Staging To Sell Your Home
Kim Childs
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taging ultimately benefits the seller. A well-dressed, sparkling house can garner lots of attention, and potentially sell very quickly. This is true regardless of whether the market is cold or hot. In a cold market, buyers don’t have to settle for anything less than the best. Why should they spend time and money fixing up a distressed home when a staged house looks great and is move-in ready? In a hot market, buyers can go into feeding-frenzy mode, focusing on the hot property of the week and ignoring the others. So you want your property to be the hot one, with buyers going crazy in their efforts to outbid each other.
Tales of Transformation: Before & After
Lots of severe brown in lovely kitchen.
Accessories break up the brown to lighten it up!
Dining room feels dull - not much to look at.
Color and interest show off entire dining room.
Feels lacking - too many lamps.
A more outdated presentation...
Living room does not feel cohesive.
Area rug anchors fireplace as a focus.
A more light and airy feel!
Opens up living room - focus on fireplace.
Tip 1: Grab Them From the Curb
Chairs shown as a clump, in the corner.
1980s color.
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ake potential buyers fall in love with your home from the street by adding potted plants and flowers, powerwashing patios and walkways, weeding the garden and mowing the lawn. It’s your first chance to make a good impression, so you’ve got to make it count. Make your home inviting so they will want to come in!
Entire deck is used and leads eye towards the house.
2017 color.
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hat Home Stagers Do A home stager is similar to an interior decorator -- with expertise in planning and choosing colors, fabrics, and furniture, and arranging them all in a way that makes your home look its best. But a good home stager brings a few extra things to the mix. The stager is not focused on creating a home that suits your personal taste and need for everyday comforts, but instead on making your home appeal to a broad range of tastes. Livable or not -- probably not, after you’ve hidden the toaster, toothpaste, and laundry hamper -- the idea is for the stager’s work to help people see themselves in your home and make them want to buy it.
Inviting sitting area and colorful pot.
Tip 2: Make it Sparkle
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Entry is inviting.
retend that your mother or mother-in-law is coming for a visit. Think hotel clean. Mop, dust, vacuum, wash windows, baseboards — even the cat. Remember that people will look in your cupboards, under your sinks and in your closets. Also, pay particular attention to odors. You might even consider consulting a neutral nose by having a friend come by for a smell test.
Color brings your eye around.
Interesting color and texture ‘framed’ well.
Y Tip 3: Pay Attention to Color and Light
Before - wallpaper and brass light.
ou may love hot pink in the living room, but too-bright colors turn buyers off. Neutralize strong colors for the broadest appeal. A neutral home appears larger and will appeal to a much broader audience. Also, open up blinds and draperies to make sure there’s sufficient natural light throughout the home. Remember, lighting is the most effective way to set a mood.
After - neutral paint and new light.
Before: pastel flowered wallpaper and brass light fixture.
After: neutral paint and new light fixtures.
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ore specifically, here’s what a stager might do to get your house ready for sale:
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hey will examine your home from top to bottom, and explain what should be done to get it ready. Together, you and the stager can review the recommendations and costs, if any, and develop a plan of action. Identify specific ways to highlight your home’s best features and compensate for its shortcomings. For example, the stager might recommend removing curtains from a window that has a great view; or, in a small bedroom, replace the double bed with a twin or even a baby’s crib, in order to make the space look larger.
Don’t #1: Don’t take it personally. As soon as you decide to make the commitment to sell your home, you need to think of it as a product, one that you want to sell fast and for top dollar. Don’t take buyers’ remarks personally. Instead, think of it as free advice on how to make your product live up to its highest potential. Emotionally detach yourself.
F Tip 4: Depersonalize
ew things deter buyers more than a cluttered home. They need to see your home, not your stuff. Excessive personal items like photos, collections, personal awards, electronics and collectibles may make it difficult for buyers to see past your personal style and may deter a sale. Taking yourself out of the picture makes it easier for buyers to imagine themselves, and their furniture and collectibles, in your space.
Before: wallpaper border and outdated table with cloth.
After: neutral presentation.
Before: outdated valences and dark area rug.
After: neutral presentation.
Before: dark walls and furniture.
After: same walls, neutral furniture.
T Tip 5: Consider Replacing Furniture
Before: light fixture and furniture suggest 1990s.
hink about removing or replacing worn or outdated furnishings and removing extra pieces. The time has come to move beyond matching furniture, so break up your sets; dated can easily become eclectic with editing and rearranging. Consider consulting with a professional stager for design direction and advice on rental furnishings to create an inviting home with broad appeal to a wide range of buyers.
After: light fixture and furniture = current presentation.
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tagers may recommend which furniture and household possessions should stay in the house and which should be removed. Be prepared to either move or place into storage some of your possessions, so as to simplify the presentation and depersonalize your house. We will help you arrange for recommended repairs or other major work on your home -- by lining up contractors, carpenters, painters, and landscapers, and overseeing their work. (You’ll normally pay their bills separately, however.)
Before: eye stops at black chair. Fireplace presentation too small for grand fireplace.
Tip 6: Invest in New Artwork
After: color brings your eye around the room- fireplace a focal point.
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isplaying new artwork is a great way to breathe new life into a room. Photography can be used to contemporize a room and add a splash of color as well.
Don’t #2: Don’t do major renovations. Finishes and fixtures that you see as beautiful may not suit every buyer’s tastes. It is best to limit the amount of time and investment you make on renovations to the essentials — replace old flooring, tackle small repairs, paint, change outdated fixtures. Save your renovation energy and dollars for your new home.
Tip 7: Apply a Fresh Coat of Paint
Before: dark pallet...
Before: maroon pallet...
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t’s the best bang for your buck that will quickly refresh a dull, dated room. Paint a fresh, neutral color on the space. Choose a beige or taupe for living spaces and a neutral green or blue for bathrooms.
After: lighter pallet.
After: neutral pallet.
Before: where is the focus?
Before: arrangement, colors, and presentation of the room contribute to disunited feel.
After: focus clearly on fireplace and wall of windows.
After: lighter, inviting, unified feel.
Tip 8: Don’t Forget the Floors
G
et rid of worn carpets, and consider refinishing shabby hardwood floors. An inexpensive new area rug is a quick fix and can disguise the look of old floors.
Dont #3: Don’t think the house will sell itself. The real estate market is a game. You need to make your home the most appealing product on the block. Simplify, clean, do small repairs, repaint and, in general, make it feel fresh and welcoming.
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more expensive, but often desirable option for higher-end, vacant homes is to hire a stager to bring in furniture, art work, curtains, carpets, pillows, and even artful-yet-homey objects like a bowl of oranges (either real or high-quality fakes!), potted orchids, and a welcoming doormat. Many stagers keep warehouses of these pieces, all carefully coordinated and chosen to make your house feel like a place where people can live their dream life. The expense to the seller when a home is vacant usually yields a multiple return in sales price.
Tip 9: Spring for New Light Fixtures
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enew the look of the room by replacing old or dated light fixtures, door hardware, light switches and outlets. If it’s tacky and older than you, get it out of there.
Examples of newer, ‘today,’ light fixtures!
Don’t #4: Don’t run out and purchase all new furniture. Chances are the furniture you have is not the reason your space is not selling. You may just have too much of it in one area. Or perhaps it needs to be cleaned or just neutralized with a simple throw or some pillows. Remove before you completely redo. Before: family room closed off.
Before: looking a bit ‘forlorn.’
After: family room opened up - light colors.
After: pillows bring look together.
Log cabin staged!
Entry area staged!
Small 2 bedroom kitchen area staged!
Living room staged!
Don’t #5: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We call in a professional stager, an we pay for a two hour consultation. Whether they just spend a couple hours giving you some helpful tips or they come in to completely redecorate your entire space, if you opt for more in-depth assistance, it is money well spent and will eventually end up back in your pocket when you sell your home for top dollar.
Staged family room - off-white offsets dark.
Kim Childs Oregon Licensed Broker - GRI 503-336-7126 info@kimchildsteam.com www.kimchildsteam.com www.kimchildsteam.smarthomeprice.com 7504 SW Bridgeport Rd. Portland OR 97224