room while making it more visually interesting. Get out your eye
candy!
10. Lighten it up
You want as much light to come in as possible. Remove unneeded blinds,
draperies or sheers. Never cover up your windows. Let the outside be
an extension of the inside and let all that light shine in!
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