Home Staging
Home staging is the preparation of a residence for sale in the real estate market. The goal is to make the home as appealing and attractive as possible, to make an excellent and accurate first impression, and to not leave any question marks in the head of a prospective buyer. By staging the home, you are helping the prospective home buyer to visualize themselves living in the house that you’re trying to sell.
When home staging, ask yourself the following simple questions: What will potential buyers see? What do they want to see? What will they feel when visiting? Also ask real estate agents and search online for tips that will make you an expert on how to make your home stand out.
According to a Procter & Gamble study of buyer behaviors, the most important characteristics of a buyer are the following:
69% – location
12% – curb appeal
10% – a homey feel
9% – size
While agents and clients can’t do much about changing a home’s size or location, they can do something to manage a house’s curb appeal and homey characteristics. In that same survey, they found that 72% of a home buyer’s first impressions can be molded by the seller with the use of effective home staging.
This can be achieved by the following:
CLEAN UP YOUR HOME
Make sure that the walls and floors are as clean-looking as possible, even if it means repainting your walls and re-carpeting or re-surfacing your floors.
GET RID OF CLUTTER
First impressions are so key so if you have any office materials, dirty clothes or kids and pet toys cluttering up the floors and visual eyeline inside your home, be sure to clean up.
ODORS AND PETS
Ask yourself: Does your place stink? Seriously, is there a funky odor that people may experience when entering your home?
Perhaps you may want to throw some windows open and air out your house before inviting potential buyers over. Or invest in a product beforehand that will disinfect and freshen up the air in your home.
If you’re a pet owner, be very aware of the myriad potential turn-offs to a prospective buyer. Even though our pets are practically extended family, there are many ways that a dog or cat can alienate a buyer. So while marketing your home, consider keeping your pet out of the picture, perhaps leaving them with friends or family or pet daycare way out of view. Some people visiting your home may be allergic to your pet. Or their odors or the visual of their unsightly eating and bathroom areas may negatively influence a potential buyer. This may seem petty to a loving pet owner as yourself, but to a buyer who is not as love with your pets as you are, this little detail can have a bad impact on a sale.
CIGARETTE SMOKE
As a society, we’ve come a long way since the days portrayed in the TV show “Mad Men.” This is especially true in health-conscious California. Since only about 21% of the population today smokes cigarettes, expect that about 80% of all buyers will be non-smokers. So make sure that pesky nicotine odors do not funk up your home’s atmosphere and permeate the furniture. It could turn off a potential buyer.
STRONG LIGHTING
Another big turn-off to a buyer: not enough light. If your place lacks enough windows and natural light, invest in some bonus lighting to brighten up your home’s interior. Most people do not want to feel as if they’re living in a cave.
YOUR ONLINE PRESENTATION
When submitting your images to your agent for your home’s real estate listing, sure to take many good, well-lit photographs of every part of your home in clear daylight. You want to start off on the best possible footing and, let’s face it, the first thing most buyers are going to see are these photos online so make sure you make a great impression and that the images accurately reflect the true nature of the house you are selling.