The Ins and Outs of Staging a House for Sale

Selling

Improving your home’s appearance and curb appeal is one of the best ways to help sell the property quickly. After making minor repairs and deep cleaning each room, staging a house for sale involves de-cluttering, organizing, and decorating your home. The goal is to make a great first impression on future buyers and make them want to live there. This post covers the ins and outs of staging a house for sale.

Appeal to a Wide Audience

It may be tempting to keep your home’s creative paint colors, kitschy décor, and themed rooms, but too much personality can turn off potential buyers. You want to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, so focus instead on making the property neat, clean, tasteful, and inviting. Tips for doing so include:

  • Removing family photos and limiting the number of knick-knacks kept on display
  • Using neutral paint colors that could favor anyone’s furniture or wall art
  • Focusing on having an airy, clean, and open kitchen
  • Incorporating accent pillows or fresh flowers to brighten rooms

Keeping your decorations simple will help potential buyers be able to visualize themselves living there.

Increase Curb Appeal

One of the most important tips to sell your house is to have great curb appeal. Keep all sidewalks and paths clear of debris, and trim the grass regularly. Ask a friend or two to stand at the end of the driveway and make a list of things that stick out, such as weeds in a sidewalk crack, uneven shrubbery, or low-hanging tree branches. Address these issues before placing your home on the market. Finally, add some eye-catching elements or accents of color using flowers, planters, and small decorative items.

Strengthen the Entryway

Staging the entryway is all about putting your best foot forward. Eliminate clutter from the front porch and interior hall, and put down a brand new welcome mat. Maximize light by cleaning windows, using only sheer curtains, or installing a hallway mirror. A beautiful entryway can give potential buyers a good feeling about the home and instill a positive mindset as they inspect the rest of the property.

Last-Minute Details

The little touches you make here and there throughout your home as you stage it can make a huge difference for the buyer. Here are more staging a house for sale tips:

  • Replacing fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen
  • Updating exterior porch lights, door locks, and house numbers
  • Removing at least some clothes from each closet to make each storage area appear larger
  • Decluttering other areas of your home to improve the perceived amount of space
  • Displaying fresh, bright linens in bathrooms and bedrooms

All of these last-minute details can have a big impact on how it makes a buyer feel about your home. Hopefully, proper staging will help lead to a sale!