| Diamond Realty Brokers
Property Staging
When selling your home, you have to convince buyers to believe in more than the property itself. Details like square footage or number of bathrooms might be on a buyer’s checklist, but these details can’t shine if you never capture the buyer’s imagination. Potential buyers need the chance to dream about how life in your house might look and feel for them.
The best way to get into a buyer’s head is great home staging. If your house makes the right impression in photos and viewings, there’s a chance to set yourself up for a quick sale. Here’s a guide to making sure buyers can imagine that your home could be theirs.
Pack as Much as You Can
Ideally, you want a staged home to look livable, but not lived-in. The best way to do this is to pack up as much of your stuff as possible. This cuts down on clutter and makes the space look less like it’s already occupied. It may seem like a silly step to take—after all, surely buyers understand people often sell homes they currently live in—but it can make a big difference. In fact, too many of your personal belongings, like distinctive decorations, can kill a buyer’s interest in your home. Aim for a look that is classic and neutral so house hunters’ imaginations can run wild!
This can be a little bit tricky if you’re still going to be living in the home after it’s on the market. However, you can work around this by investing in attractive storage solutions, like ottomans with hidden compartments and beautiful lidded baskets. Stow as much as you can for photo shoots, viewings, and open house events; you can bring everything back out again once buyers have left.
Updates for Everyone
Nearly every home has a few little things here and there that could stand to be repaired or updated. Take a look around your house and try to identify any opportunities to easily spruce the property up. For example, if you’re showing your home in the spring or summer, consider adding some bright, seasonal flowers to the front entryway. Or as Bob Vila explains, you can update cabinetry on a budget by replacing old hardware with brand-new knobs and handles. Walls painted in strong colors should be toned down to a neutral shade, and so forth.
The most important part of making updates to your home, however, is ensuring that they’re as classic and neutral as possible. Everyone has their own sense of style, which can wind up hurting you when you’re selling a house. If your unique flair clashes with a buyer’s, that might be all they think about when they’re viewing your home. It all comes back to that imagination factor; it’s harder to project your image of a house onto a house that already has a strong image of its own.
Improve the First Impression
The front of your house is the first thing buyers are going to see online, cruising neighborhoods, or at a showing. As a result, it’s important to make sure it makes the best possible impression. Stay on top of landscaping and gardening, and sweep the porch before shoots or viewings.
If you’re worried your façade is too dull, consider adding a neutral, year-round wreath to your front door. This is a quick way to give your house a welcoming feel, and you can even DIY a simple wreath if you have some craft skills.
Ultimately, anything you do that makes your house look like the kind of space anyone could live in will make a big difference. You want it to be clean, bright, and appealing so that buyers will be interested, and simple enough that they can picture themselves there. Get them dreaming about your home, and they’re much more likely to make an offer.
As shown in the articles featured photos, Diamond Realty Brokers provides our clients with professional staging for residential & commercial property owners as needed to achieve the highest & best return on their investment.