© Lisa Wolfe Team
Free Sellers Guide
50 Steps to prepare your home for a speedy, top
price sale.
LISA WOLFE
Broker Associate
REALTOR® CLHMS, CRS, MRP
1-352-575-8180
Serving Gainesville/Alachua County and Ocala/Marion County
Lisa Wolfe Realty
LISA WOLFE
BROKER
REALTOR® CLHMS, CRS, MRP
1-352-575-8180
LisaMarieWolfe@gmail.com
"Home staging" was coined by Barb Schwarz back in the early '70s,
and the concept has become well known as "house fluffing,"
"dressing to sell," and "home presentation".
The focus of staging is to make a home more marketable by creating
the most appealing home to the greatest number of prospective
buyers. It should be impersonal enough not to infringe on a buyer's
own sense of style.
Decorating is optional. Staging, on the other hand, is essential – that
is if you want to sell your house for the most possible money in the
shortest amount of time.
You can make at least 3 percent more with home staging. In some
areas, that number can go as high as 50 percent! Statistics also
show that homes that had not sold in an average of four and a half
months after listing sold within a week of being staged by a
professional. Homes staged before listing were under contract more
than twice as fast as comparable homes that had not been
professionally staged.
As you know, your home becomes a house — a product for sale.
Staging your property gives you a more competitive edge in today's
market by transforming it into a marketable product. A staged
property helps you sell your investment for top dollar and is the first
line of defense over lowering the price. Do not settle for less at the
closing table simply because you did not understand the value of
staging or did not want to take the time or spend the money to do it
properly.
In this world of busy buyers, a property has to be staged to appeal to
their imagination. They want to be able to look at your home and
know that they can live there. They want to know that their furniture
will fit. They want to know that everything is in “move in” condition.
That is why staging is so important. It allows buyers to imagine
themselves living in your home with their stuff, not yours.
Presentation is everything and staging is presentation! The result is
improved functionality and complementary space. Following the
techniques in this guide will maximize your equity while reducing the
market time for your home.
Be sure that your home is staged before you or your Realtor takes
the photos for the web. Over 70% of all new apartment/home
searches are started on the Internet. It is imperative that the property
looks good in the photos so that it can attract as many people as
possible to see the real thing.
1.
You should not have one person look at your house until it has
been staged completely. It should not go through the broker
walkthrough, MLS, open houses, or anything. Stage first!
2.
Home staging works for all properties regardless of the price
point because home staging is about preparing your home for a
faster and more profitable sale and marketing your property to the
most potential buyers for its target audience. A home stager who has
have staged homes ranging from $100,000 to $10 million has had
the same result — the homes sell faster and for top dollar compared
with the competitors within their price range.
3.
Do not offer money towards painting or installing new
carpeting. Remember, if you are not willing to do it, your buyer is not
likely to either.
4.
You need to be willing to change paint colors. Paint is very
inexpensive and gives you a big bang for your buck. Although a bit
labor-intensive, painting is not expensive and gives your home a
new, fresh, clean look. There are certain universally accepted colors
and these should be used when repainting your home. Yellow or
shades of gold are warm and inviting. You should also accent with
yellow. Your eye absorbs more yellow and therefore sees it first.
Green or blue in the bedrooms are great colors because they are
restful.
5.
It is essential during the selling process to have the toys limited
to one area and minimized to a few containers. Not everybody has
children and most do not care about the new and amazing things
your new baby can do. You just cannot make a home with children
turn into a children’s house and expect it to sell.
6.
Recognize that your major competition comes from newer
homes. People will take a newer home over an older home if all else
is equal. That is why it is essential to give an older home something
that puts it above the rest.
7.
Don’t forget about the entryway. If you have a cute little plaque
or shingle with your family name on it, remove it. Even if it is just on
the mailbox. You can always put it up again once you move. It's also
a good idea to buy a new, plush doormat. This is something else you
can take with you once you move.
8.
If you have dark cabinets, a light-colored handle or something
in shiny gold will enhance them. If you have light cabinets, you can
give them the sleek look by using handles of the same color so that
they are hardly noticeable or by using brushed silver handles. With
light wood, you can also use darker handles, gold, bronze, or even
colors.
9.
Sometimes renovations are needed. However, here are five
that you should avoid:
•
Adding high end appliances to a modest home
•
Adding hand painted tiles to the bath or kitchen
•
Adding a central vacuum
•
Adding air conditioning (unless you are in an area that all
homes have it)
•
Replacing windows with newer models
10.
Be sure to check with your city or county building inspector
before beginning a new project. Many departments require permits,
even for things as simple as changing a dishwasher.
11.
Everything in its place is a good motto to remember. Always
find appropriate places to store your items. Litter boxes in the kitchen
and trashcans in the pantry are just two examples of inappropriate
placement.
12.
Do not have any cleaning products visible. You want the buyer
to think that the house cleans itself. You do not want to remind
buyers that there will be work to do in this house, so put away
laundry baskets and dish drainers as well!
13.
Selling an empty home can be a huge mistake. Buying or
renting furniture is especially vital in an empty home. Empty homes
do not show well and can sit on the market for months until a buyer
with a good visual imagination comes along, or until the seller drops
the price so low that the home is a steal.
14.
Your refrigerator will need to be cleaned, even if you are not
leaving it. People will still look inside and a dirty refrigerator will turn
them off. If you are taking it with you, you may as well clean it now. If
you are leaving it, then it is imperative to have it sparkling.
15.
Removing clutter and taking down personal items is needed,
but adding back is essential, too: Each room should be embellished
with accessories, artwork, mirrors, accent tables, silk trees and
florals, as well as dishes, bedding, and towels so all areas look
inviting.
16.
Check for unusual odors in your house. They may come from a
pet or even from your upholstery. For those who smoke, you might
want to minimize smoking indoors while trying to sell your home. You
could also purchase an ozone spray that helps to remove odors
instead of simply masking the smell. And for those with pets, you will
have some of the same problems as smokers. Pets have odors. You
are probably used to them, but someone who walks into your house
will notice them right away. This is especially true if your pet has
urinated on the carpeting. The smell of pet urine can rarely be
removed without replacing the carpeting. If you put your nose to the
carpeting and smell your pet, even after shampooing the rugs, it is
time to pull them out and start from scratch.
17.
Cleaning is rarely fun for anyone, but it does not have to be a
terrible chore. Play some fun, lively music. Before you know it, your
adrenaline will start pumping and you will be dancing your way
through the house.
18.
To clean just about any stain in the bathtub (plastic, ceramic,
etc) make a paste by using hydrogen peroxide and cream of tartar.
Use an old toothbrush to rub the mixture into the stain and rinse
thoroughly.
19.
To clean the microwave, fill a paper cup with water and a few
tablespoons of baking soda. Nuke it for about 30 seconds, or until
you see the contents explode. Then just take a paper towel and wipe
it all off. The explosion spreads the cleanser over the entire area, and
you can even use the moistened rag or paper towel to wipe outside
the microwave and its surrounding area.
20.
Take a look around you. Do you have items in your home that
are unused and have no real sentimental value? If so, get rid of
them! These types of items can often be found in closets, cupboards,
basements, and garages. Sometimes they are on bookshelves or
even in your everyday living space. The more you are able to move
out the more the next buyer will want to "move in."
21.
If you do not have a plan for what to do with the stuff you no
longer need, it will get put in the basement or the attic or the garage
or simply stay in a pile in the room where it began. If this happens,
then you really did not get rid of clutter – you just moved it to another
location. When you are clearing the clutter for home staging
purposes, you will have many different piles. Some things may go to
a thrift store such as the Salvation Army, some things may go to the
dump, some things may go into storage, and some things may be set
aside for a garage or yard sale. Knowing what you are going to do
with the extra clutter is essential to really decluttering your home.
22.
A home for sale should always be presented in its best light
and immaculate condition, which is not the reality of everyday life.
Potential buyers do not want to see how you live, with your children,
cats and dogs, and mess. They want to see themselves in a perfect
house under perfect conditions and that is how a home on the
market should always be presented.
23.
If your kitchen cabinets, pantries, and drawers – even your
refrigerator – look jammed packed, it suggests there is not enough
room in your kitchen. The best way to change this negative first
impression is to have as much "empty space" as possible.
24.
If the dining room, especially a small one, has an oversized
china cabinet, consider removing it. Or, if has a top and bottom,
remove the top. This will open up the space considerably
25.
Take a look at your bathroom. If you are like most people, you
will find half-used shampoo bottles, a jumble of hair accessories, a
curling iron, foam curlers, several cans of shaving cream, tub toys,
lotions, medication, books and magazines, oils, candles, toilet paper,
and on and on and on. The amount of stuff we store in our
bathrooms is far greater than the storage capacity for these small
rooms, especially, if like many bathrooms, you have just a medicine
cabinet and a very small vanity. The “stuff” that is not in use needs to
be boxed up and moved out.
26.
You should remove extra chairs from the tables. Unless you
have a massive space, you will not need more than 4 chairs around
a table. Also remove extra leaves from the table. This will make the
room feel larger.
27.
Buyers want to see your carpet or your hardwood floor or your
linoleum. Most home stagers suggest removing all area rugs, unless
you have a large area of hardwood, where one rug is acceptable.
Area rugs make spaces seem more crowded. Without them, your
floor plan opens up.
28.
Closets are great for accumulating clutter, though you may not
think of it as clutter. Perhaps the clutter is wrapping paper, or
Christmas items, or an old sewing machine. Maybe you have some
keepsakes, or photo albums. Then of course there are the extra
clothes and shoes. None of these things is likely to be in the
throwaway pile, but they should not be in your closet if you want to
avoid the cluttered look.
29.
Stand a few feet away from the entrance to the bedroom. What
do you see? Whatever you see is the first thing that a buyer will see.
Is it pretty? Is it bulky? Does it make the room feel small? Move
anything from the doorway that is not inviting.
30.
A spare room should be viewed as a bonus. It is a “plus”
feature of your home, but only if the buyers can view it as such. For
example, if your spare room is used mostly as an office, then, during
the selling process, you need to make it just that – an office! Get rid
of the spare bed and the extra dressers full of last season’s clothes.
Get rid of the boxes of storage items in the closet. Keep the
essentials of your office such as a desk, filing cabinet, bookshelf, and
a nice chair in the corner with a small table and lamp.
31.
Whenever possible, leave the garage free from storage. If
people see that the seller does not have enough storage and has to
use the garage, they will begin to wonder if the same thing will
happen if they buy the house. People like to think that they might
actually be able to use a garage!
32.
Find out what organizations in your area pick up items. Such
organizations often include Goodwill, The Salvation Army, veteran’s
associations, and other local organizations. Another good way to get
rid of items you no longer need is to use Freecycle. Here, you can list
items you no longer need and then choose someone from a list of
takers to have them. The best part is the person wanting the items
comes to your home on your timetable to get them. You can find a
Freecycle group in your area by going to www.freecycle.org.
33.
Get everything off the counters. Everything. Remove all
appliances from the countertops. Even the toaster. Doing so will
make you kitchen look larger and more spacious. It will also keep the
buyer’s eye from stopping on a particular item rather than getting a
full view of the room. Put the toaster in a cabinet and take it out when
you use it. Find a place in cabinets and drawers for everything.
34.
Have you taken away so much that your home no longer has
any sparkle? Although YOUR personality needs to be removed, the
personality of the house still needs to come through.
35.
One of the most important factors to consider when placing
items into a room is the idea of transition. As your eye moves around
the room, you do not want it jumping from place to place or piece to
piece. The movement of the eye should flow – not bounce. To
accomplish this, you want to avoid abrupt changes in height. Art is a
great way to move the eye along the room. People tend to use little
pieces of art on their walls. Instead, use large artwork – it makes the
room look bigger. Not only that, but you do not have to worry as
much about the arrangement.
36.
Give each room a touch of the unexpected. This can be done
with artwork placed in an unusual way, using a piece of furniture in a
way that you normally would not use it, or adding a dash of color
where the eye least expects to find it. For instance, you might want to
set a large, framed print on the mantle instead of hanging it over the
mantle. You might use a ladder-back chair as a small table bearing a
chess set. You might want to add a bouquet of flowers in the laundry
room. Be creative.
37.
Follow the “like-with-like” rule of thumb. Tall with tall, small with
small, wide with wide, and narrow with narrow will guide you
throughout the decorating process. Mimic the shape of each space
you are decorating. For example, a sofa should be accessorized with
horizontal art, so you are complementing wide with wide.
38.
My favorite decorating tip is to look outside the box. You do not
always need to use an item for its intended purpose. For example, do
not just use a tablecloth for a table; make it a slipcover for your
ottoman. It can save you lots of money and time when you purchase
a tablecloth at a local chain verses buying yards of fabric and by
purchasing the correct size it can become a no-sew project. Always
keep your eyes open for new uses for everyday items.
39.
Select a focal point for your room and subtly orient other
furnishings and some lighting toward it. If there is a fireplace, it will
nearly always be the focal point; other focal points might be
bookcases or built-in shelving to house lovely collectibles, or a sofa
with a striking painting on the wall above it.
40.
There are two times that you can angle furniture: In a square
room and if a room already has an angle in it, like a corner fireplace
or a bay window.
41.
In a bedroom, unless you have no other choice, you want to
see the foot of the bed when you walk in. You do not want a bed to
cross the doorway because it blocks the flow and makes the room
look smaller. It is better to see the foot so that you can see the pretty
pillows.
42.
One of the easiest ways to create color is to add beautiful
accent pillows to any room. Introducing a complementary accent
color in a room can make a room "pop" and come alive. Accent
pillows not only add color but texture and warmth as well. By adding
throw pillows in a coordinating or contrast fabric to a couch chair,
bench, or bed, you can transform your room and add instant warmth
inexpensively!
43.
One way to see if your home has curb appeal is to walk across
the street and have a good look at your house. Where did your eyes
go? They should be drawn to the front door and entryway. If they are
not, then you need to do something about it.
44.
People do not see their house as a product that you have to
market and sell. However, selling your home is like packaging.
People look at the outside before deciding to come in. Then they look
at the inside before deciding to buy, Most of their decision is based
on looks. It is packaging. You need to wrap up your product, your
home, like a beautiful package.
45.
Once you have gotten the front yard in shape, it is time to work
on the backyard. The most important areas of the backyard are the
patios, decks, and porches. Getting these areas up to date will give
the buyers a feeling that they are getting bonus space.
46.
New window treatments can make a world of difference. They
can add value and style to your home and be something the buyers
view as a bonus – something they will not have to buy or replace
when they move in. The caution, however, is that you keep the
treatments neutral (keep your personality out of the room) and that
you make sure they do not block the amount of light that comes into
a room.
47.
Many homes have the louvers of the window blinds turned
down to face the floor. A more enhancing way to use blinds is to turn
the louvers up to reflect much-needed ambient light onto the ceiling.
48.
Sometimes, refreshing a room can be as easy as changing a
light bulb. Bulbs like GE Reveal filter out yellow rays common in
ordinary light bulbs, making colors, fabric, walls, and artwork appear
richer, crisper, and more vivid.
49.
Add pampering accessories! Things like bath bubbles, fluffy
towels, and candles not only add the pampering feeling you are
trying to achieve, they offer visual comfort with color and texture as
well. Psychologically, we all crave that long soak with a good book,
and even if we are only in the bathroom for 10 minutes to whip on
some make up, just seeing those items displayed promises
wonderful baths to come!
Teri B Clark is a professional writer and published author. Her most
recent book, 301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home
NOW and For More Money Than You Thought, explains these tips in
more detail and offers many others. To learn more about Teri’s latest
book, go to http://staging-your-home.blogspot.com