Home Staging Tips
Top 5 Ways to Make
Your Home Stand Out!!

Staging your home is one of the most important steps you need to do to make your home stand out.  We have worked with many owners who could not understand why their homes were not appealing to buyers/tenants.  Fortunately, it's not a mystery and most of it is common sense.  It may take a little work and a few hundred dollars, but these five things are 95% of what needs to be done to make your home move.

#1  Do the Yard Work

Yes, it's a pain, and yes, your kids should be doing it anyway, but it needs to be done.  This is the biggest component of the coveted "curb appeal", the MOST IMPORTANT part of showing your home.  If you neglect the lawn, hedges, etc., you are very susceptible to the dreaded "drive-by", where buyers/tenants barely decelerate when visiting your home.  What this means to you is:

• Mow your lawn weekly
• Trim your hedges
• Trim back your trees so they don't block the view of your home or hit people in the head when they are walking on your driveway, sidewalk, or path to your front door
• Edge your driveway, sidewalk, curb, and path to your home
• Weed your driveway
• Remove trash and personal items from your lawn

#2  Professionally Clean Your Home

If I could tell you how many dead insects and dirty carpets I've walked into...  No one buys dirty homes.  Either set aside a day to make your home the cleanest it has ever been, or better yet, hire someone.  Just recently, we had a home that was always dirty and we showed it a million times.  No one would go for it.  We convinced the owner to shell out a few hundred dollars for the best cleaning money could buy; it was like night and day after the cleaners left.  The next day we showed the home to three couples and everyone was ready to take it immediately.  We got a deposit that day.

The important point here is that usually women are the decision makers on the homes that their families live in.  Women do not like dirty homes, ESPECIALLY the bathrooms and the kitchen; make sure these are more than spotless.

#3  Remove Clutter

You're George Bush's dream- America's ultra-consumer.  You keep our economy moving by buying more and more stuff.  Unfortunately, now it is time to find closet space or an attic for most of it.

Buyer/Tenants like to see that there is a lot of space in the home they are moving into.  When you have millions of pieces of furniture and personal items all over, your house looks smaller.  Think of how big an empty house looks.  You want yours to look like that, obviously within reason.  Anything that is not essential needs to be moved out of sight.  Filling closets is OK.  Let unfettered space show itself!!  The buyer/tenant should be thinking of their stuff in your house, not yours.

#4  Have it Smell Good

Bad smelling homes tend to stick on the market.  Do you want to move into a place that assaults your nose?  If you smoke indoors, start doing it outside.  If your pets smell, either put them outside or start giving them regular baths.  A thorough cleaning should alleviate most other issues.

To take it to the next level, control your environment.  You can do this by:

• Burning scented candles during viewings
• Brewing coffee
• Baking an apple pie
• Get some smelling cinnamon sticks

#5  Power Wash (for Advanced Home Stagers)

Getting someone to power wash your home is an inexpensive way to make the exterior of your home look like new.  It will glisten in the sun, birds will chirp in envy when they compare it to their messy nests, and your neighbors will wonder why their homes looks so old.  It really makes a difference.

To take it a step further, get the driveway, walkway, garage, and sidewalk done as well.  Clean pavement, especially concrete, is really impressive. 

#6 Bonus Tip- Let There be Light

When showing your home, let the light in.  This includes:

• Opening up your blinds in every room
• Turning on the lights in every room
• Opening up the exterior doors if the weather allows

Sunlight makes people happy and will cheer up a dreary home.  It will make your rooms seem bigger and give your home a healthy glow.

I hope these tips will help in making your home a welcome one for buyers/tenants.  These tips are obviously the tip of the iceberg (whole books have been written on this!), but should address most of the major issues that plague homes today.  We wish you the best of luck!!

If you would like us to help you stage your home, please Contact Us or call at (704) 370-6419.

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