Top 5 Home Staging Tips   by Daryl Brandon

in Home / Interior Design    (submitted 2012-02-01)

Today's housing market is as competitive as it has been in decades for home sellers. Unlike the early 2000's; simply putting a "FOR SALE" sign on your front yard and expecting for your home to sell is a thing of the past. Therefore home staging has become a necessary part of the home selling process. In this difficult real estate market for home sellers, setting your home apart from vast amounts of housing inventory is an extremely important task. Therefore, staging your home is a "must-do" in this market.

Below are my Top 5 MUST-DO's to stage your home for a quicker sale.

#1 Clean your home!
I'm not talking about simply washing the dishes and dusting your home… I'm talking about hiring a professional maid service and reputable carpet cleaning company. Just don't fall for the, "we will clean your entire house for $99" type of carpet cleaning service. You'll need a reputable company that can transform your carpets to look as new as humanly possible. Trust me; this makes a world of difference. I would also suggest that you hire the maid service and have them come in every week or so to maintain the ultimate level of cleanliness. Another cleaning that people often forget is a professional window cleaning. Your home will be much brighter once the years of grime are removed from those windows. This will be one of your best staging investments.

#2 Eliminate Clutter.
So you have a large family; therefore your family room has 3 sofas, 4 chairs, 2 ottomans, and a movie theater sized entertainment center lining the wall. That may work for you and your large family, but that clutter makes your spacious family room look cramped. Basically; the more 'stuff' you have in your home, the smaller your home appears to potential home buyers. You just may want to rent a storage unit until your home is sold.

#3 De-Personalize.
Your Beanie Babies collection may be your life's work, but when you're trying to sell your home, please pack of those collectibles and store them away until you move (See Eliminate Clutter). Remove personal pictures, religious and political items as well as anything that could potentially turn off a specific group of home buyers. Buyers sometimes make an emotional connection to the properties that they view, and if they cannot "see" themselves in your home because it's too personalized with items that represent you and/or your family, you may have just missed an opportunity to sell.

#4 Neutral Paint Color.
I understand that you fancy your fuchsia accent wall in the living room, but potential home buyers may not have your sense of decorating style… Most real estate professionals would agree that a neutral color palette throughout your home gives you the widest favorable response by home buyers as bold or bright colors can be distraction to potential buyers. So, pick a neutral and refresh your walls with those colors.

#5 If it's broke; fix it!
Please correct glaring issues in your home… If there is a broken cabinet handle in your kitchen; well, get it fixed. How about that leaky faucet? Fix it. You may be used to the 'unique' way that you open your cabinet with a bent coat hanger, but potential home buyers view deferred maintenance as there being much larger hidden problems. So please take care of maintenance issues before your home is put on the market.

The moral of the story is that if you just list your home without taking these 5 important home staging steps, you are not giving yourself the best advantage of selling your home in this difficult housing market.

About the Author

Daryl Brandon is the founder of Dr Green Carpet Care; metro Atlanta's premier environmentally friendly, residential and commercial carpet cleaning company. Mr. Brandon can be reached at info@drgreencarpet.com.

Dr Green Carpet Care can be reached at http://www.drgreencarpet.com or 404-477-4276.