Staging Your Home Can Help You Sell it More Quickly

Have you ever walked into an open house to find either a completely empty home or one that is poorly decorated? It doesn't do much for the asking price or your first impression, does it? Staging can help.

Staging is the art of making a home appear more appealing and therefore of greater value to potential buyers. Through furniture placement, simple design touches and reducing a home's flaws, staging can cut a home's time on the market by as much as half and attract offers that are, on average, 10-15 percent higher than without staging.

So, if staging is so helpful, how do you do it? To learn the tricks and secret of good home staging, keep reading.

1. De-Clutter

The first and most important rule of staging is to get rid of the clutter. You want buyers to be able to envision themselves living in your home, which means knick-knacks, excessive amounts of family photos and clutter all have to be removed from public view. Ideally, you want your house to look like a model home or a hotel suite rather than simply a high-trafficked residence.

Excess clutter can be stored in the garage or, ideally, at a storage space off-site.

2. Paint

Dollar for dollar, painting a room or the entire house provides the greatest return for the smallest investment. Painting costs very little, especially if you're willing to do it yourself, and the results can make any room instantly seem brighter, bigger, cleaner and more modern.

From the trim to the ceilings, painting a staged home can yield impressive results.

3. Update the Fixtures

Updating your heat registers, door knobs, cupboard handles, lights and other fixtures doesn't cost much, but it can make a big impact on your home's appearance and a potential buyer's initial impressions.

4. Update Faucets

Old, dingy faucets can be a big downer, making a bathroom or kitchen seem tired and dirty. If you can't afford to update the bathrooms or kitchen, you'll be surprised how far a fresh coat of paint and some new sink faucets can go to make a space seem new and welcoming.

5. Rearrange Your Furniture

Ideally, you want your house to seem open, airy and large. Therefore, a dark and crowded family room won't do. Either put the existing furniture in storage and rent smaller staging furniture or rearrange your furniture for a more welcoming look and feel.

Typically, staging furniture, like model home furniture, is smaller than standard furniture. This size discrepancy tricks the eye, making the room seem larger than it is.

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