A staged home will look better than competing homes for sale in your market, allowing you to sell faster and/or for more money!

Some staging tips to help you start:
Follow these general tips and your home will look better than the competition.  Get ready to move… Start packing!

INSIDE

• Clear all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. Keep decorative objects on the furniture restricted to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items. In general; a sparsely decorated home helps the buyer mentally ‘move in’ with their own things.
• Rearrange or remove some of the furniture in your home, if necessary. Many times home owners have too much furniture in a room. When it comes to selling your home, thin out overcrowded rooms to make the rooms appear larger.
• Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it hasn’t been used for three months… put it away!
  Clear refrigerator fronts of messages, magnets, pictures, etc.
• In the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from the countertops, tub, shower stall and commode top. Keep only the most necessary cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc., in one small group on the counter. Coordinate towels in one or two colors only.
• Take down, reduce, or rearrange pictures and objects on walls. Patch and paint all walls, if necessary.
• Review the house interior, room by room, and:
  1. Paint any room needing paint.
  2. Clean carpet and draperies that need it.
  3. Clean windows.
• If you need room to store extra possessions use the garage or rent a storage unit.
• Leave on certain lights during the day (your agent will show you which ones). During showings turn on ALL lights and lamps.
•  Play light FM music every day in the house, for all viewings.

OUTSIDE

• Go around the perimeter of the house and move all garbage cans, discarded wood scraps, extra building materials, etc., to the garage or, if applicable, take them to the dump.
• Check gutters and roof for dry rot and moss. Make sure they are swept & cleaned.
• Look at all plants. Plants are like children…they grow so fast. Prune bushes and trees. Keep plants from blocking windows: “You can’t sell a house if you can’t see it!”
  
• Remove any dead plants, weed all planting areas and put down fresh mulching material.
• Keep your lawn freshly cut, edged and fertilized during the growing season.
• Clear patios or decks of all small items, such as little planters, flower pots, charcoal, barbeques, toys, etc.
• Check the condition of the paint on your home, especially the trim and the front door. The first impression, or ‘curb appeal,’ is very important. You will never get a second chance to make a first impression! 

IN GENERAL

Try to look at your house “through a buyer’s eyes,” as though you’ve never seen it before. This exercise will help you see what needs to be done. Any time and money invested on these items will usually bring you the return of more money and a quicker sale.

  Staging Works … it really works!

by Helena Nordstrom, Team Nordstrom, Signature Sotheby’s International Realty; Accredited Staging Professional