Staging Your Home Like a Pro Doesn’t Have to Cost a Fortune
If you are getting ready to sell your house, you have probably heard about how effective the staging process is. Studies have shown that staging will help you to secure a buyer faster and possibly even bring in higher offers. That sounds great, but what if you don’t have a budget that can support it?
Home stagers can cost anywhere from $50 to $150 per hour, and that doesn’t even include if they want to bring in any additional decorations or furnishings. But there are a lot of strategies that you can use as the homeowner to successfully DIY stage your house.
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Declutter every room
We accumulate a lot of things as we live in a house – it doesn’t matter if you lived there two years or twenty years. Don’t be offended, but the more stuff that is in a room, the smaller and dirtier the room looks. Even if you have nice belongings that you are proud to show off, when you are selling your house, it’s time to pack them away.
Spend time carefully sorting through each room. Throw out anything that no longer works and isn’t worth donating. Donate items that you no longer want or need that other people could benefit from.
Then take a second look around. Pack up anything that doesn’t need to be in the house while you are selling it. This includes inside of the closets.
The more things you have packed away in the closet, the smaller it makes your storage space look.
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Depersonalize your house
One of the best things about owning a house instead of renting is your ability to personalize the space. You spend the first several months after moving in turning the house into your home. Now that you are getting ready to sell, you need to turn your home back into a house.
That means you need to put away your personal effects. Family pictures and collectibles should be carefully packed away to take to your next house.
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Neutralize the rooms
You want the rooms to appeal to every buyer that walks through your door. That means the room needs to resemble what would be on the front of a magazine cover. Repaint the walls with a neutral color. It should not be stark white because you want there to be some warmth in the room.
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Rearrange the furniture
Each room should highlight a focal point. In the living room, your furniture should be arranged to create spaces where conversations can happen between people. You do not want all your furniture pointed at the television; that is not a focal point of the house, it is one of your belongings.
Make sure that each room has clear walking paths and a natural flow.
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Clean from top to bottom
A dirty house feels and looks old. Even if you normally keep a clean house, when you are staging you want to take it up a notch. Clean from top to bottom and scrub everything.
The cleaner the house looks gives the impression that you are staying on top of maintenance and taking care of the property, which is something that buyers appreciate.
If you need tips on how to display art work, candle sticks, and other items while you are staging, do a little research. The internet is full of resources to help you stage the odd shaped living room that you have and to give you tips on what colors work the best to appeal to the majority of buyers. DIY staging is possible and will help you sell your house.