Preparing your house for selling can be a daunting and overwhelming task whether you have lived in your home a few years or many. The longer you have lived in your home the more items you will have acquired. Here are my top 10 tips for staging your home for a successful sale.
1. Curb Appeal
Stand back and view your home as if you were seeing it for the first time. This is the first impression stage. Depending on the season you may want to have pots of colourful and attractive flowers to greet buyers, a clean and inviting door mat, new and shiny door handles or knockers and a freshly painted door.
2. Declutter
Start your pre-pack as soon as possible. You need to decide what you are going to keep, give away, sell or throw away and recycle. Many clients will rent storage lockers or have pods delivered so they can start to clear out what is not going to make the house look good.
3. Clean
You would think this one is common sense but let me assure you, I wish it was so! A clean home translates into “they must have really cared for their home.” Use environmentally friendly cleaners where you can, for dirtier areas TSP is a good product. Bathrooms and kitchens must be sparkling clean at the very least.
4. Depersonalize
We know you love your family photos and your personal treasures and for living they are perfect. For selling, pack them up carefully so you can showcase them in your new home. For selling you want buyers to focus on the best features of your home and not your personal things or collections.
5. Colour Scheme
A neutral colour scheme is the way to go for selling. Choose only 3 colours or less to paint your house for selling. If you have an open floor plan then paint the main floor all the same colour. Bedrooms look good in light sage greens or warm blues like a light aqua.
6. Highlight
Place your furniture in each room so that you have very obvious focal points that show off the homes best selling features. If you have a beautiful fireplace then place the furniture in a parallel grouping so that the eye is drawn to the fireplace.
7. Function
If you were using your guest bedroom as your den for living, for selling turn it back into a bedroom with bedroom furniture in it. If you do not have the right furniture for each room consider renting it. There are more and more rental furnishing companies opening up every day. If you don’t want to rent then borrow.
8. Lighting
Spend money on new light fixtures in brushed nickel or stainless steel. Brass is out so don’t fight it. There are many low-cost lighting stores to select from so no excuses for having dated light fixtures.
9. Windows
The most popular window treatments on the market are the 2” faux woods in a white tone to go with your trim. Decorative side panels will do the trick if you need to add warmth and colour.
10. Flooring
Tile or linoleum is great for entranceways, bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms; a good quality laminate or hardwood is perfect for living rooms and family rooms; bedrooms are attractive in a neutral carpet.
Remember that the vast majority of prospective buyers have already looked at your listing on the internet. Will they like what they see?
Happy Selling!
MANNI GILL REALTOR®
(604) 721-3840
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