The Home Staging Checklist

Getting ready to list your home? Looking to relocate, or find a new home in Austin? Well, you've come to the right place. Here, we're going to go over the huge benefits of making sure your home is staged properly for sale.

Over 81% home buyers find it easier to imagine a property for sale as their future home if it has undergone home staging. The National Association of Realtors 2015 Profile of Home Staging Report confirms the merits of staging. Setting your home up to look like it's prime living space gives potential buyers a better idea of how they can use it. 

What are the benefits of staging my home? 

Stand out among the others

Housing listings are saturated with unstaged homes. Poorly taken photos of uncleaned and undressed properties cause house hunters to bounce faster than an unfair price. If future homeowners can't see themselves in your home, they don't have a reason to keep searching through your listing.

Using staging techniques will immediately make your listing's photos pop. You'll also notice a more lively response from buyers who come to see your house. Enthusiastic buyers give you more options when it comes to grabbing the price that you want.

Build trust with your potential buyers

As a seller, you'll need to have a solid relationship with your buyer. Buying a house is a big decision. Fickle buyers want to work with a seller they can count on.

Presenting a clean, well furnished home shows your buyers that you care about the home. Your potential homeowner will feel more comfortable looking at a home that its previous owner has fallen in love with. They will be more willing to make a decision on a house that has permanence.

Raise the value of your home

The percentage of staged properties that sell at or above asking price is a staggering 83%. Your viewers value the promise of happiness and will pay in dollars for it. Scale your spending on home staging to protect your profit margin.

 

What can I do to stage my house?

Start with the basics. Look at your room big picture, then focus in. Keep a list of improvements for each room, then tackle all of them in an order that minimizes your work time.

 

• Optimize Lighting and Color

• Add Purpose to Your Rooms

• Organize Your Stuff

• Clean and Shine  

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The Checklist

 

 

  Optimize Lighting and Color

Lighting

Lighting for home staging requires a delicate balance of functional and aesthetic lighting. There is no limit on the amount of daylight to let into the room. Natural light is the seller's best friend. Sunlight highlights the true colors of your walls and furniture and makes the most brilliant luster on your shined surfaces. 

 

Color

Use unique, soft colors on the inside of your home. Keep colors uniform across the walls. Accenting your room's purpose with a matching color can evoke emotions from your buyers. A dining room with a soft, bright hue encourages lively conversation. Living rooms with dark blues and violets encourage relaxation and engagement.

The outside of your home can also catch attention with an unusual color. Especially coupled with a healthy lawn and a sunny day, spring colors will pull your house out of its natural background.

 

Add Purpose to Your Rooms

Living Room

Arrange your furniture to create social spaces. Sofas and loveseats with coffee tables are inviting for large groups. Leave usable objects like magazines and puzzles around to hint at ways your buyers and their families can use the space.

 

Bedrooms

Choose a theme for each of your rooms and decorate accordingly. Buyers with families will appreciate if you cater each room to a different age group.

Keep master bedrooms as neutral as possible. Colors should be muted and decorations should encourage sleep. The master bedroom is the most personal space in each home. Let your viewers decide what to do with it.

 

Bathrooms

The bathroom is a sacred space for privacy. Make it look that way.

Clean whites and daylight from a half-window will express to potential homeowners the ease and comfort of using each of your bathrooms. Renewing your faucets and handles will add a touch of usability to the entire room.

 

Extra Rooms

Extra spaces should also have express purposes. Those purposes should also be clear to people who are looking at your home.

Cater to your demographic. If you have a high asking price, the people in your demographic might have more need for libraries or studies. They may also want to relax after high-stress work with a game room or a home gym. Be ready to adjust the purpose of your extra rooms, but don't be afraid to make them look more personal.

 

Organize Your Stuff

Add style to each item

That means every item. Spruce up ordinary furniture like couches, tables, dressers, and cubbies with extras.

Use throw pillows to liven up couches. Add plants to tables and small chests to dressers. Fill cubbies with things like mugs or picture frames. Show homeowners how they can use the space to store their goods.

 

Add Artwork

Bare walls leave home viewers feeling empty. Fill your walls with artwork to breathe life back into empty spaces. Inexpensive prints and secondhand art are viable options. Select colors that match the theme of your room. Double check that the artwork is inviting and not offensive.

 

Space Everything

Leave plenty of space for movement between your furniture. Anywhere you can create free space on the floor, maximize it. Space not only gives your buyers more freedom when visualizing the room, it also helps relieve anxiety.

Your possible buyers will also be looking at your room on a broad scale. Arrange your furniture so it has a rhythm. If your viewers' eyes are able to leap from object to object, they'll understand the flow of each room more clearly.

 

Clean and Shine

Deep Clean

Dust, sweep, and mop every corner of every room. Most buyers will want to know that their new home can be maintained, and it's up to you to show them how easy it is. A spotless room signals to buyers that a pristine house is not out of their reach.

 

Keep Out the Personal Stuff

Remove personal pictures and items with personal value. Your buyers can't relate to your personal items and may not enjoy them the same way you do.

 

Make it smell nice

Every part of your home environment is under scrutiny when it is listed. Don't let offensive odors overshadow the beauty of your home. Potential buyers may also be concerned if there are smells that they may have to deal with in the future.

How much will it cost?

Depending on your frugality, costs can range from $200 to $5,000 dollars. Home staging costs an average of about $1,800. Home staging raises the value of your home by 6% to 20% of your home's appraisal. Spend enough that you can maximize your profits, but don't go over your potential gains.

And if you have any further questions or concerns, Contact us at Pauly Presley Realty to get some additonal assistance. We'd love to hear from you!