One of the hottest trends in real estate sales today is staging. It’s a new name for an old technique of decorating the house for the sale rather than for the taste of the current owner.
Simply put, staging is doing largely cosmetic work on your home to make it look its best before you put it on the market.
It can best be described as giving your home a quick face-lift to help potential buyers imagine themselves living there. This is in contrast to major reconstructive surgery that some homes actually need.
Here are some staging tips to help you make your home stand out from the crowd:
-- Get rid of the clutter.
Over time, most of us gather a little too much furniture, and then are reluctant to let it go. Or we end up with too many small appliances on the kitchen countertop. Or our closets begin to overflow with clothes and shoes from every season under the sun.
Whatever the case, get rid of them. All of them. Strip your house down to just the bare bones of furniture and clothing. The goal is for your house to look roomy, not lived in.
-- Fresh paint is cheap.
Painting is the least expensive way to get the maximum impact, from both a visual and an olfactory standpoint. It’s simple and quick, and helps your home avoid looking boring or dated. Visit paint stores for trendy (but safe) color combinations.
Choose light, popular colors, such as citrus yellows and light greens and lilacs, and stay away from dark or sharp tones like brown or red.
And make sure the paint has a strong odor. I’m not kidding. Avoid any paint that says “low odor.” One of the real benefits of painting is the fact that your house now smells like it was just painted. Regardless of how much people complain about paint odor, it shouts “I am clean” to the brain.
-- Update your lighting.
This is another inexpensive way to make your home look more modern. Bright brass is now out, and polished nickel is in. Visit several new construction model homes for ideas. And use the highest safe wattage for each fixture. It makes your home look “bright and cheerful.”
-- Neutralize your Home.
Remove any decoration in your home that is strictly of a personal nature. A signed photo of you shaking hands with Elvis may be your most prized possession, but it may offend a classical music enthusiast whose first impression of your home may now be negative. Stick to completely neutral decorations.
-- Set the Mood with Accessories.
Again, visit subdivision and condominium model homes for ideas from Atlanta’s best decorators. These doo-dads, from large framed mirrors to small statues of Michangelo’s David, and always floating around furniture stores and specialty shops like Pier 1 and Tuesday Morning.
-- Focus on kitchen and bathrooms.
So far, we haven’t spent much money. But here is where the purse strings should fall away. In my experience, kitchens sell houses.
The new buzzword in real estate is creating a kitchen that “pops.” That means it makes a strong and positive first impression. And that certainly means a kitchen and bath that is scrubbed until it sparkles, and may mean new granite counters and fine cabinets.
Yes, this can run into the thousands of dollars, but it may sell your house for that much more.
Let go of your home, emotionally speaking!
I’ve had sellers complain that if they followed all my staging suggestions, they wouldn’t be able to live there at all. And that’s exactly the point! We are trying to stage the house to sell, not to be lived in!
The bottom line: for much less than the cost of a major renovation, you can make your home very attractive to buyers, but you’ll need to “move out” emotionally and look at your house in a new light.
In a tough selling market like this, staging can mean the difference between an expired listing and a successful sale.
For more home selling suggestions, visit Money99.com.
John Adams is an author, broadcaster and investor. He answers real estate questions submitted through his website and in this column. For more real estate information or to make a comment, visit www.money99.com.
