Learn the most impactful techniques and cost-saving methods for staging your home to sell quickly after listing it. Plus, find several of the most commonly asked home staging questions. Let’s start by explaining what it means to stage your home.
What is Home Staging?
Home staging is preparing a property to appeal to the largest segment of potential buyers. Or, to put it another way, “setting the stage” to highlight the best aspects of your house.
Staging a home can include remodeling, furniture removal, cleaning, painting, and other aesthetic activities that help to display the property in the best possible light.
7 Cheap Ways to Stage a Home to Sell
Ideally, you want to prep your home without spending too much, so we’ve gathered a list of the most affordable and practical things you can do around the house that won’t break the bank. These tips can be done quickly, helping sellers limited on time and anxious to move into a new quick move-in home or an existing house. Still, these tips will help any seller improve their home on a budget, even if you have a few months to prepare.
1. Make Personal Belongings Disappear
Remove all of your items, decorations, and artifacts.
Whether it’s clothing in a closet, jewelry on a dresser, or family photos on the mantel, it’s best to eliminate anything that distracts a potential buyer from imagining their family in the home.
From some buyers’ perspectives, picturing the home as anyone else’s but theirs can negatively impact the psychological. Experts agree that this is one of the easiest and most effective staging tactics.
2.Declutter Room-by-Room
Declutter your entire home. It’s a significant chore and requires time, but it’s a two for – you’re getting the house ready for potential buyers and getting yourself ready to move.
The most effective approach to simplifying decluttering is to do it in phases.
Concentrate on one room, one area, or even one specific area of a room (like your kid’s play area) and finish it before going on to the next space.
Pro Tip: You don’t need sophisticated equipment, but you should have baskets, boxes, or containers designated for putting stuff in storage, recycling, keeping and displaying, garbage, and donating.
3. Rearrange Furniture
Determine which items of furniture are your best and set them aside. When doing this, look for a few standout pieces rather than keeping everything you have that’s newer or trendy.
Keep large items (couches, upholstered chairs, beds, and bookshelves) unless they are in bad shape or out of date.
No one expects you to be an interior designer-good at staging. Still, colors and designs from 20-plus years ago will not lead to any additional buyer enthusiasm.
Remember that home shoppers are looking at other houses and will compare yours to ones with newer, more fashionable furnishings that made a good impression on them.
4. Add a Fresh Coat of Paint
Updating your interior wall colors is an excellent, inexpensive method to guarantee that your home appeals to a broader range of prospects.
Stagers advise saving your bold paint colors for your next home and sticking to neutral tones in your current one.
Light grays, beiges, and whites are perfect neutral paint colors for sprucing up a house to sell.
These light neutrals will never go out of popularity, and they reflect light beautifully, making spaces seem larger and open.
5. Boost Curb Appeal
Curb appeal can assist you in making a positive first impression on everyone who approaches your front door for the first time.
When looking for cheap ways to fix up your home’s exterior, here is a list to work off of:
- Paint the front door, trim, window frames, and walls
- Swap our front door and garage hardware
- Update the house numbers
- Install new or replace old lighting fixtures
- Add planters and/or flower beds
- Mow the lawn, trim the hedges, and tidy up the edging
- Install a new mailbox
- Clean walls, pathways, windows, gutters, etc.
6. Deep Clean
Make a list of all rooms and each aspect of the space to be thoroughly cleaned.
Throughout the entire house, dust off blinds, wash baseboards and windowsills, clean window glass, and wipe down light switches. Have your carpets professionally cleaned and disinfected.
Be sure to clean tubs, showers, toilets, sinks, mirrors, and countertops in the bathrooms.
Ensure floors are scrubbed in the kitchen, the sink is spotless, counters are clean and clutter-free, and cooking equipment is food residue-free.
Make sure linens are fresh in the bedrooms, dressers have no clutter, and ceiling fan blades aren’t lined with dust.
7. Go Thrift Store Diving
It’s no secret that thrift stores are one of the best destinations to find deals in practically every home decor category.
Knowing what you’re searching for before arriving can help you stay on task. Otherwise, it’s much too simple to be swayed by a low price and end up with more junk than you need.
When thrifting to stage your house, you’re looking for items that won’t go out of style or draw attention to themselves in a staged environment.
Look for classic patterns, items everyone recognizes, and simple, modern pieces for your house.
Good buys include:
- Mid-century modern furniture.
- Asian-inspired lamps.
- Solid wood bookshelves.
- Eye-catching end tables.
- Matching picture frames.
- Fancy vases and large coffee table books.
5 Home Staging FAQs
Have questions about home staging and whether the time and effort is worth it? If so, read our most frequently asked questions on the topic below.
Do Staged Homes Sell Faster?
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, nearly two-thirds of sellers’ agents said staging a property reduces the length of time it spends on the market.
Do I Need to Stage My Home to Sell?
If you sell your home to an online buyer like OpenDoor, or it needs a complete renovation, staging isn’t required.
For some purchasers, staging might help them visualize their furniture in your home’s layout. Still, in-depth staging isn’t always a necessity for the ordinary homeowner. Use your judgment, but staging your home will help it sell.
If you already have an attractive property, staging will make little difference.
How Much More Do Staged Homes Sell For?
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 23 percent of buyers’ agents believe properly staged homes increase offer amounts by one to five percent.
The same survey found that home staging increased the dollar value by six to 10 percent.
How Can I Stage My Home to Sell for Top Dollar?
The most popular rooms to stage are living rooms (90 percent) and kitchens (80 percent), followed by master bedrooms (78 percent) and dining rooms (69 percent).
As a result of the epidemic, many people were obliged to work from home, and 39 percent set up a home office or office space.
How Much Does it Cost to Professionally Stage a Home?
HomeAdvisor data shows that sellers generally spend between $652 and $2,529 for home staging services, although prices vary substantially. For example, long-term furniture rentals might cost $6,000 or more.
According to HomeAdvisor, an initial two-hour home staging consultation can range from $150 to $600.
The size of your house and the total amount of work needed determines the remainder of your home staging expenditures.
With an appealing property and furnishings, you may need to pay to rearrange the furniture and clean the area, which costs an average of $800.
Your cost will depend on your individual needs and your home.
Conclusion
The idea of staging a property is to make your house desirable to as many prospective buyers as possible.
While home staging has many benefits, it is sometimes easier said than done. With this in mind, ask friends, family members, and even your real estate agent to assess your efforts.
If you find your home sitting on the market longer than you anticipated, ask potential buyers and their agents which aspects of the house are appealing and less desirable. Use this information to hyper-focus your efforts.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
