Staging Is Readying the Home to Show: The Three D’s

DEPERSONALIZED

Staging is readying the home to show to potential buyers; you must encourage them to visualize living in the home itself, but not in your home.

Depersonalizing the home involves removing your personal items, such as photos, trophies, and collectibles. Knickknacks and wall decor are also personal taste items that may distract buyers from seeing the home as theirs. It’s not personal but no one – besides you – will appreciate your beer can collection, antique kitchen accessories, overstuffed closets, VHS/CF/DVD records collections, and general clutter, except you. Simplify and neutralize your home as if it were a model home, because that’s exactly what it is while it’s on the market.

Pack and store your treasured items out of sight. Consider monthly rented storage units until your home sells.

Make your home a clean, welcoming, blank canvas upon which any buyer can visually paint their own dreams. It will not feel like your home while. you show the home, but once you sell and move into your next place, you can decorate that home any way you like.

DE-CLUTTER AND DISCARD

It is understandably inconvenient to live in your home without your “stuff”, like living in a hotel. However, it’s a necessary component of getting top dollar for you house.

Extra furniture and items like books, magazines, CD collections, and hobby supplies add weight and visual distraction in a room. Your salt & pepper shake collection is going to look like clutter, even if the buyer collects salt & pepper shakers.

The more spacious your home appears the more appealing it will be. Minimize as much as possible. You want the home shopper to see what your home has to offer, not to guess about the potential or possibilities.

DEEP CLEANING: Spotless Is the Name of the Game

Doing a thorough, deep cleaning of your home is vital. It works for people selling a car )they get more money), and it will work for you when selling your home. With the home depersonalized and de-cluttered, it might make sense to use a professional deep-cleaning residential service.

Otherwise, with the clutter gone, move on to cleaning each room. Tidy each room from top to bottom. Be meticulous, specially int he kitchen and bathrooms. Homebuyers will open cabinets, pantries, and closets to assess their storage opportunities.

Kitchen and Bath: Focus on High-Impact Areas

The most important rooms in your home are the kitchen and bathrooms. A kitchen can sell a house because it is the heart of a home, the place family and friends gather to enjoy one another’s company. Buyers will be turned off by dirt and grime, cooking smells, and trash. Clean all cabinet surfaces as well as under the sink.

Bathrooms are so important to Americans that most homes have at least two or three. As you work towards selling your home, it is imperative that the bathrooms are kept clean and odor-free.

Potential buyers might forgive a less-than-stellar child’s room, but a questionable bathroom or kitchen could cost you a sale.

Pet Peeves

Pets are wonderful, but homebuyers want to see your home without them. Domestic animals are not unique features or selling points of homes; pet dander and odor aren’t going to provide a positive viewing experience. Some prospects might have allergies, other may not like animals, and for all, they are an unnecessary distraction. Minimize the presence of pet. Dog dishes, cat litter boxes, and beds need to be clean. Pets should be relegated to cages or backyards while showing your home.

With all the staging complete, you are now ready to list and showcase your home.

Remember: Staging is readying the home to show to potential buyers

Excerpted from my book “Selling Secrets – You Can’t Afford to Miss”
Ricardo Parente, Realtor®
Coldwell Banker Realty | Winter Park, FL

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