Staging Your Home For Resale

For many of us, the term ‘staging’ in the world of real estate or home design, is no strange term to us. For those of us who may not be familiar with it however, stagers are decorating professionals offering their services in preparing your home for resale.

In other words, they will help your home show well with the goal of seeing a faster sale and hopefully, a more profitable one for you, the seller.

You can get into tens of thousands of dollars hiring a professional staging crew and for good reason. 

Most stagers in larger metropolitan centers keep a surplus of props in furniture and accessories, in a storage facility or warehouse.  They will basically rent out their props on a monthly basis to you, usually per room, to help your house show in the best light possible. As well, they will need to charge for moving fees of the rented furniture and accessories etc. and then designer fees and the installation of the rented furnishings and props. 

In an exciting and highly-active and competitive real estate market, the financial rewards and savings can be well worth the money spent on professional home-staging!

Seeing that many of us won’t realize the return of the expense in a more robust real estate market as exists elsewhere though,  there is a good amount of staging which homeowners can do for themselves. 

And it doesn’t take a lot of money to do.

It’s All Connected

If the location, neighborhood and price range of your home all meet the criteria for a potential buyer, then you stand a chance at seeing that same potential buyer make you an offer on your home. 

But you first have to get that potential buyer inside your home. 

And it’s all connected, as the outside of your home and property will be the very first thing they see.  That will suggest to them all that lies waiting for them inside.

If they’re not impressed by the outside of the home and its surroundings, chances are slim to none that you will see them step inside and that very simply translates to, no offer hence, no sale.

Doing all that is within your capability of doing will determine how much further you can interest that potential buyer.

Enter Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is ultra-important in getting potential buyers inside your home and is sometimes underestimated.  Curb appeal can be seen as an extension of the inside of your home as you’re not just selling the rooms of your home, but also, its extended living area outdoors and your property as a whole – your lot included.

You can’t do much about the location or the neighborhood, but what IS within your control begins with the outside of your home and all that is your property.

And first impressions will count in a major way.  

Scenario

Imagine this.  You’ve arranged to meet your real estate agent to visit a property at 24 Sycamore St for the first time, in your search for your new home.

You’re driving through the neighborhood en route to the address.  So far, everything you’ve seen is checking off all the boxes in your requirements.  The house would be centrally located, schools, dr’s offices, daycares, public transit close by and it’s a short distance to your work etc. 

You’ve turned onto Sycamore Street, noting the neighboring properties and how well they’re maintained.

You’ve made it this far. It’s all seeming to your satisfaction and you’re thinking “I really can imagine us living here!”  

And you arrive at 24 Sycamore. 

There’s an old kitchen chair on the front step, the dog is tied to the front door, bicycles strewn all over the overgrown grass of the front lawn.  The gutter is hanging unsupported from the right side of the house, there’s a piece of siding missing from the front of the house, a wayward Sobeys bag all caught up in the shrubs.  The driveway is full of wind-blown branches and a window shutter sits tilted against windows which for sure haven’t seen a cleaning in at least two years.

As a potential buyer, what is running through my mind is if the façade and lot of the home lack maintenance, I don’t need a great imagination to know that the inside is no more well-maintained.

And I’m no longer entertaining the idea of this home as being mine.  

Come In!

But…let’s say the shrubs are trimmed, the porch is beautiful with an inviting front entrance, grass freshly mowed, beautiful pots of blooming flowers on the front step.  At that, I agree to enter the inside of the house because I’m still considering this property.

We enter through the front door.

Backpacks and school books everywhere, snack wrappers, you’re stepping over a mess of shoes and there’s a small puddle of something on the floor next to the dog leash.  Yikes! 

The agent leads us down the hallway to the kitchen featuring hot pink walls, cluttered countertops, the house smells of deep-fry, a cupboard door hangs from its hinges next to a grimy cooktop and hood…a squealing dishwasher that’s running and a dirty floor mat at the kitchen sink.

At this point, I’m VERY politely agreeing to see the bathrooms because I’m already inside the house and I don’t want to be rude.  But the kitchen pretty much sealed it for me and my mind is already looking forward to the next house the agent has made us an appointment for. 

And it just grows worse.  A bathroom’s shower surround is separating from the wall in a grimy bathtub, outdated flooring, stained toilet bowl, bright green wall paint and that shower curtain!  Ewww!

I am out of there and have crossed this home off my list.

A potential sale is lost for you, the seller, with not even so much as an offer.

You get but one chance with a prospective buyer, until they’re gone.  And they won’t be back.

Seeing It For The Very First Time

When preparing to sell your home, it’s important to stand back and objectively view everything about your house and property as though through the eyes of someone seeing it for the very first time.

As a buyer, I have a list of what is important to me when looking to buy a house and needing to buy a house.  

It could be yours that I buy but either way, I will be buying a house.

The Do’s

Curb appeal is often overlooked in showing a home, but is ULTRA important.  It’s a potential buyer’s first impression of your home. 

You need to get them through that front door before you can even hope for an offer let alone a sale.

Keeping your property clean, tidy and performing the maintenance required with grass mowed, blooming flowers, porch floor freshly painted, new hinges on the screen door, windows cleaned, maintained landscaping etc. are what will maintain their interest and have them still wanting to see the inside. 

Recoat the driveway, freshen the paint on the garden shed, weed the paths and flowerbeds, remove the cobwebs from corners and your mailbox. 

Give your front door a fresh coat of paint and a new door mat if needed. Repair the porch spindle and that second step you took notice of last week. 

Anything that you can see, they will see.  Take note of all you do see and work off that list, one item at a time.

Make A Test Run

Once addressing curb appeal and having performed all maintenance, put yourself in the shoes of a prospective buyer who is now at your front door.

Walk out your front door and with an objective eye, walk back inside. 

What do you first see when the door opens?

And that is where you begin.

Room by room – repair, refresh, declutter, clean and organize. 

Sit in each room and look around you.  Ask yourself what it is that someone else would be seeing and make notes in a ‘to-do’ list.

Time Is Money

Invest the time required to get it done as the faster your home sells once on the market, the sooner you’ll see its expenses gone.  Not everyone will have a budget for all that I’m about to mention, as there are various degrees of staging that you can opt to do yourself, but if and where you can, investing a few dollars in maximizing the chance of your house selling will go a long way.

If you see required drywall repairs, do them. If you need a new shower curtain and a new floor runner, buy them.

And if areas need a fresh coat of paint, paint them. 

Keep your paint colors and décor neutral for the most part to allow your potential buyer to imagine themselves living there. When selling your home, you have to see it not as the humble abode you’ve lived and loved in for 35 years but as the financial investment it is and as the home someone is seeing for the very first time and imagining themselves living in.

It Takes Money To Make Money

As mentioned earlier, there are various stages of staging and preparing your home for resale and it’s up to you what you are willing to invest in maximizing your chance of a sale.  Some of these stages will require very little money, and others will require a further small investment. 

Be prepared to spend, if you can, on accessories as needed.

A few toss cushions and throws, wall art, new curtains or blinds where needed will go a long way.  It’s a minimal investment in staging your home and the bonus in that expenditure is that you can take a good portion of it with you to your new home.  Keep in mind the adage “it takes money to make money”. 

Preparing your home for a sale is about maximizing the potential return on a rather significant investment which you’ve been paying into for years – as much as it is about increasing the possibility of a sale and ensuring your house a shorter time on the market.

Avoiding The Fire Sale Status

Folks do love a ‘fire sale’ and the longer a house sits on the market, the more it will be seen as one.  And once that happens, the well-below asking price offers will begin to roll in.  It will be nothing short of frustrating and a complete waste of your time.  Get it right from get-go and you will be closer to seeing your house sold within your asking price and in a shorter time.

It’s The Little Things

Once the bigger things from your checklist have been completed and your house is ready for its first showing, consider everyone living in your home.

Check the doggies into the kennel for the day or take them to the dog park while your potential buyers are viewing your home with the trusted agent.  Not everyone will appreciate your doggies as you do.

Arrange your viewing appointments through your agent for a time when the kids are in school if you can, but regardless, be sure to have every family member absent during the viewings where possible.  Prospective buyers will be needing the freedom of turning on faucets, flushing toilets, opening cupboard doors and closets etc. in inspecting your property.  The more they are able to do that discreetly and thoroughly, the greater the chances of an offer – providing of course that you’ve done all from your checklist as needed.

Fresh cut supermarket flowers are not expensive and will add a pop of color and freshness to an otherwise lackluster room. 

And don’t forget to put that pot of simmering cinnamon sticks and brown sugar on the stove-top that will leave your kitchen smelling like a bakery.  And be sure to do it for each and every open house and showing from the very moment you list with your agent. 

It has to look good, smell good and feel good to the prospective buyer.

One Chance

Showing your home in the absolute best light possible need not be expensive.  It DOES take time and physical work to perform required tasks but it DOESN’T take a lot of money and you stand a very good chance of getting what you do spend, back in your sale.  And it can potentially see you with an earlier sale. 

But be sure to have it ‘show-ready’ BEFORE that first showing or open house. 

One of the greatest forms of advertising is ‘word of mouth’. Just as it can work in your favour, it can work against you. Keeping that in mind, you’ll want your home to make a good impression from Day 1 on the market. As if it’s not up to par, rest assured, they will be telling their friends and colleagues.

You get but one chance with a potential buyer.  Every person shown your home, is a potential sale for your home and once gone, they won’t be back.

When A Home Shows Well

When a home shows well, it often times sells itself.  If you can get that potential buyer through your front door with curb appeal and hold them there with a home that shows well and one that your agent will be proud to show, then you are one step closer to seeing an offer and future interest and offers.

In the end, that potential buyer is going to be buying a home – yours or someone else’s. You will want it to be yours!

Staging your property for resale, is simply about maximizing all you do have and embellishing where you can, to have your home displayed in the best light possible. 

Give yourself and your home every chance at a sale and at the very least, an offer.

As once with an offer in hand, anything is possible! 

Happy Staging!!