There’s more than a few reasons why you might choose to sell your house without a realtor. And despite the average 6 percent commission fee realtors may command, those reasons aren’t always financial. You might need to sell your home quickly without waiting months on end. You might assume you’ve done enough homework to successfully close a sale. And you very well may have.
You may wonder why it’s even necessary to stage a house for sale? After all, aren’t buyers more concerned with the condition of your property and the neighborhood than the aesthetics of the outside and interior when walking through it?
That’s where many people are mistaken. In fact, recent estimates indicate 83 percent of all buyers find home staging necessary to visualize how they’ll actually occupy a property. It’s all mind-set, psychological if you will. And while staging a house for sale isn’t necessarily a foolproof way of ensuring a quick sale, you may find doing so can give you a bigger advantage than you ever expected.
7 Tips On How to Stage A House For Sale
1. What Is It You’re Hoping To Achieve?
It’s important to remember you’re not trying to showcase your home for a magazine. And you’re not trying to spruce up your home for the in-laws, either. No, you’re staging your home for one purpose only: to sell. And in order to sell to a buyer, you’ve got to think like the buyers you want to attract. You gotta get into their head. What do they like most? That means they’re not going to be as impressed by your decor as the actual space your house has for their own use. And that means maximizing your space; whenever, wherever and however you can.
2. Stage Your Home By Light, Not by Clutter
It may be tempting to give your home a lived-in feel. After all, that’s what makes your house a home. But there’s a strong chance your buyer will have a very different interpretation of what a “home” actually means to them. There’s no need for clutter or personal mementos to help give your home a family atmosphere when staging your house for sale. But you certainly don’t want to strip it bare, either. Minimal furniture and accents can be used to emphasize natural space. Make certain you have your blinds and windows open, and try to update your lighting fixtures. You might find that something so seemingly minor as choosing a 5000 K light bulb instead of a soft white light can help put your home in an entirely different perspective.
3. Emphasize Your Showcase Rooms
What’s a showcase room? Essentially, it’s the room that buyers tend to look at first. A recent survey indicated that 47 percent of buyers found the living room to be the chief selling point, followed only by the master bedroom and the kitchen. If you don’t have the time to do a full staging, emphasize these rooms first. Again, make certain they’re clutter free and with minimal decor to accentuate your home’s natural light. Each of these rooms really can make or break a home, so you don’t want to spare any expense in highlighting them!
4. Transform Your Home From The Indoors To The Outdoors
Even if you live in a heavily populated urban environment, you can still make potential buyers feel welcome by giving your home an outdoor touch. Fresh flowers, shrubs and houseplants can augment your home’s natural beauty, especially if you have a well maintained garden on your property. Even a bowl of fresh veggies on the kitchen table can make a lasting impression on buyers, proving you’re just as motivated by nature as you are to sell.
5. Arrange Your Furniture To Create Intimacy
By simply arranging chairs, couches and end tables slightly away from the walls, you can change the entire atmosphere of a room from cold and uninviting to intimate. It’s a technique called “design floating” which helps encourage viewers to feel more relaxed and open. An area rug can anchor the entire arrangement of your furniture to seem more warm and inviting. Try it with your neighbors and friends and see the difference for yourself!
6. Choose The Right Season For The Right Sale
There’s a reason why no one likes to look at a home in the dead of winter. Particularly in Utah, where temperatures can regularly dip well into the 20s or below. Learning to distinguish the right time of year to sell your house can be as simple as reviewing the historical sales of your neighborhood. Are you seeing more of a dip in sales during March and an increase in May? If your ideal buyer is a family, you don’t want to list your house right at the beginning of a school year. And if you’re hoping to sell your property on the strength of its proximity to ski slopes, you certainly don’t want to list it in the middle of summer! Make the most out of your environment. After all, you only have one.
7. Don’t Neglect The Power Of Curb Appeal
Your house may be beautiful on the inside, but the chances of you selling it are going to be fairly slim if the outside is unkempt and distressed. Especially if it’s in need of repair. Remember, home sales are also contingent on the neighborhood, not just the condition of your home. And your neighbors will probably appreciate the effort you finally put into a fresh coat of paint! Consider the following checklist before staging your home:
- Clean your windows and driveway thoroughly.
- Mow your lawn and trim any unkempt hedges.
- Plant fresh flowers in your garden.
- Include new outdoor furniture for your front porch.
- Make certain your house is easy to find, even at night. Shine the light on your house address.
What If Staging Doesn’t Help Me Sell My House?
Sometimes, the odds of the housing market simply aren’t going to be in your favor, no matter how much effort you put into selling your home. You might find the right buyer simply isn’t biting. And to make matters worse, you need to sell your house quickly with as little hassle as humanly possible.
We can help. At Gary Buys Houses, we work with homeowners to provide a fast, convenient and fair way to sell their houses quickly and profitably in as little as 3 – 5 business days. And with our “Sell Now, Move Later” program, we can even let you stay in your home for as long as you need!
It was the right home for you then. And it’s the right home for the right buyer now. Sometimes, you simply need to know where to look. But more often, they need to know where to find you first.