Home staging is the intentional preparation of the interior and exterior of a residence by a home seller or the owner in order to increase the number of potential customers due to the improved attractiveness of the property. A property that is messy, that is, has crowded furniture, dirty walls, cracks, dirty floor, dreary lighting system, strange smell and even dull colour may scare away potential customers.
Buying a house is one of the biggest investments anyone can make. Therefore, how the property is presented in the market is a matter of grave importance. Regardless of the trends in real estate sector, there two rules to follow to assure quick sale: make it look perplexing and price it well. In order to fit in the current real estate market where buyers have so many options, the property you are selling should look good and the price should match its qualities.
Home staging is a crucial tool for any house seller, as it emphasizes on the strength and minimizes on the weakness of the house. It normally aims to incorporate design and conceptualization techniques in order to make the best image of the property.
KNOW YOUR CLIENTS
When coming up with ideas and plans to stage your home for sale, you should include features that your customers expect. This will not only make them happy but also excited at their first sight. Knowing your clients require thorough data analysis in order to come up with the right conclusion. Once you have a good understanding of your clients, you will be able to get reluctant buyers on board hence improve the capital turn out. In recent years, home sellers are using home staging professionals to give a perfect finish before selling a home.
The method has proved to be effective as the property does not last long in the market. The cost of home staging depends on the agreement between the homeowner and the home seller. In some cases, the seller may opt to shoulder the burden while in others, the duty falls squarely on the owner of the property.
CLEAN THOROUGHLY
Thorough cleaning should be done prior to any advertisement for the property. This will make the home look brilliant and get rid of any strange smell. Thorough cleaning involves scrubbing walls and the floor, cleaning curtains and removing stains from window panes. Sensitive rooms, that is, the kitchen should also be sparkling. Belongings should also be removed and countertops are cleaned to avoid congestion.
BE NEUTRAL
One may be attracted or have emotional attachments towards specific aspects of their home. However, sticking to some of those features may limit the pool of your buyers when you showcase your personal tastes. Since everyone has his or her own taste, going neutral in terms of colour and design is essential in order to be relevant and appealing to the widest audience possible. Going with a white paint in most cases should get the job done. Although a good deal of may fail to acknowledge the importance of painting, it is an inexpensive and easy task which may make the whole difference.
It is up to the buyer to bring with them their own style, furniture taste and colour. They can achieve this prior to any purchase thanks to solid home staging which allows one to visualize the intended plan in the space hence make appropriate decisions.
RIGHT ROOM FOR THE RIGHT PURPOSE
Since home staging is all about presenting what potential clients want, returning rooms to their original functions is part of attracting potential customers. The local arrangement of the home may be convenient for you while on the other hand, it may prove difficult to deal with the new owner. Furthermore, different activities assigned to various rooms, for example, an exercise room or a home office may not be what the customer wants. It is therefore important to leave the rooms to their original functions and it will be up to the new owners to decide what to do with the space.
REPAIR SMALL PROBLEMS
To be a successful home seller, you should not sell your problem to someone else or you will end up tarnishing your credentials. Fine tuning small issues within your capabilities will make the home stand out hence attract potential buyers.
It is incredibly important to scrutinize your property in order to determine what repairs need to be done. Checking on minor details, for instance, if the bulb is working or the tap is leaking is important to ensure everything is in its best working condition. In the event you are not certain, you should request a friend to take through the “to-do” list so as not to leave anything undone. This is significant as it would dictate whether your property is going to be bought or not.
MAKE THE EXTERIOR DASHING
The exterior of the property plays a vital role in advertising the general quality of the home. The moment a client sees the property, impression begins to form long even before they walk in the front door. As a seller, you need to be impressed by what you see. However, if not so then you should not expect a customer to be impressed either.
When intending to sell your home, it is always important to remember successful home staging begins the moment the buyer sets eyes on the property. Therefore, be sure to repair any cracks, remove dead flowers and paint what needs to be painted if necessary. Additionally, if the lawn is neat, it will be an advantage and can be used as a bargaining tool when making sales.
For home staging to serve its purpose, it has to begin from outside. This outside surrounding will not only trigger excitement in buyers but keep them longing for what is yet to come and the prospect of calling the property their home.
INVEST WITHIN YOUR BUDGET
Small changes and improvements can make a big difference in making a home feel modern. A home renovation mostly requires large capital especially if it is to be taken in full scale. However, there are those minor upgrades that everyone can afford like a new paint or replacing a broken window pane. These minor improvements make the room feel elegant and may make the property fetch a good price as opposed to the simple old.
ORGANIZE THE ROOMS
It is the nature of the human eye to get tired quickly when looking at congested items. If the rooms are in a turmoil, it will likely scare away customers even before they have a better look at what is being sold. All items should be removed leaving only the required ones for demonstration purposes.
Having a well-organized home make the client see it as spacious and accommodating. There are two techniques that apply to every room and should be utilized during home staging:
• Decluttering
For home staging to be effective, it may require half of the furniture to be relocated in a different storage location. Though we may treasure all that we have bought or the special inherited pieces, they may be contributing to congestion hence reducing greatly the available space. Moving them to a different location facilitate opening up of space. Potential buyers are therefore able to move around with ease and see the full potential of the home.
• Depersonalizing
Failing to remove pictures or other personal materials displayed on the wall due to personal attachments may limit the number of persons willing to buy your property. This is because they will see it difficult to stay with their family there while those memories still run in their mind. A good home staging plan should be implemented to make the buyer feel like if the property is being bought for the very first time.
MAKE THE MOST OF THE OUTDOOR SPACE
Regardless of the size, be sure to showcase the importance and use of the outdoor features; may it be a large expansive yard with a pool, a patch of grass or even a small balcony. This helps create visions in the buyers’ mind enjoying the property. Decorating these outdoor spaces is important. You can even place rocking chairs or set a dining table on the balcony. Proper staging creates an atmosphere of leisure which draws customers towards what that property can provide.
Even if they are small, outdoor space needs to be well tended and decorated for maximum effect. The outdoor floor is another thing that should not pass your mind, making it look great will automatically beautify the house. If you intend to change how your house pavement looks, visiting SaveOnPaving.com will offer you a variety of ideas. If you have an image in the mind of how you want your pavements to look like, contacting saveonpaving.com will get the job done for you at a cost-efficient price.
AVOID EXAGGERATION
For home staging to be successful, everything should be placed where it needs to be. Complaints arise among buyers when they feel the house feels sterile. Home staging should make the home feel real. It is a delicate procedure as balanced needs to be maintained to prevent the house looking like someone else’s. Adding several elements that are not attached to you, like fresh flowers, candles and artefacts allow the room to be warm and feel comfortable without attracting personal interest.
However, there are certain types of houses which cannot fit in the home staging process because it can result in damage. These homes include vintage houses and fixer-uppers. Even without renovation and thorough cleaning, it is quite simple to market this houses.
It is up to you as a seller to show buyers the possibilities of making them rethink about renovation when necessary. Buyers really appreciate all you go through to provide them with adequate space and a home of their dreams only at a bit of elbow grease sacrificed.
BE HONEST
Home staging is not all about giving the positive and covering up for the negatives. One has to be totally honest as those negative things will bite back further down the line. You may well end up losing the customer at the last minute if a defect which you choose to withhold surfaces in the last minutes. Being honest will enable correct decision-making not only to the buyer but also to the seller.
BE IMPARTIAL
It is really difficult to detach yourself from a home you have lived in for years. Preparing yourself both mentally and physically will enable you to overcome the feeling of loss.
PETS
Not everyone is attracted to pets and if they do, everyone has his or her favourite. When doing home staging, you should remove every trace of your pet as some buyers will not buy a property which used to have pets in it.
CAPTIVE WITH SCENT
Opening windows should do the trick as fresh air is allowed into the house. Using strong sprays is not a good idea as different people have different tastes when it comes to sprays. The scent should be natural and cool. In the event that you must use sprays, use beautifully scented diffusers or candles throughout to create a conducive, welcoming atmosphere.
WARMTH AND COMFORT
If it is cold, light a fire to make it warm. On the other hand, if it is hot, open doors and windows to allow fresh air in. This will make the buyer desire the comfort that comes with your home. Since it is flexible, that is, offering a conducive environment both during cold and hot days, the house will attract prospective buyers and increase the volume of sales.
USE NATURAL MATERIALS
Incorporating materials given to us by the mother nature during home staging rather than lab generated ones will make an impact even in years to come. Using bamboo, rattan furniture, hand-thrown pottery, handmade paper lampshades, plant real plants and using natural stone as countertops among others will give the home the natural beauty. You can add some of these materials which will not require you to completely remodel everything in the house.
With these ideas in the pocket as a seller, you can make this year a great one not only to yourself but also to the buyers since they will be acquiring quality property. It should also be noted that home staging involves honest scrutiny and creative re-imagination of the home so that it can perfectly suit the desires of the client. The tips discussed above will enable you to trigger buying desire from prospective customers since the major and minor details will be taken care off during home staging. As a seller, you should remember the happier and excited a client is the more the profit.
POSTED BY 
