Monday, March 23, 2009

How to Stage Your Home For Sale

As many of you know, my mom is a Realtor. We have worked closely together over the years staging homes for her both her clients and mine. I recently came across this home for sale in the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake City and thought is was a perfect example of how to stage a home for sale. I took the photos from the MLS.

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It may appear that this super-clean, super-organized, super-good-taste family has just stepped out for a bite to eat while you are previewing their home. But in reality this home has probably been professionally staged and most of their belongings are in storage.

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Tip#1 Ask a third party to help you stage your house. If a realtor or decorator isn't in the picture - call a friend. They won't be attached to your belongings and therefore able to make emotion-free suggestions about what to remove or change.

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Tip #2 Take your unnecessary belongings and put them in storage. Your home needs to feel like a hotel so that a buyer can imagine themselves living there. Plus your home will feel bigger if it isn't cluttered with stuff.

Tip#2 Accessorize - Your home should feel finished. Accessories help give the feeling of being complete - Like there are no projects left to do. Lamps, picture frames, baskets, books and pottery are all great neutral accessories.

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Tip#3 Anything distracting must go. If it is worn-out, ugly, or distasteful it needs to go. I know this sounds obvious, but sometimes there are things that you are using 'just to get by' for a couple of years that fit into this category.

Tip#3 Buy or borrow furniture if you have to. When I sold my last home, I borrowed everything I could from my parents and in-laws. I still didn't have a decent dinning room set so I bought one on Craigslist for $800. It wasn't my favorite but it made the room look great. I put it right back on Craigslist after I moved and sold it for $100 profit.

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Tip#4 Things don't have to be perfect, just remember to keep them clean, neutral and organized.

6 comments:

Emily said...

yeah that house seems like a dream. I hope that it is professional staged. It would make me feel bad if people really lived that perfectly. I liked the tip on Accessorizing, making it feel finished, no projects left to do. They also used really neutral colors, a lot of white and clean feeling even if the house is old and what not.

Melissa B. said...

is that house really for sale? Can I buy it?

cotedetexas said...

weird - we both have staged houses on our blogs!!!!! great minds think alike!
thanks for the comment.

Maria Killam said...

Bethany,
Such a great tip about the dining room set! And you sold it for a $100 profit!! (great headline you chose to, you must be reading the same sites I am :)

lindsay said...

Hey! I'm so glad this little house made the blog! Love the tips!

Aaron & Amy Norton said...

wow, what am amazingly staged house nearby, i want my house to look staged all the time, who do i call?

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