Selling Your House? 4 Tips for Staging Your Home on a Budget
Are you Wondering what you need to do to give your house the best chance possible of selling quickly? While there are many things you can do to improve the look of your home, you likely don’t want to spend a fortune doing so. Here are some ways you can spruce up your home without emptying your bank account.
Use Some Elbow Grease
It can be tempting to replace everything from windows to shower curtain rods when you’re preparing to sell. However, often a bucket of soapy water and a sponge can make those items brand new. Spend time scrubbing every surface of your house to distinguish what needs to be replaced from those things that are simply dirty. Spend a weekend thoroughly cleaning your appliances, baseboards, and every surface in every room well in advance of putting it on the market.
Invest in a Storage Unit
Professional home stagers will generally first recommend homeowners eliminate clutter. This usually involves removing as many items as possible from each room to provide a clean appearance. If you can’t store items with a relative or friend until your move, shop around for an affordable storage unit large enough to hold your items and start filling it up with items from your home. Look at each room of your house and remove excess furniture, as well as personal items like family pictures and knickknacks. Professional stagers recommend you decrease the possessions in your home by at least 50 percent to be most effective.
Focus on First Impressions
Curb appeal is essential to selling your home. As a buyer browses through photos on real estate listing sites, that first photo determines whether or not he’ll click through to see more. Your real estate agent will probably use the photo of the front of your home as that primary photo, which means it needs to be as compelling as possible. Change out the landscaping at the front of your house to make it pop. You should also paint shutters, trim, and your front door if they need it. Once your house is on the market, be sure you keep your yard maintained on a weekly basis, especially if you’re selling during the time of year when grass grows fairly quickly.
Study the Experts
Professional stagers have a variety of tools they use to spice up a home, but you don’t have to bring in an expert to utilize their expertise. Tricks like moving furniture away from rugs, adding lighting, and grouping objects in odd numbers can make a big difference in the way a room looks. Try to see your home objectively and move items from one room to the next until you find the perfect look for each room of your home.
If you’re thinking about selling your home, staging can make a big difference in how quickly it sells. Study other homes on the market and look around your own house to find ways you can spruce up each room to help your house find a new family.
