Staging your home for sale
Selling your home can be an emotional and long process. Professional organiser Zoe Berry of Life / Edit shares her home staging tips in this blog post, to help make the process as stress free as possible. Selling your house is well known to be one of life's most stressful experiences, so anything you can do to ease the process must be a good thing. Home staging is something which is a standard part of the home selling process in some places (like north America) but here in the UK we are only just learning what a difference it can make both in terms of the speed of sale and profit you can make from your home. It's amazing to think that buyers form an opinion in your home in around 10 seconds of walking in the door, so with that in context it's incredibly important to make the right first impression. I recently staged a home for sale in Dundee and with a few tweaks and a keen eye, the property achieved 10% more than the pre-staging evaluation, and I only spent approx. 1% of the sale price on the changes.Here are my top tips for getting the most out of your property when you are selling:
Start with your kerb appeal
There's no point spending ages making the inside of your house look desirable if the outside isn't up to the same standard. It's important to make your home as eye-catching as possible from as soon as potential buyers first see it. So tidy up plants and lawns, give the front door a lick of paint and make sure your door furniture is looking super shiny.Declutter and depersonalise
The most important thing you can do to showcase your home to its best standard is to declutter, as many people simply cannot see past someone else's possessions. It is important that buyers can imagine themselves living in your house which is more difficult if your surfaces are full of your family photos and mementos. One or two carefully chosen pictures and ornaments are great - you don't want it to look stark, of course. Cast your eye around and check that your surfaces and floorspaces are clear.Check your flooring
What state are your carpets in? Are they patterned and dated? Or have they worn and need to be replaced? What about your wooden floors? Do they need to be re-varnished? Remember the more jobs people mentally tot up in their heads when looking round a property, the more likely they are to be put off from making an offer.
Is your décor up to date?
When selling your home it's best to consider a neutral palate. That crazy feature wallpaper might be your taste, but to appeal to the widest possible cross section of people it's best to go sophisticated. A subtle background means that people can imagine their belongings in your home more easily. Make sure that curtains and blinds are in good condition and fit properly. Long curtains can make windows feel larger and blinds can be a good option for replacing dated curtains as low cost.Check each room one at a time
Hall
Buy a new doormat for your porch and clear all the usual shoes, coats and bikes away. A top tip for the hall is to hang a mirror on the wall to bounce light around.Sitting room
Really look at your furniture placement. Yes, that might be where you have always had that chair but could it be repositioned to show the room off more? Make sure your sofas are in good condition and brighten them up with some new cushions. Clear magazines and books off shelves and from under coffee table and put back only what looks good: a few mags on the table and some carefully chosen pieces on the shelves.
Dining Room
Consider how your dining table looks with no one seated at it. A runner and a bowl of fruit or some flowers make it look inviting. Make sure you show the room size off as much as possible. If this means playing about with the positioning of furniture then do!Bathrooms
When decluttering and depersonalising, all the same rules apply to your bathroom as elsewhere in your home . For a bathroom it's also key to clear away any 'functional' items such as cleaning products, toilet brushes, weighing scales and toothpaste and toothbrushes. Update even a tired looking bathroom with fresh new towels, well-chosen toiletries and fix anything that needs updating such as grout/sealant etc. This way you show the buyer the potential of your bathroom without breaking the bank.Bedrooms
Make sure you bed is in the right position to show buyers the proportions of your bedroom. Declutter and stage the room channelling 'nice hotel room' i.e. make sure the bedding is clean, ironed and the bed made well. Make sure your bedside tables and dressing tables are clear, with just a few photos and carefully chosen possessions on show which compliment the décor.Kids' stuff
Children's toys should be sifted through and, although you can't disappear all of them, a large amount should be put away for when buyers are viewing.
Appeal to all the senses
Make sure you home is warm enough, clean and as bright and cheerful as you can make it. If it's a dull day and your house is dark, make sure you have replaced lightbulbs. If you have a pet you need to eliminate any associated odours by washing upholstery, cleaning carpets and using air fresheners and giving the house a good airing.And finally
You are trying to make your home seem uncluttered, have plenty of storage but also loved and lived in. It's a fine balance and it's a difficult one to achieve when it is your own home - which is why you might consider employing a professional organiser who specialises in home staging. It will be totally worth it when your house sale goes through. Happy selling!If Zoe's post has inspired you to stage your home for sale you can find more information about your local professional organiser here.