From adding furniture to repainting, the act of making homes more appealing to potential buyers can result in swifter sales and increased profits. Not only does home staging help buyers visualize a property as their future home, but prospective buyers are more willing to walk through a staged home they viewed online.
For those who are getting ready to put their house on the market, realtor.com offers seven tips for sprucing things up quickly and to help buyers fall in love with your home.
1. Keep your home tidy 24/7
It’s important to keep all of your possessions stored away for two reasons. First, you don’t always know who’s walking through your house, and the listing agent can’t be in every room to watch your valuables. Second, a tidy house looks better.
You want potential buyers to come in and see a beautiful dream home, not your clutter. You never know when a potential buyer will want a last-minute tour, so put away your dishes as soon as you’re done eating, pick up dirty clothes on the floor and make your bed every morning.
2. Invest in a few trendy items
Before a showing, try updating your house with a few new, stylish pieces to make it more on-trend. Look on Pinterest to see what’s fashionable right now, or tour open homes to see how they’re staged.
Then, recreate the look. Don’t worry, you can do this while being budget-friendly. For example, you might want to add a new duvet cover, some curtains, and wall hangings.
All of this décor only will cost a couple of hundred dollars, but it likely will lead to a lot of compliments on your style, and in the end, your house could wind up selling for more than you expected.
3. Make your home feel like their home
Potential buyers need to see themselves in your home. That’s why real estate agents tell you to clear out any personal pictures you have on the walls. You don’t want buyers to think of it as your house, because it’ll make it harder for them to picture themselves living there.
For that same reason, try your best not to be home when your house is being toured. If buyers see you, they’ll remember that they’re guests.
And unless you feel very strongly about people taking off their shoes…note that when buyers are told to take off their shoes in a home, they’re reminded that someone else lives here, and it makes it harder for them to see themselves living in that house.
4. Spray a clean, simple scent
You can absolutely kill a person’s interest by showing them a house that smells like dirty teenagers and smelly dogs.
Houses need to smell fresh and clean, but shouldn’t smell like chemicals. Invest in a really good home fragrance spray with a soft scent, like lavender or fresh linen
5. Don’t try to hide your clutter
It’s common to use the garage as a place to stash the boxes you’ve cleared out of your home for a showing. However, you still want the garage to look presentable. People want to see the entire house, so take this opportunity to clear it out. Buyers will also open closets.
They’re not trying to be invasive; they just want to see how much space you have. And when they do open closet doors, they probably won’t appreciate being met with an avalanche of stuff. In fact, it will probably make them think your house doesn’t have enough storage, and they’ll move onto the next.
6. Get your pets out of the house
Pets might be protective of their turf, so consider taking them somewhere else during showings. If you’re having an open house, bring your pet to a friend’s house for the day. If someone is coming over for a tour, take that opportunity to walk your dog.
However, if you must leave your pets at home, always make sure you leave instructions on how to handle them. Give your listing agent instructions on where to put dogs if they get rowdy (like a guest room), but don’t just assume you can just put your pets in the backyard, because buyers want to see the outdoor space, too
