Home Staging

You are entering a competitive environment and your home must be prepared to compete for the buyers. The problem for the seller is that most buyers buy on emotion. They know of course that the home doesn't come furniture or the contents but those things create an emotional "feeling" to the home that buyers respond to.

Home builders have know this for years and are very good at "staging" homes to appeal to buyer's emotion and make more money. Go into any showhome and see if you can find any Toothbrushes, Shampoo Bottles, Soap, Laundry, Toys or Shoes.

The problem of course is that you are usually living in the home while trying to sell and need all those things. The furniture, layout and decor of your home also reflect your personal tastes and habits and were not specifically purchased or setup to appeal to the general public's home buying emotions like showhomes were. Fortunately proper Home Staging can appeal to buyers with minimal disruption to your routine.

You could spend thousands of dollars and hire a staging company to refit your home. For some homes, especially vacant ones this may even be cost effective but for most people it is and unrealistic and unnecessary expense. Most people can stage a home very effectively using their existing contents or with just minor purchases. Most home staging professionals will charge charge you a few hundred dollars for a consultation to advise you how to do just that.

Everyone listing a home for sale with Alpha One Real Estate receives home staging advice free of charge.  Not only do we have some of the same home staging education under our belt as professional home stagers, we have something they don't, years of practical experience working with buyers. We know what buyers really care about, what trends are most desired and what options are actually giving sellers the biggest bang for their buck!

Aside from the design and decor aspects of Home Staging there are several generic things you can do to help get your home in showing condition. If you follow these simple rules you've already won half the battle:

Repair The Obvious

General repairs should be completed prior to listing your home. Anything obvious that is broken or damaged should be fixed or replaced. If the buyer can "see" that the home is in good repair, they will have confidence that the same is true for the things they can't see.

Walls should be clean and in good repair, but it is not necessary to paint your colored walls white. Your home reflects your taste and personality, and this will attract others as well. Have you ever seen a white walled show home?

Create a Good First Impression

Is the door and porch clean? How about the fence and house trim? In winter, keep the walks shoveled, and grass cut in summer. Remember: lots of buyers do "drive by's" before they tell their realtor which ones they want to see.

When the buyers first walk in, smell creates a strong first impression. Keep cooking, pet and other odors to a minimum. If you smoke, start smoking outdoors. A few partially open windows in the summer can help keep the house aired out. Air Purifiers with carbon pre-filters can help reduce odors. When using fragrances, keep them subtle, not overpowering.

Don't forget to leave all the lights on and that each bulb has sufficient wattage. It may cost a few extra dollars in electricity costs, but the benefits will be worth it. This is especially true during the winter when it may be dark during the showings. If you have lights on your attached garage, deck or porch, make sure they're on too.

Clean, Clean, Clean

Floors should be swept or vacuumed daily. Kitchens and Bathrooms should be so clean you could eat off the floor. Counters should be cleared except for those things which are decorative or necessary. Keep a few baskets handy so that in a rush you can quickly toss in clutter such as your personal toiletries or children's toys and stash them under a bed or in a closet.

Get Out of the House

It is very important that you not be home during showings. Buyers need to be comfortable in your home in order to feel like they could live there. They need to sit on the couch, open the cupboards, and spend enough time in the house to fall in love with it. They are not going to do this if you are there.

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