Home staging has become a huge business these days, particularly, real estate agents are drawn to their services because it has been proven to help sell homes, and anything that helps that process is popular with agents. You may ask, “what is staging”, if you are not working in the real estate world or trying to sell your home. Staging is a process by which you decorate a home to make it feel more comfortable and appealing to a potential buyer. Professional home stagers often will take a percentage of the sale once the house is sold, or get paid a pretty hefty fee at the beginning.
What if you are either selling your own home or just desire not to be bothered with that aspect of the sale, and you want to do the staging yourself? Well, you can do the staging yourself, but before you head to the nearest home store here are a few tips on how to stage your home successfully without a professional.
Get Rid of Clutter
Your clutter could be the death of a sale. When a potential buyer sees a home cluttered with your family’s items, it is hard for them to imagine themselves inside that home, decorating the way they really desire. Plus, clutter just looks awful and though a buyer may like the layout of your home, the clutter can completely throw them off mentally and emotionally.
Paint
That’s right! A fresh coat of paint can work miracles. It’s very unattractive to see a home with chipped and dirty paint. Often home owners may neglect repainting their homes for decades. They get used to the look and never think about if it’s fresh or not. If you are selling a home, one of the first things you want to do in invest in a fresh coat of paint.
Make Repairs
Many home owners tend to neglect small repairs because they get used to it as a family. For example, if you’ve been turning your faucet on with a wrench and that has worked just fine for you, that small bit of neglect will cause a buyer to move on to another listing. Repairs that need to be made, should be on your staging list. A home that appears neglected is a turn off to buyers and agents.
Thoroughly Clean Your Entire Home
You can do this yourself or hire a professional cleaner, which is the best idea. We often overlook things we don’t necessarily find important but a professional cleaner gets into the nooks and crannies of the house and will have it looking like new.
Make it Smell Good
Potential buyers are drawn to homes that smell good and this is one of the easiest parts of staging. Buy a few scented candles and place them throughout the house. Just the aroma, will make a buyer feel at home. Often, they don’t even know that they are being drawn in by a scent, they just know that they feel good and that the house smells fresh.
Rent Furniture if You Have to
If your furniture is in disrepair, you may need to move it out and replace it with rented furniture. This process is easy enough these days. There are many companies that rent whole rooms of furniture for the staging process. You will just need to let them know why you want to rent the furniture and often they will send a consultant with the furniture to make sure it has good placement and looks attractive.
These are just a few of the most important tips when it comes to staging your own home without a professional. If it seems like a lot of work for you, then do what you can, or hire a professional in your price range. Make sure they know what your budget is so that there will be no surprises at the end of this process.
