subject: Staging Can Help Sell Your Home [print this page] Before a house showing back when the real estate market was a healthy one, the only thing a homeowner needed to do was clean the place up and leave to have it ready for marketing. But with today's market the price you get for your home and how quickly you sell it -whether or not you have hired professionals- will be subject to how you stage your home.
Staging refers to creating a look that enables a potential buyer to see your home as it might look as a model home. Be sure to put away all family insignia as well as give it a great clean and touch up anything you thing will help the house to look it's best.
If you want to try staging your home, you can hire a professional to advise you or create the look, or you can take on the task yourself.
Ask yourself. "What am I trying to create." Pick up a few magazines that feature interior design articles. Checking out furniture stores is a great idea as they are free to go and look at and the different types of furniture are on display to help you get a better idea. You can even browse them online.
It is important to notice what thew furniture groupings have left out as well as what they put in. Do not personalize the entire living room suite when staging your house. Use a storage place to keep additional items (be sure not to fill closets with extra things as they may need to be accessible for show).
You will need to not only clean especially well, but de-clutter. All the items you might consider expressions of your personality or your family's identity are best put away for a home tour. People can then picture their personal items around the house and how it would look. It also makes rooms feel bigger and makes your cleaning easier.
You may wish to add items that you have seen on display while researching. Anything that adds color is perfect, like some flowers in a vase. You might also look for inexpensive throw pillows or rugs or prints to replace family portraits on the walls.
Purchasing new additions does not mean that you cannot take them with you when you go, perhaps you have been waiting to make over the house and can just give it a new paint job in neutral colors.
Also consider staging outside your home. By adding some potted flowers and color to the deck and surrounding areas you can really make the front up.
Simplicity is the key to staging. Remove as much as you can and only add items that will really enhance your home's appearance and help turn it into a place someone else wants to live.
