This week I’m talking about home staging. And last week I shared Updates and Repairs that get Top Dollar for Sellers. All with speed and execution in mind! 💪So here we go!
Once you have completed your updates, it’s time to think about how to stage your home to enhance it’s strengths. The best way to create this is to let your updates set the tone for the look and feel you want to achieve. Especially since staging is the cheapest thing a Seller can do to their home!
What Is Home Staging?
In its simplest from staging is taking things that you already have, and organizing them in a way that accentuates your house. It creates the ideal flow for buyers walking through your home. Staging allows buyers to see themselves living in your home and takes the focus off your personal belongings.
Creating the Home Buyer Experience
In previous posts, I’ve shared the importance of creating a Home Buyer Experience specifically designed for the ideal Buyer you are targeting. Creating an experience will allow Buyers to walk into your house excited for what’s to come so they can easily say “YES” and move forward with an offer.
Minimizing the Space
From a staging perspective, creating this experience starts by minimizing the space and accentuating the strengths of your home. Have you ever noticed when there’s a lot of clutter in a home? It’s really hard to no get distracted, right? When you minimize space with staging it allows buyers to see the strengths of the property first, then personal belongings second.
Give Buyers SOME of Your Story
I encourage all sellers to stage their home in a way that shares a part of who they are. It allows the buyer to get a piece of your story so they can connect to a part of you and your personality. This can be a certain style of artwork you like or a sports team that you are passionate about. Don’t go too far creating a sterile environment. And don’t give too much of your story! Sharing a little bit of who you is a good thing. Too much is overwhelming 😉
Let it Flow
The last part of home staging I want to cover is creating space in your house where things flow from room to room. Ideally, we want buyers walking from room to room efficiently and not walking around furniture or chairs.
By minimizing space, you’re creating flow from room to room. And with each space minimized it allow buyers to see the strengths of your property. While giving them a little piece of the story to connect to you as the seller.
Enhancing Your Home
Next, let’s talk about enhancing your property. Here’s the best way to think about it…imagine walking into a dark room. How do you feel when you walk in? Versus walking into a room that’s fully lit up all lights on and you’re able to see everything? It’s a very different experience. And that’s what enhancing your home is all about.
Lighting is Key
As I stated above, lighting is important. I encourage all sellers to purchase LEDs and change out light bulbs to make all the rooms pop. Plus LEDs are super energy efficient, so you’re able to leave them on all day long for weekend showings or days when you can’t come back home to prep your home.
Add Pops of Color
Color provides contrast and adds to the overall Home Buyer Experience. It can be flowers on the front or back porch. Or adding color throughout your house by placing designer items on the kitchen countertop, dining room table, or island. Whatever space needs color add it, that will bring life and enhance those spaces.
Smells. Really?
This one is interesting. So hear me out. Think of it this way…if you’ve ever been to a new home community like D.R. Horton or any builders out there what are they typically doing? They’re baking cookies, leaving food out, even hot chocolate on a cold day. It’s all about smells of home.
The same is true with you, smell allows your property to feel like home for buyers. To do this you can go as far as baking cookies and leaving them out for showings. Or simply putting fresh cut flowers out in your kitchen.
Adapt to Sell
The last topic I would like to cover is adapting to feedback. This is feedback for me your real estate agent, feedback from your friends, and people touring your home. It can be anyone who understands design and flow.
Staging means we are minimizing space and enhancing it. Then getting feedback from others. Ultimately when your home is on the market you’ll be getting feedback from actual buyers. So being able to adapt early on in the process allows you to rapidly respond to feedback from potential buyers if it’s not selling in the first few weeks.
Home Staging Recap
Just want to recap, staging your home is super cheap. It’s inexpensive because it only requires time and effort. And by packing things up, minimizing spaces and enhancing you will be able to quickly adapt to feedback that you’re getting from the market.
Most importantly, you are creating an experience for the home buyer walking through your house. And as I have shared before, if you create an experience targeting the buyer that you want to purchase your house they are going to walk into your home excited and say “YES” by writing an offer.
Let me know if you have any questions! This is something that I specialize in and would be more than happy to come by and give you staging advice. Or even talk about what’s possible within your house.
Hate Staging? I Have Someone
For anyone out there that does not like staging, and don’t want to mess with it, let me know! I can refer you to professional designers, and home stages that can actually take care of all of it for you.
It will allow you to focus on packing everything up and get 100% moved out. My stagers will deliver furniture and interior decor and will handle all of the interior design if staging isn’t your strength or something that you want to mess with.
Next Week!
This is where the rubber meets the road. All of the hard work we’ve done gets showcased online and we start getting buyers through the door to tour your home and make offers. Next week we’ll be covering Digital Marketing that Sells. See you next week!