If you are hoping to sell your home quickly, make sure to properly prepare, clean and stage your home.
Statistics prove that a home that has been perfectly cleaned, updated as much as possible and well maintained brings the highest sales price. Why? A home that is diligently prepared for market will create more interest from buyers, generate more showings, and increase the likelihood of an offer. Put yourself in the buyers’ shoes to see what they expect from your home.
Hiring a home inspector is money well spent because a home inspection will uncover any deferred maintenance. Budget for a roof inspection and HVAC/AC cleaning and service as well. It is best to have it this done before the home is marketed so you can present the reports to any potential buyers.
Below you’ll find plenty of home staging tips and frequently asked questions to help you prepare your home to sell.
{Download our free Home Selling Guide}
Note: We are based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. If you are planning to sell your house in a different area, we can match you with an excellent local agent. Give us a call (719-321-0800) or email us (susanna@co-regroup.com) for a referral.
Do I Need to Hire a Stager?
The decision to work with a home stager is entirely up to you. Staging can be done by professionals or you can do quite a bit yourself. Staging typically begins with de-cluttering and ends with moving or removing furniture as needed. Our real estate team offers complimentary staging services to all of our sellers.
Related Reading: Preparing Your Home to Sell for the Highest Price
How do I Stage a Home Myself?
We have staging consultants that provide specific guidance and home staging tips on how to place furniture and accessories. This will give your home extra marketability to get you under contract faster and hopefully at a higher price.
Our stagers will provide a homework list with many suggestions for improving the flow in your home, if necessary. You can pull trendy colors into your home with extra pillows or an accent wall to appeal to more potential buyers. You can also follow the staging tips below.
Don’t have the time to stage? Our stagers are happy to do that for you.
Related Reading: Steps to Sell Your Home
Should I Stage a Vacant Home?
Absolutely! Most people will not be able to imagine an empty home with furniture. The home looks more inviting with furniture which will attract more buyers to the house.
We suggest vignette staging for vacant homes. Vignette staging is where small groups of accessories and furniture are used to help a potential buyer understand a empty room’s purpose. This type of staging provides more of a scale in photos that can give buyers an idea of the room size.
Another new tech option is to stage a home virtually. A software program digitally adds furniture and decorative items to the professional photos of the home. Buyers coming for an in person showing will still find an empty home, but digitally staged images will give home buyers an idea of how your listing could look with furniture.
The images in this National Association of Realtors report very clearly display the difference of an empty room versus a staged room.
Pro Tip: if you have tenants in the property you’d like to sell, it is best to wait until after the tenants have left to put your home on the market. It can be nearly impossible to have your home market ready with tenants living there. Consider offering your tenants incentives to move out early so you can prepare and stage the home.
Related Reading: How much is my home worth?
How We Schedule Stagers
We work with one of the best staging companies in town. They are in high demand and that means that they need a bit of lead time. Ideally, we’ll need about 7-10 days’ notice when you are ready for the stagers. This staging appointment will also keep you on track with your home projects and work. A photographer will be scheduled shortly after the stager appointment.
Our stagers use photos of the home to prepare for your appointment, so please send us photos or we can give you contact information to send them directly to our stagers.
Related Reading: Update Your Home without Major Renovation
Staging Tips
1. Make the exterior of your home inviting to potential buyers and show off any highlights of your property. 25 Ways To Improve your Curb Appeal
2. Repair ANYTHING noted in the pre-listing inspection report, even if it’s a very small item. Repair anything else that you notice that was not mentioned in the inspection.
3. Deep clean all areas of the house. If necessary, have your wood floors refinished and your carpets steam cleaned. A hand steam cleaner is particularly helpful to easily clean and restore tile and grout. Don’t forget to clean vent covers and ceiling fans since they tend to collect a lot of dust over time.
4. Update your home as much as possible. Some things are easy and inexpensive but require some elbow grease:
- Repaint tiles
- Update light fixtures, water fixtures, and door handles
- Paint the home in neutral colors
- Update fireplace paint or enhance your bricks with stone color enhancer. Spray paint an old fireplace frame and screen.
- Stain tired cabinets
- New stainless steel appliances will bring a great return on investment
5. Let the sunshine in! Utilize natural light as much as possible. A large mirror can help in a small space.
6. Make sure the home has proper lighting with floor lamps, ceiling lamps, and lights. Replace light bulbs as necessary.
7. Ensure that the home’s temperature is comfortable for buyers. Cozy and warm on winter days, and cool in summer time.
8. Declutter each room and remove excess furniture.
9. Let the buyer imagine themselves in your house by de-personalizing the home. There should be a clear use of each room.
10. Pay attention to any unpleasant odors in the home. Consider removing old rugs and buy some inexpensive, new ones. Clean cat litter boxes frequently.
11. Pare down and rearrange your furniture to allow a flow from room to room and therefore ‘cash flow’ into your pockets. Consider renting furniture to appeal to your buyers. Consult your REALTOR or home staging professional.
Click here to download our Home Selling Guide
More Staging Tips by Room
- Kitchen:
- Clear all counter tops. This includes small appliances and other items.
- Add a touch of color by placing a bowl with lemons or oranges on your island.
- Remove old fashioned valances and clean the windows.
- Remove all items from the refrigerator.
- Bathrooms:
- Remove all personal and toiletry items such as toothbrushes, soaps, shampoos or razors. You can stash all of these items in a small basket to keep tucked under the sink.
- Invest in new shower curtains, rugs and mats.
- Consider flameless candles, and new fluffy, color coordinated towels to create a spa like experience. This is especially important in the primary bathroom.
- Remove any toilet lid covers.
- Keep the toilet lid down!
- Living room:
- Consider removing some of your furniture to create more space. Rearrange the living room to center on a focus point.
- If your furniture does not fit the scale of your living room (too big or too small), consider replacing the items.
- Pillows should always be fluffy and to scale. Avoid overdoing it with the number of pillows.
- Rugs can add a great pop of color. But if you have beautiful wood or LVP flooring, remove small(er) rugs to show off the flooring and use a larger rug to pull the conversation area together.
- Bedrooms:
- Clear off all side tables except for a lamp and maybe a book.
- Remove half of your items out of closets and organize the remaining items.
- For your primary bedroom: Invest in new bedding with new, fluffy pillows and duvet, blankets that make the room feel like a hotel room.
- Add texture and dimension with rugs.
Planning to sell your house? Call us at (719) 321-0800 or susanna@co-regroup.com
