Selling your home can be just as stressful as buying a home if you’re struggling to get offers. One of the biggest obstacles to getting an offer is poor staging (i.e. the way you present your home for sale). Even if you’ve kept your property in good condition over the years, potential buyers have a hard time seeing past things like an overgrown yard and cluttered rooms.
Below, we’ll provide you with some budget-friendly tips from real estate professionals for home staging that will help you get offers fast.
1. Increase the curb appeal.
The front of your home is the first thing buyers see, and it can make a good impression… or a bad one. Wipe, mop, or power-wash away dirt and grime from your porch, siding, shudders, and windows, and place a new welcome mat at the foot of the front door.
2. Tidy up the front and back yard.
Take some time to clear away weeds, dead vegetation, overgrown trees and bushes, and fill empty flower beds with low-maintenance landscaping to suit the season. After all, not every buyer is going to have a green-thumb or enjoy yard work, and they’ll appreciate a yard that they won’t have to spend every weekend maintaining.
3. Remove some furniture.
Remember: your home’s interior looks a lot different in photos than it does in real life. The large, cozy sectional in your living room that you’ve grown accustomed to can look bulky in a photograph and make a room look smaller in person too--especially if the upholstery is dark. For staging, keep smaller, clean-lined furniture in your home, and move larger, bulkier pieces to the garage or storage until you’re ready to move.
4. Avoid pushing all your furniture up against the walls.
Now that you’ve removed some of your furniture to create more space, don’t commit the mortal sin of filling that space incorrectly! Having all the furniture in your room positioned right along walls can make a small room look cluttered and a large room look vacant and lopsided.
5. Declutter and deep clean.
When it comes to staging, less is more. That means fewer accessories, fewer colors, fewer patterns--all for the purpose of allowing your buyers to view your home as a blank canvas. Of course, fewer items means that it’s a bit harder to hide messes, so devote a few days to deep-cleaning, or hire a professional to complete the task in an afternoon.
6. De-personalize each room.
When decorating for yourself, you want to add things that make your living space actually feel like home. However, an entire mantelpiece covered in family photos, a wall of novelty prints, or shelves of figurines can make it hard for buyers to envision your home as their own. While trying to sell, box those items up in preparation for your move.
With all the offers coming in, you’ll need to pack quickly! At True Friends Moving Company, we offer both moving and packing services to assist you with your short- or long-distance move: (615) 240-2811!