By Meghan Belnap
When you're selling your home, you want to do all you can to ensure it sells as quickly as possible and for the highest possible price. While the home itself will be the main attraction, it's still important to consider the small details that buyers will inevitably notice.
Related: Winter Home Staging Tips That Promote Safety and Sales
Some people choose to forego the staging process, thinking it's a waste of time, but it can greatly increase the number of offers you receive. Here are four approaches to take that'll make your home look great when potential buyers come through:
Remove Personal Items
The first thing you want to focus on when staging your home is to make sure to remove any personal affects. Pictures, kids' drawings, certificates or anything else that might identify you needs to be taken down. While there are safety benefits to taking this step, the main reason you want to depersonalize your home is so that any potential buyers can visualize themselves living in your home. If you can capture their imagination, you've already won half the battle.
Go for Neutral
Although you may have a very bold decorating personality, it might be best to mute that somewhat when you're trying to sell your home. Again, buyers want to be able to visualize themselves living in your home, but if your decor is too far from what they enjoy, you might cause them to miss the underlying beauty of your home. This isn't to say, of course, that you can't have a few fun pops of color throughout your home. Instead, just make sure that everything matches and isn't too distracting.
Keep It Simple
When REALTORS® show a home, it makes a world of difference if they can easily explain what a room can be used for. That's why it's important to simplify your decor as much as possible. Try to have only a few main pieces of furniture in each room, and make sure to remove any clutter that makes your home look smaller. This will help potential buyers "catch the vision" of how they can use certain rooms as they tour your home.
Appropriate Exterior
Staging a home starts with the exterior. An attractive exterior will create a strong first impression, making it easier for buyers to overlook other small flaws in your home. Try to coordinate your landscaping with the season, having mums in the fall, flowering plants in the spring and summer, as well as simple, tidy landscaping in the winter.
If you're having trouble figuring out how best to stage your home, it's worth it to ask an expert. Even a few simple tips can help you significantly increase the perceived value of your home. Selling a home is a major financial transaction, so make sure that you don't leave this transaction to chance!