At Heart Acquisitions, we see a lot of home that should have sold a lot faster, but no attention to detail was paid to mind! One thing that we’ve learned while viewing thousands of houses and condos is….a properly staged home sells faster! By staging, we’re not just talking about furniture, but the overall presentation of your property. If you are in financial distress and need to sell your home before foreclosure or a nasty divorce, then this article may help you.
If you think that it’s not worth the effort to properly stage your home and gain an added advantage, read on! Staging matters because it helps buyers visualize themselves in your home. And not just a few of them, but more like the whopping majority. According to the National Association of Realtors, 77% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for their clients to visualize the property as their own.
This makes staging one of the easiest things you can do to convince the vast majority of buyers that they love your property. But how do you get your staging to that level? And what are the inside secrets to make your home more appealing than others?
We are going to look at six areas that will help your home present well and ultimately assist in selling it faster.
1. Keep It Clean
It doesn’t matter what sort of decor you have or what tastes might come through in the way your home is decorated, make sure it is as clean as possible. Nothing will discourage a potential homeowner more than a dirty or dingy home. This is especially true for bathrooms and kitchens. No one wants to bathe or cook in your filth…so clean it up!
The best solution is always to move out when you are selling a property, but we know that’s not always possible, so keep it tidy and presentable at all times.
2. An Uncluttered Look
You may like your home to be full of stuff, but it isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. In addition, a cluttered space can distract people from seeing the true bones of your home. Remove excess accessories (and even extra furniture!) to allow your home and its character to shine through.
We go into great detail about how to organize and clear the clutter in our article: How To Sell Your Hilton Head Home Quick. This is also an area where it might be wise to call on the professional services of a home organizer.
3. A Good Landscape
You never get a second chance to make a first impression! When selling your home, one of the most effective ways to maximize making a strong first impression is by creating some curb appeal. You don’t necessarily have to go all out with a new and expensive landscaping design. Simply make sure the things are trimmed and kept up. Overgrowth, dead plants, or excessive weeds can make a bad first impression on potential buyers and can significantly reduce your homes true appeal. A pot or two of something blooming and colorful near the front door is also an easy way to add a warm and inviting touch.
4. Neutral Color Schemes
To some, neutral colors are bland and boring. To others, they like to put their unique touch and personality into a house. Painting your daughter’s room bright pink may be cute, but it could turn off potential buyers with sons. Being unique is great…if you’re going to be living in the house. However, if you’re looking to sell your house fast in the Lowcountry, then you’ll want to keep the colors neutral. Allow the new buyers to envision their own personal colors, or to feel like they can move their stuff right in without having to ‘redecorate’ ahead of time.
Have you read our post: How To Increase Your Home’s Value? In it we talk about painting as a way to freshen up and give your home a new look and feel without going overboard. A quick tip from local Columbia painting contractor, Fran Fields was to make sure you use paint with a sheen or egg shell finish which will help handle stains and scuffs easier. It also will be able easier to clean with a damp rag.
5. Create Vignettes Around the House
Larissa Runkle, an interior design blogger and expert at home staging has some key advice when it comes to situating your home and making it look amazing to potential buyers. “Vignettes are small scenes that create a focus and set a mood in a room. Vignette staging is one of the top insider tricks used by pro real estate agents for two reasons: it’s easy and cheap. While staging a home with new or rented furniture can get pricey for the frugal seller, vignette staging is all about using inexpensive items to create little scenes or “vignettes” in key locations throughout your home.”
So, how do you get started with your vignettes? Most vignettes start with a theme, say a plant and a garden hat by the backdoor, or a part of a dining set laid out on the table. Working from there you can add pieces that enhance the theme, like a vase of flowers or a wicker basket.
Larissa goes on to say, “The best vignette staging involves taking objects you have around your home and creating warm and inviting spaces with them.” Or, to quote home decor blog Such The Spot, “The act of staging involves setting a scene in which buyers want to insert themselves.”
Here are a few of the staging tactics used by the pros:
-Stage scenes around a light source
-Use a variety of textures
-Include a vibrant pop of color in each scene
6. Don’t Forget the Outdoor Living Spaces
If you have outdoor spaces, try and showcase those areas as much as possible. After all, we are in the Lowcountry and have the luxury of spending most of the year out of doors. Even in the winter, the majority of the cooler months still afford us the chance to sit on the deck, enjoy the yard, or even better, a fire pit.
Placing a few pieces of furniture, garden benches, or other seating in and around your landscape will also make it feel more inviting. As we discussed above, it will be easier for buyers to dream about sitting in your yard (their yard??) sipping coffee. You may have to rent furniture to do this, but giving people an idea of what they could do with outdoor living spaces can go a long way towards making your home desirable, or even “the one.”
We’ve touched on just a few key points to look for, if you need more advice make sure to read some of our recent blog posts about getting your home ready to sell, or better yet, feel free to call any one of The Heart Acquisition team members. We are always ready to help! You can tackle many of the tips we listed above, and remember, the main point of staging a home is to help buyers imagine themselves in your home.
Regardless of your skill and experience, it never hurts to have a home decor professional offer a second opinion or a little extra help.