How to Stage Your House to Sell

 

In 13 years of marriage, Michael and I have sold our house, packed our belongings, moved and unpacked 10 times. That’s right. 10. We aren’t even in the military! And we still have one more move to go….

We have problems.

Believe me, I realize that’s an excessive amount of moving, but I have learned a few things about staging a house to sell along the way. I have tried several approaches and logged away the things that worked as well as the things that just didn’t make a difference.

I want to share the things I have done to stage my homes that worked. Don’t be fooled into thinking that preparing a house to sell is no big deal. It’s a lot of work. However, you get out of it what you put into it, so it’s worth the work.

With that being said, here are 7 things I have done to make my house irresistible to real estate agents and more importantly, potential buyers. I believe these things helped us get a contract on our current house less than 48 hours after we put it on the market.

Stage your home like a pro!

 

1. Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is your house’s first impression. Mowing the lawn, freshening up flower beds, keeping the sidewalk swept, making your front porch welcoming, and repairing anything that is broken are all important components to making your house appealing from the street.

Don’t assume buyers will come inside just because they made an appointment to see your house. If they don’t like the outside, they won’t come in, and you will miss an opportunity to sell.

You don’t have to go all out and spend a ton of money to get the exterior of your home up to par. However, if the house needs painting and you’re planning to ask top dollar for it, you better get some paint, a paint brush, and a good attitude. Or better yet, hire a professional to paint the house for you (if you can).

You can also check my list of exterior spring cleaning chores for specific ideas on how to get the exterior of your home in tip top shape before listing it.

Don’t forget to add a wreath and clean doormat to the front door. The state of your front porch makes an impression, too, as this is where people are usually welcomed into a home. Here is a list of my favorite spring wreaths.

Bottom Line: Do not underestimate the importance of curb appeal. When buyers pull up to your house, you want them to see a house they would be proud to call home. A place they would want to bring their friends and family for dinner.

2. Clean, Clean, Clean

This may seem obvious, but your house can’t be too clean when you’re trying to sell it. This lets buyers know the house is well taken care of. Get ready to go over your home with a fine tooth comb.

Buyers are looking for a clean home. Yes, I realize some people can look passed dirt and messes, but don’t assume those people are looking at your house. Assume those people went on vacation and aren’t even in the market for a new house.

Of course you live here so balancing “showing-ready” and “lived in” can be tricky, but it’s totally doable.

You can download and print a complete checklist of everything I do prior to listing a house HERE.

Bottom Line: Your house should be as clean as possible for every showing. Don’t expect buyers to look passed messes and dirt.

 

3. Keep decor neutral and avoid excessive decor of any kind.

Don’t give potential buyers a reason to be distracted or confused. Do you have a collection of some sort that occupies a good bit of wall space? Or surface space? Pack it away for now to avoid turning off potential buyers.

You may not think it’s weird, but buyers may get distracted by it while viewing your home. The last thing you want when you’re selling something is for potential buyers to get hung up on something else. They need to be able to picture their belongings and personal flare in your home, so the more you can allow for that, the better.

With that being said, I would advise you to keep your decor pretty neutral and stage each room to reflect its intended purpose. It’s best if your dining room looks like a dining room, and your office actually looks like a working office.

For the record, I do not subscribe to the school of thought that suggests you need to remove the majority of your personal belongings before you list your home to sell. Several years (and several houses) ago I followed this advice. Unfortunately, it took several months for our house to sell, and it was depressing not to have any of my decor out. The house felt empty and sad to me.

Fast forward to now. We are selling that same house (yes, the same one we sold several years ago when I packed up all my decor…I told you we have problems). This time I kept the house decorated as it always is and within 48 hours of listing it we had a deal made!

Bottom Line: You want to make your home look as put together as possible, and that includes your decor. Neutral decor is best, but work with that you’ve got if buying new decor is not an option.

 

4. Limit Your Pet’s Presence

I love our cat, Padme (Pad-may). She’s seriously the coolest cat I have ever known, and she is the queen at our house (after me, of course). On occasion she likes to curl up in the laundry room sink for a nap so I keep a folded towel there just for her. It’s always there, because why would a sink be used for anything other than a cat bed??

When it’s time to show the house, that towel goes into the laundry basket, and Queen Padme goes outside. Her toys are put away like everyone else’s and I make sure the litter box is fresh.

Pet presence, good or bad, is a turn off to buyers. They may have a handful of pets themselves, but they don’t want to inherit your pet’s odors, stains, and damage. A barking dog or a scared kitty may also deter buyers from looking at the rest of your house.

Bottom Line: The less buyers see of your animals, the better. Make your pets, and their belongings, scarce before each showing.

 

5. Declutter Everything

Have you ever opened a closet only for your life to flash before your eyes as the contents spill out all over you? Well, at least you can imagine what it would be like if you did.

My husband and I used to joke that packing every nook and cranny full of stuff just shows how much storage the house has! THAT IS NOT OKAY. It’s only a joke. Do not do this.

I cannot express the incredible value of decluttering the whole house before putting it up for sale. You want every room, cabinet and closet to look as spacious and organized as possible. It helps buyers imagine their own belongings in those spaces.

This means going through every room, cabinet, and closet and removing everything you a.) don’t need anymore and b.) won’t need before you move.

Here are some examples of things you should declutter:

• broken games or toys
• out of season clothes
• boxes from old electronics (my husband keeps these and I know there has to be other people who do this too).
• kids clothes that are too little
• things you haven’t used in years
• outdated decor
• “Closet clutter” – luggage, old clothes, unused work out equipment, storage bins, etc.
• Any decor that covers the majority of counters or built-ins

You can box this stuff up to be moved to your new home or get rid of it altogether. This is especially important when you are dealing with small spaces like closets, pantries, built-ins, and small bedrooms. Make those spaces look as big as you possibly can while also showing how functional they are. Houzz.com suggests clearing 20-30% of items out of your closet to suggest a larger space.

Bottom Line: Decluttering helps potential buyers imagine their own personal belongings in those spaces. And when they start imagining themselves in your house, you are headed in the right direction to making a deal.

 

6. Don’t Worry About the Garage

I know we just talked about decluttering everything. While I do think it’s healthy to declutter everything on the regular, some people – like my handsome husband – have the hoarder gene and just can’t don’t. This is evident in our garage. The constant state of chaos and clutter is the stuff OCD nightmares are made of. My car has been evicted from the garage more times than I can count in order to make room for stuff.

And this is what I have learned:

The state of the garage doesn’t make a difference when we show our house.

People don’t freak out over the mess in the garage. Why? I don’t know. Possibly because it’s too much to take in all at once. Like you have to see it a couple of times to realize the shear volume of stuff packed in there.

OR it could be that people generally view the garage as an untidy outdoor part of the house and don’t hold high expectations for it to look otherwise. Either way I’m just thankful we can close the blinds and the garage door and let them see it last. It also gives me a place to store everything I just decluttered from the house.

Bottom Line: Do not spend much of your time here. Curb appeal and the interior of your home are much more important, so focus your attention and time on those aspects of your home.

 

7. Have professional photos taken of your house

My husband is a custom home builder, but we occasionally build homes to sell (as opposed to custom homes for clients) and every time we finish a house, we have professional photos taken for the listing. Why would we not do that for our personal home?

The last two times we sold a personal house of ours, we paid for professional photos and I will say this could be the factor that made the difference both times. When photos reflect the best possible lighting and the best angles of the entire house, your listing is infinitely more attractive than others photographed by amateurs with lower quality cameras.

This isn’t a small deal. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line here, so why cheap out on the photos? If you have a great camera and are equipped to handle this part yourself, do it!

I will caution you to avoid using a fish eye lens for real estate photography. It gives a disproportionate perspective that is actually a turn off to buyers when they look at listings.

Bottom Line: Professional photos of your home can speed up the selling process and make your house stand out to realtors and buyers alike.

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Preparing a home to list on the real estate market is a lot of work, but it’s worth the effort! The key is giving yourself plenty of time to do each of these tasks well. It can’t all be done in a day so plan ahead! Following these 7 tips will have you well on your way to being the most show-ready house in the neighborhood.

What tricks have you found helpful in the staging and selling process? Tell me in the comments!

 

 

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