Eight Tips for Home Staging on a Shoestring Budget
Home staging on a shoestring budget? Your realtor has explained to you why a staged home sells faster than one that’s unstaged–and for more money. You agree. There’s one teeny little issue–your budget!
The realtor can forget thousands of dollars tossed into fixing up your home to sell it. But here’s what you can do, even without much cash. Work with what you do have to make your home present better in a competitive market place.
Here are eight actionable tips to get your unstaged home ready for the market.
1. Think like a buyer.
Although your home could be several years old, people want something new. You need to make it look its best. Be realistic and remember your house isn’t yours anymore, but a commodity.
Take steps to highlight the best features of your home, so the buyers become obsessed with buying it.
2. Create curb appeal.
It is absolutely essential that the outside of your home creates a positive preview of what is to come. Clear those weeds, spruce up the doormat and pick up those toys out of the yard. You don’t want the first impression of your house to be a drive-by that ends in a buyer fleeing your area. Invest your time and energy in creating extra curb appeal.
3. De-clutter it.
Nothing is a more significant turn off than a home that is packed to the ceiling with collections, personal photos, magazines and more.
Not sure how much to declutter? Have a look at the home model for inspiration, no clutter. And model homes sell.
Work room by room and make three boxes: Items you’re packing to move, things to donate, and trash. Begin packing up unnecessary items, label the box, and seal it up. Donate and trash the stuff you no longer need.
4. De-personalize it.
While you are working in decluttering mode, it is also a wise idea to go ahead and pack those family photographs, children artwork on the fridge, pet pics, etc. You want the potential buyers to see the unique details of the home, not your wedding photos. The less there’s to distract a buyer, the more likely the odds of them extending you an offer.
5. Neutralize it.
You want the home to appeal to the masses. So, if you have a dark forest green area rug, remove it to expose your neutral flooring.
If you do have any budget, new flooring is a wise spend. You do not need to spend a fortune on floors – just enough to keep the buyers from utilizing the worn out carpet as a reason not to purchase. Most buyers do not want to take that extra effort to get new floors once they have moved on in.
6. Paint it.
The more colors on the walls in every individual room, the smaller and choppier it looks. Buyers are searching for space aka the best value per sq foot. Paint your walls a beautiful calming, neutral tone. Neutral paints give your home a cohesive look and enable the shopper to see themselves living in your house.
And remember, paint is the least expensive way to transform the look of a house.
7. Make sense of it.
Perhaps you are a bachelor and turned your dining room into a game room? Most buyers have a difficult time conceptualizing their furnishings in another house. Ensure that the use of your rooms makes sense to anyone who walks in off the street.
So, lose that billiard table and pick up an inexpensive dining suit at a thrift store to show off the dining area.
8. Arrange it.
Arrange each room to highlight focal points. Make sure there is plenty of space to walk around and get to windows and doors. You might need to remove some furniture. Again, look at model homes – they’re staged with less, not more. You want each room to look spacious and also to give the illusion that there’s ample space to fill.
The Wrap-up
An unstaged home is challenging to sell. Buyers want a home that’s ready to move-in and instantly enjoy. Staging helps to change that illusion into a reality. You need not spend a small fortune staging; these common sense tips require minimal investment and some good, old-fashioned creative thinking.
