staging your home for resale

Why should you stage your home? In many areas of the county there are a considerable amount of homes on the market today because of the baby boomers looking to cash out on their investments. This is a very competitive market and if you want to make your home the most saleable property in the neighborhood, you will want to consider staging you home.

Preparing your home
Start at the front walk, and make sure your home is inviting. There should be a debre free path to the front door, which is your focal point, so make sure there is a clear cut path to the entry. This can best be delineated by using groups of flowers to draw the eye up to the front door. Make sure there is a fresh coat of paint on that focal point as well as matching hardware. Two plants flanking the front door is a way to enlarge or visually frame your entrance. All this effort will create a feeling of comfort, good taste and a feeling that this is a well cared for property. Make sure you use ground cover to hide your top soil, dirt is not attractive and you want that freshly landscaped look.

Try and remove all unnecessary furniture inside the entry, as you want to project a sence of space. A mirror in a tight entry is great tool to add depth. As you enter the living room remove all extra tables, because you want to show as much "dead space" as possible to create the illusion of spaciousness. Group your furniture in small ten foot squares, leaving space in surrrounding areas. Consider the traffic patterns between walk ways, there should be no navigational problems. Make sure all family photos and collectables are packed away, as these are distracting to shoppers. Pictures are to be hung in small groups of one, three, five. Small walls should be bare.

The most important thing to decluttering a kitchen is creating as much counter space as possible. Store all the kitchen equipment and replace clutter with a few bowls of bright colored fresh fruit for color. Clear out your refrigerator, clean your oven and organize your pantry, leaving a few shelves bare. This goes for the cabinets too, the idea is to create extra space.

Don't neglect your closets as they will be opened and we don't want people to think there will not be enough room for their clothing and shoes. So the rule is to pack up 1/4 of your personal items for a feeling of spaciousness. Make sure your closet is painted and fresh smelling and the clothes hampers are not visible.

The same advice holds true for the bathrooms. Empty some drawers and clean the insides. All bathrooms look better if you remove all the fluffy rugs, toilet seat covers and personal items on the counter. Freshen up all shower curtains and clean everything throughly. Keep your toilet lids closed and add fresh flowers.

Bedroooms are best shown with only one dresser and one or two nightstands. Space permitting, chairs and extra dressers should be cleared of personal items . Fresh flowes are always a great touch for bedrooms.

The most important key to painting your home for resale is to keep all the colors neutral. New paint will make everything feel "move in ready". Consider painting the ceilings an even lighter color to add height.

Clean windows will add clarity to the views. I ask my clients to store all the screens in the garage to maximize the lighting. Make sure every room has as much natural light as possible. Open the drapes, however if there is an unattractive view, soft sheer drapes will soften but not darken the view.

Lightly scented candles or carpet freshner may add a light scent to your home. So will freshly baked cookies for open houses.
Lastly, you want to create a feeling of home, not yours but theirs. So the less personal, the more neutral the better.