I. Clear it Out!
Before showing your house, always remember these three words; DECLUTTER, DECLUTTER, DECLUTTER!
Prospects can easily get discouraged when they enter a house and see it filled with another person’s furniture simply because they have a hard time imagining what the actual space looks like empty. Potential home prospects typically prefer an empty canvas so they can really imagine how they’d be able to make the space their own. Plus, many worries that the extra furniture that is placed throughout the home can be used to hide unpleasant surprises, such as moisture stains behind a picture frame… or worse.
The more traces left of yourself in your home, the more of a chance that a buyer will feel outside of their comfort zone. This gives them a hard time imagining themselves living there. In the case of staging, a homeless is more!
* Tips – We know packing is the WORST! However, you’re going to have to do it at some point, so get those boxes together and make sure to get them out of the house. Not only will you have a HUGE weight lifted off of your shoulders, but it will also clear the area of all of the items that a prospect won’t want to see. Make sure to get the boxes out of the house to avoid additional clutter. An option is to safely store them with your friends, family, or local storage units.
* Home Staging Tips – Not everyone has the same taste when it comes to home décor. Make sure always to take a step back when staging and try to choose neutral pieces to bring out the best qualities in your home.
II: Tidy Up!
While this may seem like common sense, we cannot stress further the importance of having a spotless home whenever you are planning to sell or rent your home.
Keeping your home neat and organized leaves a great impression in the mind of a prospector, whereas a dirty home makes people feel like they’re rummaging through a yard sale. An unorganized house can give the impression that, as the homeowner, you did not maintain a home. Therefore, whenever you know you will have visitors, make sure to bust out those cleaning supplies and tidy up! Also, don’t forget to double-check all of those pesky little spots that you may avoid on a day-to-day basis, like the closets, balcony, garage, and more!
Not only will this help sell (or rent) your home, but you’ll also feel great knowing that your home is spotless!
* Tips – With real estate prices on the high end, the price of square footage has gone up. This means that the amount of square footage an average person can purchase has gone down. It is essential to get the most out of all the space your home has to offer. You can do this by highlighting your storage spaces, clearing them out, or straightening them up to give your visitors the ability to really dream. Another way to highlight your space is by getting rid of extra clothes that you no longer wear to avoid a cluttered closet and make the space look bigger.
* Home Staging Tips – If you did not put all your moving boxes in a storage unit or at a friend’s place and, instead, moved everything into one specific room, avoid showing it. This leaves a negative impression with your visitors and does not put extra value on the home.
III: If It’s Broken, FIX IT!
Do you know that To-Do list that you’ve been avoiding? We hate to break it to you, but it’s time to get it done! Home staging is not about hiding flaws. It’s simply a matter of doing all of the small household repairs that may be a pain to get done yet make all the difference when it comes to appearance.
While you may have gotten used to living with a hanging electrical cord or an exposed socket, a visitor will notice it immediately. All of these little flaws in the house are quick fix and ensure prospects that the house is NOT run down. This gives potential buyers or renters peace of mind that the wall with cracked paint is not because of flooding or severe water damage. Also, the smallest insignificant flaws in a home can lower the sale price because you risk a buyer or renter pointing them out.
If you don’t want the price of your home to dwindle dramatically, and you have the skills to repair them yourself, then get to work!
* Tips – Future buyers have a 15-day window to retract a commitment to purchase and are protected against hidden flaws that exist before the sale. This means that it is essential to fix those leaky faucets properly and other small flaws, or else it will come back to haunt you!
* Home Staging Tips – It goes without saying that anything that is broken downgrades the image of your home. So repair that damaged house, take notice of all the dingy sections, replace the missing doorknob and fix the loose electrical outlet. These are common mistakes made by homeowners who tend to forget to be detail-oriented, which in the end, becomes a large headache and leaves a terrible impression.
IV: Light it Up!
Lighting can make all the difference in a home, so make sure to seize this opportunity!
Take down the drapes in your home, clean the windows, get great lampshades, and increase the wattage in your light bulbs. By doing this, you can make the space seem airier and bigger.
Showing a home that is light and cheerful reflects positive energy on the seller and will help you bring in happy buyers and renters, so light it up!
V: Be Realistic About Your Pricing:
We live in a world where everyone has access to the Internet, so information is much more accessible to the public as compared to the days of snail mail.
With that being said, BE REALISTIC ABOUT YOUR PRICING.
We get it, your house is full of memories, and those memories are priceless (or at the very least, very expensive). Still, buyers will be aware of the prices for other homes around your area, so make sure that your home is priced realistically and competitively.
Please do some research beforehand, look at the pricing that past homes in your neighborhood have sold for, and make sure to use our special CMA tools to fix your home at the ideal number. It’s the only way to ensure that the buyer and the seller walk out feeling like winners.
VI: Curb Appeal
Do you know that expression “don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, that expression applies to everything but homes.
We cannot stress enough the importance of making the exterior of your home look fantastic. That means the outdoor lawn should be impeccable, the exterior paint of the house should be nice and clean, and everything in between should be kept in place.
Love at first sight is an extremely important factor when it comes to investing in a home, and that will rarely happen if there are weeds and cracked paint. So start getting your hands dirty!
VII: Be Open to Visits
We know you’re busy and that you have a lot going on, but always try and be flexible to prep for visits!
The more flexible you are, the more people will visit your home, which means more of a chance to get your home off the market.
Luckily, you have our easy-to-use Open House calendar and home visit scheduler to book appointments!
When you’re trying to get your home off of the market, make sure always to try and keep your clutter habits to yourself. Make sure that you keep your home in prime visiting condition because you never know when someone might ring that doorbell and pop in!
VIII: Kitchen Fixin’!
We live in a world where people love things that are new and shiny. For that simple reason, we cannot further stress the importance of a beautiful kitchen!
While you may think that you want to update a budget, remind yourself that anything that you put into your home is an investment. Some quick economic kitchen updates can be as simple as painting, updating the kitchen hardware, or replacing the kitchen countertops.
If possible, always try to update your kitchen with a neutral color palette to give buyers a blank canvas to work with later. If you have the extra cash, most folks love stainless steel appliances, which tends to give the impression that the rest of the appliances in the house are also modern and updated.
IX: Get the Pets Out
At beycome, we LOVE animals (we even have a mascot dog named Surya)! However, when selling your home, keep the pets out of the house.
If possible, drop the pets off with your neighbors (or their grandparents!) to keep your home in polished staging condition.
Remove all pet accessories such as toys, dishes, litter boxes, and anything else that might resemble an animal living in the home.
Seeing your super cute puppy might attract some people, but more often than not, it’s distracting. Plus, it might bring some parts of the house, such as carpet stains, into question.
Be on the safer side and tell your puppy you love him, but you’ll pick him up in an hour!
X: TAKE GOOD PHOTOS!
It’s not right that you’re willing to re-take that Instagram selfie 30 times to get a good picture of yourself, but you’re not willing to do it for your home!
Post the best pictures possible online of your house, and, if needed, bring in a professional photographer!
Most buyers start their search online, and once they see beautiful photos will then schedule a visit.
If you put a dimly lit picture that does not show favorable angles of your home, you can guarantee that no one will want to check it out in person.
Always remember to stay honest about your photos (no Photoshopping!) but definitely make sure to show off that amazing balcony you’re so proud of or that huge closet that made you fall in love with your home in the first place.
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