June 15, 2008
Staging Your Home
Selling your home can be a stressful experience, whether you live in
Anchorage, Houston, or Cincinnati. One of the keys to making sure that your
home sells as quickly as possible is staging it well. You want every prospective
buyer to walk into your home and immediately be able to imagine themselves
living there. So how do you do that?
1. Clean it Up
Obviously you know that you need to keep your house at least a surface level
of clean. The counters should be wiped down; the floors should be polished,
etc. What we’re talking about here is a
deep cleaning.
Wash your walls and ceilings. Polish every surface. Make sure that everything
is shiny and new looking.
2. Clean it Out
If you don’t have to live in your home while you are trying to sell it, this
is a lot easier. You can simply move to your new place and leave the old place
empty (or with a few strategically placed pieces to help convey a sense of
scale to prospective buyers).
If you do not absolutely need it every single day, get it out of the house.
The good news is that in most cities (particularly here in Cincinnati), you can
find local storage to
hide old LeBron James memorabilia, put your son’s college furniture somewhere
out of site during the summer or store larger items you may be trying to sell.
Put everything you do not absolutely need every single day into that storage unit.
It’s much less expensive than you might think.
PRO TIP: Use this opportunity to go through your stuff and get packed up for
your future move now. This will make it easier to find what you need if you
have to get something out of your storage unit. Plus, when you do find a new
place to live you can simply load up your storage unit and move everything—you
won’t have to worry about sorting through it all in the new place.
3. Decorate it!
In Cincinnati, we aren’t known for taking decorating risks. This is why it
is good to decorate your home as
simplyand as conventionally as possible. You might love that modern art piece
hanging on the wall, but a more traditional painting will “home up” your house
a lot better.
It’s also good to show some hometown (or home state) pride. Hang a Reds
and/or Bengals banner in the Den, a photo of Rosemary Clooney in the hall, and
put books by Sharon Creech, Mike Resnick and Curtis Sittenfeld on the shelves!
People who understand Cincinnati will recognize them all immediately and be
more likely to want to buy your home.
At the same time, you don’t want to go over the top with the decorations.
Use a few pieces to add a touch of character and leave it at that. You don’t
want to overwhelm your interested buyers!
4. Don’t Forget the Outside
So many sellers focus only on the inside of the house when they think about
staging. This is a mistake! The first thing a prospective buyer sees when he or
she drives up to your home is the outside of it!
- Power wash the outside of your home (siding and
windows)
- Make sure that your roof is in good shape (and looks
that way).
- At the very least make sure your lawn is mowed and that
your yard is free of toys.
- If you can afford it, hire a professional landscaper to
come in and beautify the property with flowers and other garden-y type
things.
It’s also good to remember that Cincinnati is a “lawn” town. Most
neighborhoods are populated with people who take pride in their lawns and some
even vie for “best lawn on the block!”
Do this in the back yard as well, since people–especially those with
children–look there too!
With any luck (especially if you use these tips) your house won’t sit on the
market for very long. Before you know it you’ll be moved and settled in to your
new place!
