Home staging means getting your home ready for potential buyers to tour and walk through it. Here are five easy tips for FSBOs (For Sale By Owners) to help them stage their own homes.
Selling your own home FSBO (For Sale By Owner) is the ultimate DIY project. It’s most likely the largest monetary transaction of your life, and you’re in charge of the whole thing. In the end, you’ll know a lot more about real estate and you’ll keep some money in your pocket after the sale by avoiding the seller’s commission rate.
While it’s no walk in the park, selling your own home can be done if you’re willing to commit the time and the effort.
Today we’re going to focus on how to stage your own home…
What Is Home Staging?
Many of you may be asking yourselves, “What exactly is home staging?”
After you set the price, put up a sign and list your property, you’re going to get interested buyers who want to tour your home. And if you want to make a great first impression and get the maximum amount of money, you’re going to need to “stage” your home.
Home Staging Basics
Staging simply means that you’re going to get your home ready to impress a third party buyer. Someone, or a couple, or a family, will walk throughout your entire home, judging it. And more importantly, they will try and imagine themselves living there.
Your job is to make that as easy as possible for them. This means basic things such as:
- Deep cleaning: including windows, ceiling fans, the oven, etc.
- Decluttering: if it’s not essential to everyday living, it’s got to go.
- Depersonalizing: memorabilia, mementos, knick-knacks, family photos, etc.
- Odors: especially pet odors. Any odd or funky smells need to be addressed.
This is basic, common sense staging advice. If you’re a determined FSBO and you’re ready to stage your own home, we’ve got five more, relatively inexpensive tips to help you.
Home Staging Tips
Home Staging Tip #1: Put It In Neutral
If you want to make a really good impression, go above and beyond touch up paint, and repaint your entire home. It’s something you can do on your own and the costs don’t run too high.
When it comes to choosing colors, you’re Sweden. Neutrals only. If you’re into lime green and burnt orange, that’s great, save it for your next home.
The home you’re staging needs a soft, light color palette. You’re looking for something that is noticeable, but also blends. A light gray with blue, green or purple undertones or a light beige, such as Canvas tan, are both excellent choices for a neutral wall or hallway color.
Home Staging Tip #2: Mirror-Mirror
It’s not an old wives tale: mirrors make rooms look larger. Make sure you place a mirror in every room and make sure you vary their size. Go to a discount home store or even a craft store and buy a few inexpensive, decorate mirrors.
As you are taking down your personal artwork or framed photos, you can simply replace them with your new mirrors.
Home Staging Tip #3: Off The Wall
If you’re like most people, your couch is jammed up against the wall so you can “maximize” your space. But staging is all about perception, and buyers perceive spaces to be bigger when the furniture is pulled in, off the walls, and more toward the center of the room.
Move your couches and chairs and coffee table to middle, creating little “conversation spaces”, leaving 2-3 feet from the walls. Trust us, it works and it won’t cost you a dime.
Home Staging Tip #4: Light It Up
After painting and cleaning and rearranging, you don’t want people to struggle to see these wonderful changes. You need to light the way for your guests!
Change out all the bulbs and increase their wattage by 50%. Add floor and table lamps wherever possible, just don’t over do it. If you have the budget, replace old light fixtures with new, trendy fixtures that match your décor.
Home Staging Tip #5: Rooms Need A Purpose
If you have a room or a loft or a nook that doesn’t really serve a specific purpose, change it so it does. For example, if you have a room or loft that is an office/laundry folding area/playroom, get rid of the slashes and make it a full blown office. Add a desk and chair, computer, shredder, etc.
Buyers who are walking through can easier imagine themselves using a space if it’s being specifically used for something.
Your For Sale By Owner experience should go a little easier with these staging tips. Good luck! If you’d like more general advice for how to handle your FSBO, Fizber seller’s resources that includes good amount of information home staging.
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