Although “home staging while selling your house” may sound like you’re turning your house into the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the reality is, luckily, a much easier project! Home staging simply means presenting your home in the best possible light—making it as appealing as possible to potential buyers.
But while the cleaning, redecorating, and rearranging of furniture may seem straightforward, many folks make critical mistakes while home staging. So if your goal is selling your house in the fastest, most satisfactory way, be sure to avoid these common home staging mistakes:
Not Having a Plan
One of the biggest home staging mistakes you can make is going too much into Do-It-Yourself Mode and not consulting your realtor and/or a professional stager concerning your home staging strategy. Realtors and stagers offer you years of proven strategies—detailed understanding of what attracts buyers—and consulting one or both of them should be the very first thing you do.
Failing to Make Simple Home Improvements
As you walk through your house, you’ll likely see areas that require a bit of attention, and which can be fixed relatively easily and inexpensively. For example, can you paint cabinets, trim, or walls? And what about your light fixtures? These relatively simple upgrades can take decades off the look of a house, and add significantly more value than they cost.
Not Replacing or Removing Outdated Décor
We might have dug life in the 1980s and 1990s, but our décor shouldn’t remind prospective buyers of those bygone eras. More often than not, things like sponged painted walls, 1980’s swag draperies, Corian countertops, and retro furniture will turn buyers off. So if your house is rocking an outdated look, remove and replace dated borders, wallpaper, window treatments, furniture, etc.
Failing to Create an “I Could Live Here” Vibe
Getting your house shipshape is, of course, a major part of home staging, but don’t make your house look so sterile that folks have trouble imagining living there. Ask your realtor or home stager his or her advice regarding how to achieve the “I Could Live Here” vibe that is such an important part of sales success. Also make sure you remove personal photographs, political items, or religious or age-specific items that might alienate potential buyers.
Going Overboard
Home staging can be a bit of a balancing act. A key part of creating the “I Could Live Here” vibe mentioned above is to make sure you don’t add too MUCH color or decorative elements. These can actually be a major turn-off to potential buyers. Instead, keep things tasteful yet simple. Do your home staging in a way that is similar to presenting a “model home”—one home buyers can easily visualize themselves and their families living in and thoroughly enjoying.
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