Stage Your Home for Maximum Profits

Seller

Staging your home….. There are television shows on doing it, even professional services that will come in a do it for you. What you want to know is, ‘is it really worth it?’. Simply put, done well it will absolutely make a positive difference. Done poorly, it will detract rather than enhance your home.

Start with the Basics

Clean, fresh smelling, bright, tidy. Nothing turns off a buyer faster than an ill kept house. The first question that occurs to them is ‘if they let this go, what else have they neglected?’

You are getting ready to move, so pack up as much of your personal possessions as possible. This is something that many people don’t think of. You have to pack it anyway, why not now and get it out of sight? Unclutter counter and table tops, take down the family portrait gallery, unstuff the closets, pack up the extra dishes and cookware you use for the big holiday feasts. A portable storage unit, which can be moved to your new home can be a great investment. Check out the local Jacksonville area PODS service.

The Big Picture

There is a conflict in several perspectives when it comes to showing a home. To alleviate some of the issues consider some of the following:

Some people can not see beyond your paint scheme, it is not known why but they turn off as soon as they see the Pepto Pink your daughter demanded at age seven. If you have used a lot of strong colors consider repainting in warm neutrals.
If your furniture is old, battered, or very worn and you were thinking of buying new, then do it now. Tattered furniture makes the rooms look old and tired, even with a fresh coat of paint.
Compare what you see in your house to what you have seen in furniture displays or model homes. Remember, you are selling the house, not your taste and preferences. You are selling property, not your home, your ‘home’ is part of you and goes with you. You want a clear slate for others to visualize their home in that space.
Completely empty rooms are visually smaller. Contrary to popular belief, without a few pieces of furniture to provide scale the majority of buyers will guess at a room’s measurement at nearly half the size it actually is. Well placed furniture that is easy to move around is the best way to go. Limit the number of pieces to what leaves the room looking open and comfortable.

Getting Help with Your Staging

Your Duval County real estate office is a great place to start. They will very often have knowledge of staging or lists of professionals that they can give you to choose from. In some cases, for a home in the upper price range you can talk to a local area furniture retailer and see if they would be interested in doing a display of furniture in your vacant home with provisions for discrete advertising.