Mistakes to Avoid When Staging Your Home
There is a lot that goes into preparing your home for market and one piece to the listing puzzle is professional www. There are many parts to the staging process, but here are a few highlights and mistakes to avoid:
- Moving forward without a plan in place
For the last few years, sellers have been in a fantastic and fortunate position to list their home and have it sell quickly and generally with very desirable terms. Because this has been the norm for a while, some sellers are under the impression that they don’t need to do anything to their home to prep it for market and it will sell just as quickly. We don’t blame these sellers! It’s easy to see why that would be the case, but we have a very different POV.
Getting your home ready for market, and specifically hiring a professional stager, improves your chances of earning the highest rate of return when selling your property…and the statistics speak for themselves. According to an article from the National Association of Realtors®, staging can help sell a home three to 30 times faster than a non-staged home. Additionally, having a home professionally staged can help increase the sale price by up to 20% on average. To read the article in full, click here.
And don’t forget about emotional attachment. Sellers obviously love their home and may even see it as an extension of themselves and their family. A home stager has an unbiased view and will help get the home ready for potential buyers.
- Making your home active before it’s complete
Unless buyers are eager and prepared to renovate, most are looking for homes that have been lovingly and well maintained and are move-in ready. Listing before it’s ready may result in receiving lower offers and not a lot of buyer traffic. There are conditions that are outside of your control as a seller, but one is taking care of your house and presenting it in the best light possible when it’s listed. Don’t skip this important step! Taking the time to complete simple tasks that are presented by your Realtor® and/or stager will pay off.
- Ignoring easy improvements
Areas of the home that need a little TLC are almost always affordable and simple to fix. It’s definitely worth going the extra mile to apply some fresh paint to walls, cabinets, trim etc., replace light bulbs to match, update a light fixture or two, clear the yard and garden of any debris and add some lovely curb appeal. These are all things that are easy, bring life back to the house and make the home ready for market. It shows that the seller has cared for the home and it’s important to convey that message in photos and online marketing to attract potential buyers.
- Not using a professional photographer
Having a skilled photographer take pictures is crucial to marketing a home. Professional photos will show the home in it’s best possible light and photos taken with a phone camera are often dark, crooked, and just look unappealing.
- Leaving decor that is time-stamped
If the home has taste specific wallpaper, time-stamped window treatments, design specific paint, or aged furniture can easily cost you a potential buyer.
As a seller it is in your best interest to remove and simplify. Have the wallpaper removed and apply some new paint. If this seems overwhelming, it may benefit you to hire a professional home stager to assist you in the fix and flip process.
- Using bold colors
Bright colors in a home can be happy and bring life to a room, but when selling, it’s important to use neutral colors that are both calming and will go with a variety of furniture and decor. Buyers will not have to paint after moving in unless they decide they’d like to add their own personal touches.
- Cleaning is NOT the same thing as staging
Cleaning and staging are not the same. Having a clean home is extremely important. If selling occupied a home edit is a must. and arranging furniture to showcase the s fixed assists is just as important. Utilizing the correct furniture and color palette will help emphasize the options and functions of a room to potential buyers.
The goal should always be to give potential buyers a chance to see what the room could look like completely new and helping them to visualize what their life could be in the home.
- Using high amounts of artificial fragrance
You don’t want to overwhelm potential buyers with large amounts of sprays and candles. Instead, try opening the windows and allow fresh air to flow through the home. You don’t want buyers to think there is something wrong with the smell of your house by trying to mask it. It’s also important to consider those who may have a reaction to artificial fragrances.
- Using furniture that isn’t the right size
It’s important to consider proportions in each space in the home. Using furniture that’s too big, for example, may make the room feel cramped. It may also highlight features that you want to avoid like an odd layout or room that is narrow.
- Not thinking about lighting
Lighting is very important when staging your home. In an ideal situation, sellers will consider updating light fixtures throughout. If this is not in the budget, don’t worry! The easiest and most affordable solution is focusing on matching color temperature. One thing sellers may not consider is having bulbs that are all the same. Having mismatched bulbs will not only affect how photos look but… it just looks bad! We want to create a cozy atmosphere so it’s important to stay away from lightbulbs that have “daylight” on the box, or anything above 3500K. Stick with 3000K if possible as it isn’t super yellow, but does not lean blue. We want to stay clear of harsh light that reminds buyers of a hospital.
- Ignoring Curb Appeal
While the interior design of the home is critical, it won’t mean a thing if the exterior is a mess. Curb appeal is the first part of the home and buyer sees so it’s important for the outside to be neat and attractive… we want to grab attention! Power washing, removing leaves, mulching, keep bushes trimmed and even adding some beautiful pops of color with plants or flowers is a great place to start when sprucing up the outside.
There is so much more that goes into staging, but we hope this helps! We will always recommend staging to our seller clients because we have seen firsthand how it has helped not only sell the home fast, but provide a great ROI. Don’t skip this important step. And remember, when hiring the Small and Associates team, we have an excellent partnership with an award winning national home staging expert so we can meet all of your home selling needs.