Any tips on home staging?
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Something I've learned in getting my house ready to sell: people say they want to picture their things in your house, neutral colors make every one happy, etc. But there's something else going on, something that buyers will never ever admit, but it's true.
When people look at a house, they want to see the life that they think they want to live. People buy a house based upon the life that they idealize, not the one they actually live.
So your job is to give them that ideal. Make the rooms look big, make the kitchen look beautiful and uncluttered, make it smell nice, make it look nice. Make it look like they could move in and live a wonderful, TV-perfect world in your house.
My last house sold in a couple of days. I'm about to move again, so I'm crossing my fingers, decluttering, tidying up and making the house look like the kind of place that people dream about living in.
Remove clutter. Only have a few pieces of furniture in a room (so people can visualize their own stuff).
Repaint if necessary to more neutral colors.
Clean, clean, clean.
Bake some cookies before open houses so it smells nice.
Lots of light.
Make sure you complete any minor repairs that obviously need to be made. If not, potential home buyers will wonder what else there is to fix and mentally reduce the price they would be prepared to offer on your home.
Remove personal photos - let the potential home buyer imagine themselves living in your home.
Try to neutralize the space. If you have painted a room a strong color, consider repainting.
Make sure the house is clean and clutter free. If necessary, remove furniture pieces that are crowding any rooms.
Have a nice bouquet of fresh flowers on the table.
And make sure your home has alot of curb appeal. Clean up outside - plant flowers and such.
As mentioned before, remove clutter!! I tend to be a clutterer, but when I saw it in a home I was looking at buying, it was a real negative. Clear kitchen counter tops give the kitchen a better look and feel. Clean appliances give you the feeling you can step right in and start cooking.
If the house looks move in ready, people take a second look.
We had all rooms painted (neutral color) and then rehung limited items (it was well worth the investment to have it painted.). Cleaned carpet and hard wood floors make a difference.
Sold our house in 12 days.at asking price!
go to about.com, then click on home and garden then on the selling/buying link on the left. this is a very good site and will tell you lots of ideas- possibly more than you care to consider, but many you will be able to implement. good luck!
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