How to Stage a House Before Selling It

You’ve probably spent years decorating your home so that it reflects who you are. Now that you are about to sell, it, you’ve got to take a step back and realize that your goal in staging your home is to get potential buyers to imagine themselves living there. It’s time to take yourself out of the picture and make the home inviting to others.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Ask yourself what you would do to sell your car. At the very least, you’d wash, wax and vacuum and maybe get a few dents or scratches taken out as well. Now take a look at your home as if you are seeing it for the first time. This is when you should make all the minor repairs you’ve been putting off. A few hundred dollars invested here will yield thousands more in a higher selling price.

2. Take a hard look at your home’s façade. Does it need paint? Are your windows dirty? Does the law need mowing? Are the bushes trimmed? Are there blooming flowers or dead leaves around the foundation? If your yard shows the ill effects of pets, scoop all the poop. With buyers trying to find your place, it’s very important that your house number is easy to read.

3. Walk from room to room with a critical eye. Replace the washers on leaky faucets. Make sure that doors and draws close well. Replace burned out light bulbs or fixtures. Make your home sparkle with waxed or polished floors and clean rugs. Dust every surface. Bathrooms and kitchens should be spotless.
   
   Smell is the most power sense that evokes memories. Track down any bad odors and remove their source. Baking soda works well as a smell sponge. Cat owners can become desensitized to litter boxes. Clean them daily.

4. It’s amazing how much stuff we can accumulate over time. You probably have treasured family photos. It’s time to pack them away. Buyers want to imagine seeing their own photos there. If books are bursting from your bookshelves, store the extras. Any avid readers will look at your shelves’ capacity and imagine their own books there.
   
   Get ruthless with all of your possessions, tossing everything that you don’t want to take with you to your new home. Donate anything else to Goodwill. It’s a good idea to get rid of excess furniture especially if it’s worn. Arrange the pieces you have to make your rooms seem as big as possible. Maker sure that every space has an easy to grasp potential use for a buyer.
   
   Buyers will open medicine chests, drawers and closets. If you’re boasting about a master bedroom’s closet capacity how would it look if it were as filled as Fibber McGee’s closet with things about to tumble out?

5. Selling your home is a business, so remember that the entire world does not agree with your positions on religion, politics, abortion or drug use. Yes, it’s tough to accept, but in this short transitional phase, your own home is no longer the place to flaunt your beliefs. It’s time to remove anything from view that could provoke a strong negative response in a would be buyer.
   
   Now add details. Mirrors will make a room look bigger. Indoor plants and bowls of fresh fruit make a home seem inviting. Bathrooms should bright and airy, accented by soft fluffy towels and scented soaps. Your kitchen could have a couple of illustrated cook books handy. You might want to add plug-in air fresheners here and there. When showing the home, you might want to play a little innocuous background music on the stereo like light jazz or classical, not hip-hop or heavy metal.

Tips & Warnings

• If you need helpful hints, pick up one of the popular home magazines like Better Homes and Gardens or Sunset.
• If your house has been on the market for a while and the listing has gone stale, you should consider hiring a professional stager to come in to help you sell it.
• At the very least, you might want to bring in professional cleaners to remove what could be years of accumulated grime.

[jimdris]

on 3/18/2008 Excellent article. Much of your advice would apply to a vacant home as well.