Home Staging Tips
We’ve all been there: we walk into a home that is for sale, and it’s not what we had hoped. The bones of the house seem okay, the floorplan is what we are looking for, but it really taxes our imaginations to see how we could make it our own. The home is still clearly in the throngs of family life and the owner’s personality so clearly embossed on the home that we are not drawn to it. Or maybe it’s one of those homes that is messy for a showing. The kids’ toys are strewn around the room, and the odor of dog food fills the laundry room. Or maybe the house is clearly too small for the family living there and has bunk bed jammed into the bedrooms. These kind of issues are not uncommon and have a relatively simple fix—home staging. If you already know you need help getting your home ready for the market, call Robbie Breaux & Team. We have the best real estate team in the area, and home staging experts on our staff who can help get your home looking its best.
What is Home Staging?
Home staging is the real estate term for decorating your home or condo to optimize its value and attractiveness while it’s on the market. It should play a part in getting your home ready for your big move. In short, you want you home free of clutter and arranged so that it looks like it could be a photo out of a magazine. This can be done several ways, and we’ll go over these, and the benefits of home staging in this week’s article.
Why Bother?
When your home has been staged, and it looks like it could be the poster child for homes for sale in your area, you will reap the benefits. You don’t have to have a 6,000 square foot mansion to need staging. In fact, smaller homes can benefit even more from it, because you are showcasing how your space can best be used. When your home looks amazing, you can expect to get more for the home. Offers will be higher, and in most cases, it will be on the market for a shorter amount of time.
Steps to Staging
Preparing for Your Move
There are several ways to accomplish the finished look that home staging is going for. The first thing to do is to start getting ready for your move. Before you put your home on the market, you should go through your possessions and pare them down. Have your garage sale *before* you put the house on the market! Box up things you don’t need for daily life. This means the contents of your bookcases, the good china, the stacks of extra linens, and personal items.
Storage
When you start the process of minimizing your personal touches in your home, you’ll want to get a storage unit to keep them in until you are in your new home. You may think that you don’t have that much and that you can just stack them in the garage, but this isn’t a good idea since the garage is a space that people also want to see and imagine their own things in, and if it looks half its size because it’s filled with boxes, that’s not a good thing. You may end up having to stash things you didn’t realize you even had, or realize you don’t need!
Bedrooms
Bedrooms need to be made to look as large and bright as possible. This may mean you remove all the fun posters, trophies, and personal items. Pack up all but a few books and toys. If stuffed animals have taken over the room, box up all but the most precious ones that can easily be used to make the pillows look cute. Pack up all but a few high-impact knick-nacks. Anything that expresses who your family needs to go into hiding while you sell your house: family photos and mementos, and anything that falls into the clutter category. Keep a change of sheets for each bed and pack the rest away.
The Living Room
Staging the living room gives you a great change to make a big impact on potential buyers. If you think your current furniture is contemporary enough and in good enough condition, use it but make sure it’s arranged to make the room seem as large as possible. Make good use of the Internet for ideas. If you know you need help staging your home, you can contact Robbie Breaux & Team and work with our stager, whose services are available to our clients.
The Kitchen
In the kitchen, remove all the appliances and other clutter from the counter. If you need them regularly, find a place in a cupboard to stash them for showings. You may have to box up the contents of the cupboards to make room, but that’s all part of the process and you’ll be glad you did it when you see how great your kitchen looks when the counters are clear.
The Garage
The garage needs to be cleared out, too. You’ll want to put all the extra sports gear and tools you use just once in a blue moon into the storage unit. Put extra bikes, kiddie pools, jet skis, and the beat-up car or boat you have been working on in your spare time into storage Make sure your garage is clean as well as decluttered. Sweep it out and, if need be, power wash the floor. Wash the windows and clean off any and all fingerprints on doors and walls.
Yard Clean-up and Staging
The yard and garden of a home are always important selling points. The front yard is an essential element in what is known as curb appeal. The back yard can be a deal breaker for some people. If they have children or pets, they will likely want space for them to run around, and shady areas to take a break from the Louisiana heat. When you are preparing to put your home on the market, clean up the flower bed, and put in flowers that will be blooming for weeks to come. Also, make sure you clean up after your pets so that your lawn is “land mine-free” for showings. As with inside your home, make sure your yard is free of clutter. If your kids need their toys easily accessible, buy a large patio storage bin to conceal them in during showings.
If you are looking to get your home sold, turn to the best real estate team in the Lafayette area, turn to Robbie Breaux & Team. When you do, you can benefit from all the experience and knowledge our amazing team has, including about staging! Call us today.
