An Overview Of Home Staging
To put it simply, home staging is the art of designing your home to make it appealing to a wide range of potential buyers. Typical guidelines often include cleaning, decluttering, and generally neutralizing your home. As with most things, however, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about staging your home. I've included a few things not to do below.
Staging Mistakes
1. Failing To Deep Clean
When I say that cleaning your home is a normal part of the process, I'm referring to cleaning your home like you never have before. Every square inch should be addressed, all the way down the the baseboards, walls, doorknobs, and windowsills. The work won't be over after your initial deep clean, either - you'll want to do a quick surface cleaning every time you open the house for a showing.
2. Leaving Your Family Photos On Display
The idea of staging your house is to create a neutral space that your buyers can imagine themselves calling home. If they are surrounded by pictures of your family and your friends, they may find it difficult to image the space as their own. Successful staging typically involves tucking all personal items out of sight, including family photos, wall art that includes your name and/or initials, and drawings done by your kids.
Though the point of staging is to make your home appealing to as many buyers as possible, attempting to disguise or cover up serious flaws in your property may hurt your efforts in the long run. Chances are good that the issues with your home (if any) will be discovered during the home inspection anyway, so you'll be better off being upfront and honest with your buyers about any potential issues from the get-go.
4. Over-Decorating Your Home
Never underestimate the power of empty space. Yes, you want to decorate your home to show off its best features, but you shouldn't get so caught up in the process that you forget to leave certain walls blank and certain surfaces empty. Empty space makes your home seem bigger, whereas clutter (even clutter that was originally designed to be aesthetic) can make even large homes start to feel small and cramped.
5. Cramming All Your Extra "Stuff" In The Garage
What do you with all the things you remove in the process of decluttering? Some people assume that they can stuff it all in the garage - since garages are typically used for storage anyway, their buyers won't care if it's messy and over-crowded, right? Unfortunately, that may not be the case. Large, spacious garages are actually becoming prime selling points, and piling yours from floor to ceiling may hurt your efforts. You will probably be better off renting a storage unit to store all your extra belongings until you are ready to move into your new home.
6. Using Strong Scents
It's true that homes that smell pleasant often sell more quickly than homes that don't. However, you should work on creating a smell that, while appealing, is predominantly subtle. Some people are sensitive to strong scents, and they may not appreciate a home that smells as though it was blasted with air freshener a few moments before. Additionally, buyers may view strong scents as an attempt to cover up something negative, like mildew or the sewer.
7. Displaying Controversial Items
If you are an avid hunter, you may have taxidermy proudly displayed in your home. If you are a devout Christian, you may have crosses and other religious artifacts displayed as part of your home decor. There is certainly nothing wrong with displaying items that are dear to you when the home is your own, but it may be wise to remove items that could be viewed as controversial by some once you start opening your home to potential buyers. Some of your buyers could be vegetarian, for example, and they may not be comfortable being surrounded by taxidermy. You don't want to lose out on a potential sale just because someone felt uncomfortable in your surroundings!
I Can Help You Identify Effective Staging Strategies!
As I said before, effective staging can make or break the sale of your home. If you are thinking about selling your house at the Lake of the Ozarks, contact me! In my 25+ years of experience in Lake of the Ozarks real estate, I have identified several different strategies that do (and do not) work for staging your home. I would be more than happy to share my expertise with you!
Professional REALTOR®
BerkShire Hathaway HomeServices
101 Crossings West, Ste. 202
Lake Ozark, MO 65049
Office: (573) 365-6868
Susan's Cell: (573) 280-0484
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