Home Staging - Let Your Home Shine To Prospective Buyers - Part 1

Before opening the door to prospective buyers, you may want to consider staging. What is Home Staging? Simply put, it's a way to highlight your home's strengths, downplay its weaknesses and appeal to the greatest possible pool of prospective buyers.
Should you hire a professional stager or DIY? Start by talking with your real estate agent, get his or her advice, their experience in the market will be of great value to you. If your realtor’s advice is to stage and you’re not sure how to proceed then hiring a professional stager is more than likely the way to go.

One of benefits to hiring a professional is their ability to make decisions knowledgeably and objectively. They know what furniture to display, which accessories will best complement the home’s decor and most important how to direct the eye to the homes strengths and away from its weaknesses.

Staging Your Home - BHG

However, for some home sellers a do-it-yourself approach can be an appealing alternative. It's important before beginning this project to keep in mind that preparing a home for sale and staging a home is not always the same thing. For example, prior to listing your home you will more than likely go through and make small repairs. Staging on the other hand – all though repairs are important - involves things such as design, organization and overall appearance.

There are several things to keep in mind if staging is something you’ve decided to tackle on your own.

• Be objective in making presentation decisions - put personal feelings aside. 
• Get rid of the clutter, all clutter, special art, favorite collections, sports trophies, travel souvenirs, all clutter.
• Create an open feeling in every room. 
• Make the house look like new - paint inside and out, if necessary, and replace carpets and floors to achieve your desired effect. 
• Stage every space in and around the house. 
• Patios, porches, entryways, and decks should all be furnished to demonstrate that each is usable living space. 
• Replace or supplement existing furniture and accessories with rentals to achieve the desired appearance. 

The Stagers - Before & After - HGTV

One important thing to remember is to stage rooms as they are intended to be used. The photo's above are a perfect example, on the left the room is being used as a lounging/living type room. The photo on the right shows what the room was intended to be a dining room. Never assume that a potential buyer is going to know how a particular room is to be used.

Staging Your Home - BHG

Curb Appeal - Best Foot Forward - Set the stage for what buyers can expect on the inside by putting your homes best foot forward. I can tell you from personal experience, my husband and I have pasted on looking at a house just because the outside was not the least bit appealing.

Add Curb Appeal - BHG

A total revamp of the landscaping is not always necessary, simple cleanup may be all that’s needed. Several examples are listed below.

• Freshly mowed lawn
• Leaves raked and disposed of
• Snow shoveled if it’s in the winter
• Porches and decks swept
• Clean front door - If you have a front porch keep the railings and steps clean
• Garbage and recycling are kept away from the front of the home
• Add hanging or potted plants, if weather permits
• A new mat at the front door will say “Welcome Home” 

Add Curb Appeal - BHG

If there are areas of the yard that need more attention – a patchy lawn, dead trees or bushes – you may want to consult a landscaping company for an estimate. Remember buyers will ask for a reduction in price for repairs so anything you can do before hand will help.

Add Curb Appeal - BHG

Because of the amount of information surrounding Home Staging and not wanting you to have to scroll for an eternity on one page, I have divided this post into two parts. 

Up next - "Home Staging - Let your Home Shine To Prospective Buyers" Part 2 will be focusing on two more important areas of Home Staging - Clearing Out Clutter & Dressing The House.