Selling Your Home 101

Staging has been the buzz word in Real Estate selling for the last several years.  Some embrace it’s relativity to timely sales of homes and final sales price and others do not.  The act of staging a home is solely for the purpose of increasing appeal to more potential buyers and thus inducing a swifter sale for a higher price.

No matter the market or local you are in the competition is robust and setting your home apart from the others is imperative. National research has shown that a staged home spends a third to half LESS time on the market and can fetch anywhere from 10% to 15% more money$  Now doesn’t that sound better than decreasing the price?

Here are a few simple tips that anyone can do:

C  De-personalize:  Pack away family pictures and personal objects that can distract a potential buyer. 

C  De-Clutter:  Pack up items you don’t use.  Store pieces of furniture that are imposing on ‘space’. Clear horizontal spaces, free up the counters!

C   Remove/Fix the obvious:  Old worn out wall paper should be replaced with fresh paint, tattered carpet (I am not a believer in “flooring allowance”) by adding this to your listing you are suggesting even before the buyer that something is wrong with the floor!

C   Give your home the nose test:  Funky smells (cigarettes, pets, musty odors) will kill a potential sale!! 

C  Dress the front door: My friend Marchel Peterson in Spring Texas said it perfectly in her post “Don’t forget the Front Door”

C  Lighten Up:  Remove old window coverings, wash the windows in & out and let in the light.  Add fresh flowers to brighten & lighten your spaces!

These are just a few suggestions.  If you feel at a loss for where to start, talk to your REALTOR®, they can get you started or refer you to a local staging expert.  Macbeth is not the only one that needs to set the stage!