Effective Home Staging

This page about Home Staging is contributed by Mary S., who's website is www.all-about-home-staging.com. For more information about this subject, I suggest you visit her site.

How can you sell a home fast? It helps to be better than every other property currently for sale in your area.

What constitutes better and how can you make your home better than all the others? The first step is to fix up your home so that everything is in proper working order, and the second step is to stage your home.

Home staging is the process of highlighting the positive features and assets of a home. Through staging we remove the homeowner’s personality and taste and return the home as close as possible to its original “roots”.

We accomplish this task through a many-step process by accentuating the selling features of the home and removing any perceived negatives that the house might have. Our standard home staging procedures include:

1. Getting the home back to as close to original or “new” condition as possible and returning all spaces to their original and intended uses. For example, if the home’s garage is currently being used as a warehouse, we make sure that the storage is minimized and cars can actually fit in the space.

2. Emphasize the home’s original architectural style and details. This means uncovering features such as mouldings and fireplaces and making them stand out. After all, these are the assets a buyer is paying for, not the décor.

3. What features of your home caused you to fall in love with it in the first place? Was it large windows and gorgeous views? A spacious kitchen? Big closets? Cozy reading nooks? Make a list of each of these features and make them focal points of your home tours.

4. Take your personality out of the home by updating and streamlining the décor. Think about your prospective buyer (who might be younger than you are) and what type of décor they would find appealing. Use what you have and try and mimic that look.

5. Make your home as anonymous as possible. Remove photos, personalized objects, monogrammed towels…anything that says “you”. Buyers will feel more comfortable in your home if you depersonalize the space.

Staging your home will help it show well- the best on the market. Buyers nowadays want the “best” and at a good value for their money. In a competitive marketplace, there’s not much point in being average or so-so.

For more in-depth instructions on how to stage a home to sell, visit Mary's website at www.all-about-home-staging.com.

Here's a quick extra tip from me: When you know people are coming to view the house, bake something that smells good - chocalate chip cookies, or an apple pie. Those smells make a home feel "homey" and inviting.

If you have a question, or just want to discuss an issue with me, contact me about home staging here.

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