Published January 5, 2021
How Do You Stage Your Home for the Market?
Here are four steps to take if you want to stage your home for the market.
Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all homes in your area.
Looking to sell a home? Click here for a FREE home valuation.
Now that you’ve decided to sell your home, what do you need to do to prepare it for the market? Here are four steps to staging your home so that it sells quickly and for top dollar:
1. Declutter. Go room by room and pack up any toys, extra clothes, etc. Also, don’t forget to clean out your closets. Now is a good time to box everything up and put it into storage. You can even have a garage sale to get rid of any items that do nothing but take up space. The reason we advise sellers to declutter their homes is that they need to show buyers the maximum amount of space their homes offer—both in person and online.
2. Apply a fresh coat of paint to any walls that need it. If your home hasn’t had a paint job in a while and the walls are perhaps a little scuffed up, spackle and paint them with modern, neutral colors so they look smooth and sharp. This will make your home pop in online photos and draw buyers’ attention away from other competing listings.
"You need a pre-inspection report sitting on your table for buyers to see so that they feel comfortable knowing everything there is to know about your home."
3. Take care of any maintenance items. For example, schedule a service checkup for your furnace or air conditioning unit so they pass the home inspection without any issues. Also, verify that your sinks and toilets are working properly and there aren’t any leaks anywhere. If your driveway needs a nice seal, now’s a great time to take care of that as well. These are all inexpensive tasks, and if you take care of them, you won’t give buyers an excuse to bring in their contractors to see what work needs to be done. Your home will be move-in ready.
4. Schedule a pre-inspection. This is especially useful if your home is a lot older. In today’s market, you need a pre-inspection report sitting on your table for buyers to see so that they feel comfortable knowing everything there is to know about your home (what needs to be replaced, what doesn’t, etc.). This at least answers their questions ahead of time so they have no hesitation about giving their best offer. Home inspections are relatively inexpensive, and we know plenty of great local inspectors we'd be happy to refer.
As always, if you have questions about this or any real estate topic, don’t hesitate to call or email me anytime. I’d love to speak with you.
