Affordable Ways to Depersonalize and Stage Your Home
When you are getting your home ready for real estate listing photos or an open house, it’s important to make it as appealing as possible to the largest number of buyers. When buyers are shopping for a new home, they don't want to see your photos, collectibles, unusual artwork, and other personal stuff. Therefore, you will need to stage your home by depersonalizing, decluttering, and using other methods listed below for a smooth and affordable home selling experience.
Pack up your stuff
In addition to photos and personal collections, you should also remove knickknacks, framed certificates, trophies, sports equipment, political items, and most toys. You might love all your belongings, but buyers don't. They want to imagine their own things in the house, and that's difficult to do if they can't see through all your clutter.
Prospective buyers will open your closets, and if they are messy or packed with clothing, it may discourage a sale. You should remove as many clothing items as you can to make the look more spacious. Pack the clothes you don’t need right away in cardboard boxes, which are cheaper than hard plastic ones.
Clean it up
After your home is decluttered and depersonalized, it needs a thorough cleaning. Pay special attention to bathrooms and the kitchen, where buyers will really notice any grime. Remove all small appliances from your kitchen countertops, and make sure your refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, and range sparkle. If there are any stains on your carpeting, you’ll want to remove these as well by hiring professional carpet cleaners (averages $25 to $75 per room). Make sure to ask them to steam clean your carpets to avoid potential damage.
Right before a showing, take all your toiletries and personal items off your bathroom counters and out of showers and tubs. You can easily tuck them away in a tote under the sink. Stage your bathroom like a model home with a simple hand towel and maybe some affordable fragrant bath salts in a jar.
Downsize your furniture
Big, bulky furniture pieces make your home look smaller than it is – especially in photos. Before taking photos for your listing, remove large or outdated pieces. If necessary, rent small, more modern furnishings to stage the main rooms of your house.
Furniture placement also has a significant impact on how large and open a space feels. Pull furniture away from the walls, and use area rugs when you need to delineate different conversation areas. Show off hardwood floors whenever possible. Kiplinger.com indicates that hardwood flooring is one of the most sought-after features by homebuyers.
Additionally, take out the leaf in your dining table and use fewer chairs. Never use a tablecloth in photos or at showings, as it will make the room appear smaller.
Check out the competition
Search for listings in your area that are similarly priced to your home. While searching online for homes, look at the online photos and videos to see how the houses stack up to yours. If possible, visit these homes during open houses to see how the sellers are staging and depersonalizing their homes. Also make sure to speak with an experienced and knowledgeable real estate professional from North Texas Top Team for staging and other home-selling tips. If you feel your home won’t meet buyers’ standards, you may need to invest in a professional stager to get your home ready to sell (which averages $500 to $600 per room).
Get rid of odors before showing
You are used to the smells in your home, but off-putting odors can really turn off buyers. Have a friend come by your house and smell around for odors. Remove any trash, food, and pet items that are causing the smells. Your garbage disposal might also be causing your kitchen to stink. A DIY mixture of baking soda and vinegar can help deodorize your drain. Right before your open house, try baking cookies or brewing coffee to fill your home with inviting scents.
It can take up to 70 days to sell a home, but it’s worth the effort if you make a significant profit. Though the housing market can be tough for sellers in some areas of the county, with a little bit of cleaning, decluttering, and staging, your home can be primed to sell—without the need to stretch your budget.
For outstanding real estate service dedicated to selling your home for top dollar, partner with the realty experts at North Texas Top Team! Call (469) 759-3899 or email Melissa@NorthTexasTopTeam.com today!
Photo via Pixabay