Anne M. Lindsay

Why Staging ...

Staging your house to sell is like entering a beauty contest. You want to look good and win the contest. It's the same with making your house match. It all needs to work together.

Our stager knows what motivates potential buyers. Getting a house ready to live in and getting a house ready to sell are two totally different things. Decorating is about making a home comfortable for you and your family; staging a home is about merchandising a property for someone else's family. Done well, it helps your home sell faster and for more money. Our stager works by playing up the best features of your house and minimizing the less desirable.

Some of the steps involved in staging your home will have to do yourself and some our stager will take care of for you. Take a look at the process:

You can't sell them the house if you can't get them out of the car.

Prospective buyers make up their minds about your house even before they get out of the car. To ensure they have the right desire and attitude when entering your home, clean up your yard, rake the leaves, shovel the snow, remove any clutter, and sweep driveways and porches. Get out the rags and scour your front door, porch, railings and steps. Well kept landscaping adds instant attraction for a home buyer.

Your home's curb appeal can be enhanced tremendously by removing debris and replacing dated hardware, house numbers and lighting.

Minor changes may mean the difference between a prospective buyer entering your home with skeptical attitude or a hopeful one.

Purging instead of splurging

Clutter eats equity by making you home appear small and cramped - making buyers wonder about storage space. Remember that potential buyers will be looking in your closets and cupboards - don't try to hide your junk anywhere.

Instead, purge your closets and cupboards. Rent a storage locker to keep what you want, then toss the rest. Edit, edit, edit. Do you actually want to take that stuff with you to your next home?

Impersonal sells

You want buyers to imagine themselves living in your home, not feeling like guests in it. So stash away anything that is too personal.

Pack trophies, store family photos and mementos, and remove traces of pets. Take down the plethora of phone numbers and personal information posted on the fridge or a displayed calendar. If someone goes into the bathroom and the rim of the tub is covered with shampoo bottles and toothbrushes are lying around the sink, it's hard for that person to imagine that this could be his or her bathroom. The buyer becomes very conscious of being in someone else's environment, which can be uncomfortable.

That won't get you a good offer. Staging is replacing "me" decorating with something more universally appealing. If you need, our stager can bring in neutral art, decorations, kitchenware and even furniture and draperies.

Made to Odor

A disturbing number of home sellers don't realize that their home . um, smells. A smell can either make or break an impression.

53% of buyers said strong odors such as pet and cigarette smells had a stronger impact on their impression of a home than overall tidiness and cleanliness.

So make sure family members leave stinky shoes and sports equipment in the garage. Don't let smokers smoke in the house and be sure that no trash builds up under sinks. If the weather permits, open some windows to allow fresh air through.

A clean slate is better than a cluttered state.

Cleanliness helps put a buyer's mind at ease since it suggests that you've probably taken good care of your home in other ways as well. So clean everything well:

Walls, door handles, light fixtures and pantry cupboards. Pay special attention to the furnace room, since most buyers will wonder what shape the furnace is in. If the furnace looks clean, it looks well cared for.

I find that a lot of home sellers don't even want to see any of the stuff they've put into storage because they discover they've never missed it. They want to live fresh, clean and clutter-free. It's a wonderful thing. Because staging is, above all, a cleansing experience.

Room for repair

Dripping faucets, cracked tiles and moldy caulking around the bathtub can knock thousands of dollars off the price of your home. I have had sellers say,

"Well, that's a little problem; the buyer can deal with it."

But as the seller, it is your job to ensure that your home is in top condition to make an impression on the buyers. If you do the work, potential buyers won't be distracted by the little repair areas.

Fixing worn out items in a home, such as replacing carpet, can be costly, but repairing them before trying to sell a house will bring back more money in return and make for a faster sale.

Remember that home sales are all about appearances, and a well-cared for property appears to be of more value to a potential buyer.

From Drab to Fab

The single best investment is a fresh coat of paint in a warm neutral color. We want to make your home more suitable to all types of buyers, and whether you have expressed your personality through your wall color, or haven't seen a can of paint in several years - clean up your home with a warm tone that buyers could move into.

Reduce and rearrange

Beyond small clutter items, many homes have too much furniture for the size of the rooms. So it's important to take a look at how else the furniture can be arranged in a room. Our stager will help you with this!

Often people will say, 'Oh, it never occurred to me to put that there. Moving end tables and chairs into storage can give a small room a much more open feel and clarify the room's exact purpose. Is the space a quiet reading spot or a busy home office area?

Furniture should be arranged so that the pieces talk to each other. If your furniture is dated, consider packing it away and renting a few modern, stylish pieces directly from our stager. We will keep it clean and simple, like a show home.

Lighten up

The brighter and sunnier a space, the easier it is to sell. Start by giving your windows a good cleaning. Clean windows let in as much as 30% more light than grimy ones. Ensure that your window coverings are light, bright and clean.

Thoroughly clean the shades on your light fixtures, replacing any burnt out light bulbs and adding floor lamps if an area seems dim.

When it comes time to show off your home, turn on table and floor lamps to create an inviting and cozy ambiance, instead of just the harsh glare of all overhead lights, which can feel like an over lit warehouse. Light hallways, bathrooms and storage rooms; when those are dark, it gets depressing for buyers going from room to room.

Dramatize

A couple of urns at your front entry, a large potted plant, a vase of fresh flowers, even a simple tropical leaf in a vase can warm up a room. You want to have rooms feel like they are living, not dull and sterile.

Our stager can help you bring some uniqueness and magic into your home to make it more memorable to buyers.

"Staging information provided by CrazyHouse Home staging services"

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