Last week I had Catherine Gissing, from Sage Relocation Services on my Reality Realty show and we had a great discussion on the benefits of staging your home before you sell and also some great tips when it comes to staging. I thought I would share some of the highlights of our discussion here. I know that staging is a very important part of selling a home. Here are some of the benefits that staging brings:
- Improves pictures
- Improves viewings
- Creates more enthusiasm
- Increases purchase price
Thinking of selling your home this Winter or Spring and are a little intimidated by the thought of staging your home? Here are some helpful tips that are pretty simple:
- Declutter- Go through each room and begin filling boxes to either sell/giveaway, throw out, or store in a storage room. This will increase the perception of space throughout your home.
- Depersonalize your space- You don’t have to take down every family picture, but remove 90% of them so the buyers can see themselves living in your home
- Add light- This one is very important and very easy to do. Make sure all light bulbs are working with maximum watt bulbs and clean all your windows. You will be surprised with how much more natural light comes in when you remove the dirt from the windows! Another easy things to do is make sure curtains and blinds are pulled away from windows.
- Use paint to enhance the space- Choose colours that are light and bright and flow with the other colours in your home.
- Choose the most effective, quick and affordable home repairs for staging. Examples are filling in holes in walls, cleaning stains on floors, removing outdated wallpaper, making sure your landscaping is well maintained.
- Hire a professional. We all can make improvements, but the results from a professional will transform your home and increase its value.
- Be aware of how much Christmas decorations you are putting out as often it is the opposite of decluttering and will give potential Buyers the perception of your home being smaller than it is. Also, the decorations we use are personal in taste and often personal in origin. Go ahead and decorate but maybe this year (while you’re showing your home for sale) use only a few pieces of decoration and next year you will enjoy all your decoration in your new home.
Have I convinced you yet about the importance of home staging? If you’re not already working with a Realtor, I would be happy to assist you with the sale of your home. I provide an Interior Designer to stage your home at no cost to you. I’ve seen some amazing transformations in the homes I’ve sold and the amazing benefits that were a direct result of staging.
