Home Staging Tips

Home staging has never been more important than ever before. Numbers talk. In 2022, 50% of Seller's Agents reported a 1-10% increase in selling price for homes that have been staged vs. homes that were not. Home staging also brings in a whopping 8-10% return on investment! Plus, a staged home spends 73% less time on the market than a non-staged home.

It's time to make your home stand out.

1. Assess the Room

How is it used, and can it be used for any other purpose?

2. Take Inventory

What stands out about the room? Pick a focal point and draw attention to it.

3. Remove Clutter

Clutter eats equity. Do one room at a time, going from small spaces to larger ones. Box up all non-essentials, including closet clutter.

4. Depersonalize

Remove personal collections and most pictures. Make your property appealing to the largest pool of buyers.

7. Re-Accessorize

Highlight the focal point of each room. You may need to go back to items you removed from one room to add to another.

10. Add LIFE

Use potted plants and/or a bowl of fruit. A touch of nature always livens up a room.

5. Renew. Repair. Replace.

Fix the little things that make buyers wonder "what else is wrong?". Do you have a loose cabinet pull or door knob? Dripping faucet? etc. It's time to get those fixed.

8. Fine-tune Your Work

Concentrate on details and revisit your focal points. If the focal point still isn't clear, revisit steps 1-7.

11. Target High-Impact Rooms

Concentrate on the rooms buyers value most. In order of importance, they are: the living room, kitchen, primary bedroom, dining room, bathroom, children's bedroom, and guest bedroom.

13. Prepare to Show

Get in the routine of showing your home. Let the light shine in by opening curtains and turning on lights. Soft music in the background and a lit fireplace sets the stage. Soft scents, such as essential oil diffusers also help.

6. Rearrange Furniture

Minimize furniture in dining rooms, bedrooms, and living rooms. Whatever you remove can go into storage or to help stage other rooms.

9. Clean, Clean, and then Clean Again!

Straighten closets and clean inside kitchen and medicine cabinets. Look up, are there any spiderwebs? Look down, are there any dust bunnies? Check your window sills - any dirt? Even older homes sell for more $$ when they are sparkling clean! Assume buyers will look in every nook and cranny.

12. Borrow Design Concepts

Generate new ideas from magazines, real estate TV shows, Pinterest, YouTube, HGTV, as well as from researching homes for sale, both physically and online.