Tips for Staging a House to Sell

 

The Creative Cubby will soon have a new home, but the husband and I had to sell the old one first.  We watch a lot of HGTV and cruise around on real estate websites a lot... so we felt pretty prepared to go into the a home sale. :)  However, when we took a look around our house, we were mildly concerned.  At the time, we did not feel comfortable listing our house and having people walk through.  It was just... tooooo lived in.  So, we spent three long evenings staging our house.  It was a lot of work but it totally paid off.

14 Days on the Market = 30 Showings

House = Sold!

Taking the time to really stage your home for photographs and showings will make all the difference in the world.  Below are my tips and tricks for staging your home, with before/after photos of ours.

Staging Tip #1: Clean up the front yard and backyard.  Trim up landscaping.  Remove extra furniture.  Pull weeds. {We even removed some deteriorating tiki torches.  Just didn't look nice.}

Listing Photos

Staging Tip #2: Remove alcohol presence.  Store away bottles.  Take down the neon beer sign.  If you are including the refrigerator in the sale of the house, empty alcohol out. 

Before Staging

Listing Photo

Staging Tip #3: Consider rearranging furniture to make rooms feel more open and large. {Notice the chair that is removed from the library (we put it in the bedroom) and the chest moves to the other side of the room.}
Staging Tip #4: Declutter shelves.  Take down personal knick-knacks.  Consider storing any polarizing material.{Hide your copies of "50 Shades of Grey", ladies}

Before Staging

Listing Photos

Staging Tip #5: Tidy up even the most frequently used rooms.  Clean out paper clutter and clear off surfaces.  If you can’t move furniture to make a room look larger, clear surfaces will help expand the space.
{Obviously, my Creative Cubby is heavily used, but prospective buyers don't need to see my brainstorming and crafting clutter.  I must say, I like the cleaner room.}

Before Staging

Listing Photos

Staging Tip #6: Remove personal photos and personally identifiable items.  Think monograms, engraved pieces, anything with your name on it. {People will be more interested in who owns the home, rather than how they feel in the house.  The idea is people picture themselves living in your house.  They can't do that with your wedding photos and monogrammed pillows staring them in the face.} 

Before Staging

Listing Photos

Staging Tip #7: Set the table. {Have you ever noticed that model homes always have the table set?  You don't necessarily need to put out plates and utensils, but making the table look clean and cozy will make people feel welcomed.}

Listing Photo

Staging Tip #8:  Remove displaced items. {Sure, we love the golf clubs and want them to have a cozy home, but it may not make sense to a potential homebuyer to have them in... the guest room?  Time to move out to the garage.  Oh, and yes, the guest room may be your storage room, but please reallocate those items elsewhere... to a real storage space.  This may give the impression to potential homebuyers that the house does not have enough storage space. Baaad!}

Before Staging

Listing Photos

Staging Tip #9: Clean your kitchen.  Scrub down countertops and appliances.  Wash dishes.  Take out the trash. {We had to take down most of our pirate items from our kitchen decor and removed most of the appliances off the countertop.  Giving the kitchen a good scrub down not only made it look clean, it looked bigger and newer.}

Before Staging

Listing Photos

Staging Tip #10: Do not forget the bedroom!  Pick up clothes.  Make the bed.  Dust.  Clear off surfaces. {No one wants to see your bed all messy and disheveled.  They also don't want to see what book you're reading before bed or what you wore the day before.  Clean up after yourself.}

Before Staging

Listing Photos

Other tips...

Staging Tip #11:  Vacuum.  Mop.  Clean your floors.  Do not ignore the floors.  Clean floors always look newer and better taken care of.

Staging Tip #12:  Leave shower curtains open and close toilet lids. {Open showers make the room look longer and wider, plus it shows off the shower/tub without forcing people to awkwardly open the curtain.  And really... no one wants to see the inside of your toilet... just keep it clean.}

Staging Tip #13:   Tidy up the garage.  {People will go in.  They want to see what they are working with.}

Staging Tip #14:  Open all the window coverings to let in natural light. {When have you ever heard anyone say, "Ugh, I hate that this house has natural light"?  Never.  Show off the natural light of your house.}

Staging Tip #15:  Make the house comfortable.  If it’s hot out, leave on the a/c.  If it’s cold out, turn on the heater.  {Even if you don't normally leave them on when you leave the house, prospective buyers will feel more at home when comfortable.} 

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Tips for Staging a House to Sell (Printable Summary)

Best of luck to you!