What is Staging?
Staging highlights a home’s best features and creates an appeal with the greatest number of prospective buyers. With this approach, your home will look bigger, brighter, cleaner and uncluttered. This puts you ahead of other comparable listings and can lead to a faster sale and higher sale price. Staging doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money. We’ve put together a few tips to help you get started.
The Basics of Staging – Declutter and Depersonalize
Clutter and personal items distract buyers from seeing the good features in your home. Decluttering essentially removes everything that is not necessary for the room. This means stick with the basics – items that help buyers understand the purpose of the room. Clutter includes things like stacks of mail, toiletries on bathroom countertops, too much furniture, too many photos, full bookcases, etc. Depersonalizing takes things a step further and removes all personal belongings AND decor that doesn’t meet ‘neutral’ criteria.The goal is to direct buyers attention to your home’s best features – so instead of seeing photos of your kids and grandkids (as adorable as they may be!), they see the massive closets, beautiful hardwood, great views….you get the idea.
Easy Ideas to Declutter and Depersonalize
- Think Model Home. Remove magazines, newspapers and minimize items on shelves and bookcases.
- Keep kitchen and vanity countertops free of clutter. Put away kitchen appliances and any other items. Bathroom toiletries and everyday items should be stored away.
- Keep beds made and minimize what’s in your closet to give the appearance of ample storage.
- Remove all personal photos and belongings.
- Declutter all storage areas. This might mean you need to box items and keep them out of sight.
- Assess your front entrance and make sure the first impression is a good one. Potted plants, clean windows, etc. all add to the appeal of a home.
The main takeaway here is this – Clutter and Personal items can cost you money. Decluttering and depersonalizing are two of the easiest (AND FREE!) ways to make your home more appealing to buyers.
If you need help getting started, feel free to call the Brainerd Lakes Real Estate experts at Up North Properties. You can reach us by phone at 218-820-7355 or email at sales(at)upnorthproperties(dotted)com.