Getting ready to sell your home? Smart choice! But don’t leave anything to chance. First off, work with a real estate agent to get your home sold much faster. After that, heed their advice about positioning your home for sale. The act of staging a home means you do specific things to make it buyer-friendly during those open houses and home tours. Not sure where to start? Here are some tips to stage your home for sale:

1. Curb Appeal – You need to catch the eye of the buyer from the time they pull up, but landscaping isn’t in the budget of every homeowner. At the very least, take care of your lawn. It should be trimmed regularly and free of debris. Hang some simple plants near the entrance, keep the sidewalk, porch and driveway swept clean and tuck your garbage and recycling containers out of sight. Take the time to scrub or power wash your siding to make sure the exterior of the home is presentable.

2. Diminish Clutter – Clutter is your biggest enemy when you’re trying to sell a home. Even if your home is tidy, an excess of stuff makes it hard for a buyer to put themselves in the home and envision what its like to live there. Declutter, donate, sell and overall clear out the stuff. Go over everything carefully that you’re hanging on to. If you don’t need it, toss. This will make packing to move that much easier.

3. Turn Your Stuff Into Cash – Stop hanging on to things to have a garage sale someday. Do it right now. Likewise, put some big ticket items on sites like eBay or craigslist. If something doesn’t sell quickly then donate it. If you’ve got unopened goods laying around, like that stock of light bulbs you won’t need, take them back and return them to the store. Without a receipt you might not get cash but you can often get store credit. This is a great way to get rid of clutter and make some money in the process.

4. What Draws Your Eye – Walk through your home slowly and see where your eyes are drawn to. A potential buyer is likely to have a critical eye as they examine the home so you should see what stands out. Get a second set of eyes and invite a critical friend or family member to help you do the same. Make a list of things like scratches or chipped paint in doorframes, peeling wallpaper, ceiling cracks, flooring stains, etc.

5. Get Handy – There are a lot of little things that you can upgrade, fox or renovate in order to make your home more saleable. This includes deal-breakers for a lot of buyers like sticky drawers, loose hardware, leaking faucets, dirty caulk, cracked paint around windows, etc. It doesn’t take a lot to fix these issues, but if you’re not capable then hire someone to tackle them for you.

Lastly – Clean as much as possible, but don’t kill yourself. Buyers know that the home is lived in but you need to present your home in a comfortable, clean light. You want the buyer to feel inspired to purchase the home. The last thing you want on their mind is why your sink is full of dishes and the floor is covered in mud in the kitchen. Make your bed, take care of the space, because if they’re wondering about your general neglect they’ll wonder what else you’re neglecting in the home.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.