Cindi’s Guide to “Staging” Your Home for Sale

Have you every wandered into a “show” house on a lazy Sunday afternoon? New construction neighborhoods often showcase a sampling of builders/models. It’s fun to see what the creative designers have done with the space.

When you walk into a model home, you can easily visualize how your family might live there without feeling you’re invading someone’s personal space. It’s homey and comfortable in an attractive, generic way.

This article will benefit anyone who is thinking of selling their home. Houses on the market that are properly “staged” sell more quickly at top dollar. Isn’t that the point? You’ll have to do most of these activities before you move anyway, so why not reap the rewards? The bottom line is this: how you live in your home is not how you show your house.

Part of the listing service I offer is to go through your house room by room and make suggestions as to what needs to be done in your individual situation. But this guide is a good idea for getting started on your own. Here’s the plan.

First tackle repairs. Many of us grow accustomed to the little quirks: jiggling the toilet handle, lifting the door slightly for a tight close, using only the bottom outlet, the sticking drawer, the steamy window, the damaged mirror. Trust me; buyers always overestimate how much time and money it’ll take to make repairs. It’s your job to remove all obstacles for the buyer. Big stuff is especially off-putting like a roof that needs to be replaced, a faulty heat pump, or a broken appliance. Just get it done. You’ll have to do it later anyway, so just fix the problem and get your house sold. It’s hard. I know. Boo hoo.

Cosmetics. It’s also to your advantage as a seller to do the bigger “visual” stuff like painting, re-carpeting, and stripping the 70s wallpaper. It’ll cost you later if you don’t.

Next, go through your home with empty boxes and trash bags on hand. This is the brutal “declutter and re-think” stage. Boxes are for storing things that “clutter” the look or are out of season/fashion. Bags are for trash or consignment/donation.

• Remove most personal items such as family photos, refrigerator art, ALL religious items, and certainly anything offensive or political. Also anything stinky. Stinky is bad.

• Tackle closets. My goal is to have closets only about half full to demonstrate how much storage your home has. Matching storage bins on high shelves are good.

• Don’t forget the garage. It should be OBVIOUS that car(s) are able to easily fit in the space(s). Plus room for storage. Get hardware to hang up all the gardening tools, bikes, etc. Also get large matching storage bins to contain anything that can be stored and stacked. Removing stains and painting the floor will be a HUGE hit with the male buyers. They will salivate.

• Counters should be clear of everything except the most essential items. Again…lots of space for the potential buyer’s things!

• Furniture should contribute to the room and not clutter or confuse it. I’ll work with you on this. Placement is also essential to highlight the “focal” point of the room.

• Book cases and entertainment centers should have contents neatly stacked and orderly. Again, evaluate for storage potential.

The foyer is vital because it’s the first impression of the living space. To spruce it up remove all obstacles, get an attractive runner or rug, install good lighting, and display fresh flowers. What do you see when you first walk in the door? Make that your focal point. It should look attractive, light, roomy and inviting. A nicely scented candle or potpourri is also a good idea here.

Clean, clean, clean! All bathrooms should be especially bright, clean, and smell nice. 90% of the time I suggest purchasing new towels and matching rugs plus scented candles or plug ins. Pretend your judgmental mother-in-law is coming to criticize. Same with your kitchen—super clean. Again, store items you won’t be using while your house is on the market like that deviled egg serving dish or 53 identical Tupperware bowls. And know that people WILL open your cupboards, drawers, and refrigerator, so don’t think you can get away with anything.

Along the same lines is sprucing up outside. Trim bushes, keep your lawn healthy and mowed, replace defective fixtures, repaint the front door, plant things that flower (yellow is good), fix the cracked sidewalk or wobbly handrail. Go out to the street and look at your house from a stranger’s point of view. In the housing industry we call it “curb appeal.” That’s what you want. Appeal. Not drive away in horror.

Well this is a start. I have LOTs more advice for you, but I don’t want to give it all away now or overwhelm you (too much). Contact me when you’re just starting to think about selling, and I’ll strategize with you about timing, marketing, etc.

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