How to stage your home for a quick sale

Want to stage your home for a quick sale? Here are 5 simple home staging tricks you can do yourself to increase your home’s potential to prospective buyers.

If you’ve ever watched HGTV, you know all about staging a house before listing it for sale. But if you haven’t seen one of the countless home makeover shows, staging refers to preparing to sell a property by showcasing its best assets and downplaying the less desirable features. Typically, the homeowner will hire a staging company to come in to give the home a face lift before listing. But what if you don’t want to (or can’t afford to) pay for professional staging? How do you stage your own home to sell it quickly?

Use these simple tips and tricks to learn how to stage your home and make it more appealing to potential buyers.

If you’re trying to sell your home quickly, you might consider listing at a lower price. Or, you could try staging to show the home in its best light by drawing attention to the best features. Staging makes it easier for prospective purchasers to imagine themselves living in the home.

It’s important to stage your home to maximize the potential sales price and minimize the time it takes to sell. And many homeowners don’t stage their homes before selling them, so staging yours can give you a competitive advantage.

Staging a home positively impacts the sale price and reduces the time on the market. According to a report from the National Association of Realtors, 22% of respondents said that homes that were staged sold for between 1% and 5% more than homes that weren’t, and another 17% said that the homes that were staged sold for between 6% and 10% more!

On a $500,000 home, that could mean an extra $5,000 to $50,000 in your pocket.

To sell your home quickly, learn about staging a house for sale on a budget before sticking a “for sale” sign out in the yard. With some determination, elbow grease, and these five tips, you’ll discover how to stage your home for a quick sale.

The first and most simple staging tricks to sell your home quickly is to just clean up. However, depending on how much “stuff” you have, this simple step might not be easy.

Begin by removing all items from countertops and tabletops in each room.

Next, remove any personal items such as photos of family members on walls or shelves. Dust, deep clean, wash windows and floors, and get your carpets cleaned and all stains removed.

Tip: If you’re unsure of how much to “declutter and depersonalize,” think of a hotel room. While your home should look warm and inviting, visitors must be able to envision themselves living comfortably in the space.

Another fast staging trick to help sell your home is to take a hint from a spa. Add white towels on towel racks in the bathroom. And add a few more - roll them up and place them in a woven basket. Don’t forget to ensure your bathroom is sparkling clean. Plus, as a bonus, now you’ll have a stack of fresh towels!

Update your kitchen and bathrooms by adding new hardware such as hinges and handles on the cabinet doors. You can also upgrade the handles on bedroom doors to give it a different feel, and these fast fixes come at a fraction of the cost of investing in new cabinets and countertops.

Replace or cover tired or well-washed bedspreads with fresh duvet covers in the master bedroom – and the other bedrooms too, if you can. Bright duvet covers freshen up drab or dull rooms, and are a quick way to improve a bedroom’s appearance.

New drapery can completely change a room’s appearance and help control the incoming light to the best advantage.

Create an illusion of larger windows by hanging new drapes higher and wider than your windows. Evoke a classic feel by choosing tailored drapes, or keep it casual with drapes that reach just an inch above the floor in areas with more foot traffic such as the kitchen or foyer.

Look over each room with a critical eye.

One of the key factors in selling a home is the curb appeal. No one will bother coming in the front door to see your amazing interior staging efforts if they’re turned off by what your home looks like from the outside.

Staging the exterior of your home means removing any garbage, extra vehicles or “toys” in your yard or driveway, and pruning shrubs and trees. Mowing the lawn, weeding, fixing cracks or loose paving stones is also important. Wash the windows and rent a pressure washer if your siding or brick looks dirty.

Consider adding potted plants or window boxes to add a homey touch, and check your window shutters, front door, window frames and garage doors for loose or peeling paint. It might be worthwhile adding a new coat of paint in a neutral colour to freshen up the exterior of your home.

Staging a home on a budget requires some planning, imagination, and plain old-fashioned manual labour. However, your creativity and determination in staging your home to sell it fast can make the difference between a quick sale and a long, drawn-out stressful home selling experience. Which would you rather have?