Staging your home prior to listing it can have a payoff of more buyer tours, faster offers and a better chance of getting your asking price. If staging is not a skill-set in your home, there are numerous Greater Cincinnati staging companies that specialize in assisting at a level that works best for you. One that we recommend highly is listed in the footer of this blog.
Five inexpensive staging tips for Greater Cincinnati
and Northern Kentucky home sellers
1. Boost Curb Appeal – When potential buyers are doing a drive-by, you have seconds to make a positive or negative initial impression. Good staging means a second and third look. Poor preperation makes it easy to see what homes are next on the list. Below are a few items that help the buying audience have a good first impression:
• Define landscape beds, add mulch, plant flowers and blooming greenery
• Prune trees and scrubs
• Power wash the home exterior and concrete driveway
• Seal the asphalt driveway
• Clean the windows
• Make the home address easily identifiable
• Fill in bare spots in the front lawn / apply weed control
• Remove excess yard decoration – let the buyer imagine…
• Stain or paint the front porch and add appropriate seating
2. Room Layouts Reconsidered – We all like our stuff. But when trying to sell your home, stuff is subjective. You don’t want visitors to get hung up on why there are snowshoes over the fireplace. Start by taking out all small items. Do a review of the furniture and determine what will show best. Do some rearranging of groupings or even swap select items from other rooms that work better. Moving items away from the wall and use of furniture groupings can add new dimension to your spaces. Finally, selectively bring back in the smalls to accent the room. Think minimal.
3. Reduce Clutter – Back to the snowshoes over the fireplace subject in #2 – Keep rooms simple and give potential buyers room to imagine how they would make your home fit their vision. Don’t just move everything to the garage. After all, this is one of the most important rooms in the house to some buyers. Storage rooms are a great option to get possessions out of sight. They are gererally inexpensive and can be rented month-to-month.
4. Painting, Wallpaper and Lighting – A few gallons of paint can give your interior space a fresh new look with minimal cost. Neutral, or natural colors are a must when selling. Selectively put up wall decorations again afterward. Wallpaper has its place in home decorating. If yours has had its place in the home for many years, having it removed and painting the walls is not as expensive as you might think. Wallpaper is like art – it’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lighting adds inviting warmth to any space. Add it to each space accordingly and replace bad bulbs. Make sure your home is well lit for evening showings.
5. Odors and Pet Smells – For buyers who are tallying negatives, this item makes the top of the list. if it seems like there are 20 cats hiding somewhere in the house, this can be a tour-ender. Taking odors out of your home is a must. Clean throughout, change furnace filters, shampoo carpets, disinfect, remove pet beds and liter boxes. A good gauge to see you’ve done your work properly is to have non-pet owning friends, who will give you an honest opinion, do a walk-through.
Home Stager Reference
Design To Market
Lisa Mellott
513-265-0952
