Selling your house can be a stressful process! It probably means that you have bought a new house elsewhere, so on top of organizing a move, you have to sell your current house first. It is imperative for you to get the best price possible for your house.
In good times when home buyers outnumber sellers, it is easier to sell your house as homes sell quickly. But in times when the markets are not so buoyant, and there are more homes on the market than there are buyers, your home really needs to stand out from the other houses for sale. This is the time to consider home staging. Staging your home will present it looking its best to potential buyers.
Staging makes your home stand out, will capture buyers’ hearts, and will lead to a successful sale at the best possible price.
Professional home staging is an expensive process and has become a big business. There are even TV shows on this topic. They tend to raise expectations to unrealistic heights as to what buyers want.
But it may not be worth the investment to hire expensive professionals. There are many things you can do yourself to get your home ready for potential buyers.
The first tip for home staging is to hire a self-storage unit in a facility nearby to keep your extra clutter and belongings. Remember why you are home staging. It is to present your home as a spacious, light, uncluttered place where everything appears to have a place, suggesting that there is plenty of space. You want potential buyers to react emotionally to your home as a place they can see their belongings fitting in, and that they therefore can imagine themselves and their families living in it.
Here are some home staging hacks to help get your home ready for potential buyers.
- Declutter and tidy your home. When you begin the process of staging your home you need to pack away those belongings that you are not using. So the first step is to remove all the clutter and excess furniture from your living spaces. Resist the urge to pack them into your garage as you wish to highlight the fact that you have a garage for a vehicle to park in, not as a dumping ground for stuff with no organized place to belong. Consider this as beginning your packing up process and preparing for your move to your new home.
- Too many furnishings or even outdated furniture will distract the buyer. Old-fashioned heavy drapes, sofas that are too big or too dark, and dark paintwork will put many buyers off. You need to engage buyers so that they want to explore the house further. Replacing an old sofa with a clean modern one, adding some new scatter cushions, pulling the drapes back to let in as much light as possible, and painting over dark paintwork with light, neutral colours will immediately make a good impression. So even an old house can be made appealing with the right colours and furniture.
- Each room needs to have a single purpose. So don’t present a dining room with pieces of your home gym equipment in amongst the chairs. Your sitting room should be cleared of toys and other clutter, and presented with a sofa, a coffee table, a few occasional chairs, and a TV. Too much stuff going on will distract your buyers. If you have an extra small bedroom why don’t you present it as a home office? Most people are looking for a work-from-home space, so this could be a smart move.
- Clear out your kitchen. Counters should be cleared of clutter. This gives the appearance that you have enough storage space for appliances and other kitchen equipment. It goes without saying that the kitchen should be clean, with no dirty dishes stacked in the sink.
- The bathroom needs to look fresh and clean. Think of a hotel bathroom when staging your bathroom and pack all your personal hygiene products and medicines away. Put soap and toiletries in baskets, add some plants, and a few new clean towels to make a good impression.
- Keep bedrooms gender-neutral by painting them in a neutral colour pallet. Bright colours are distracting to buyers. Keep bed linen and window treatments neutral too.
- Pack personal items away. Items such as family photos, trophies, collections, and children’s drawings need to be packed up and placed in your storage unit. The objective here is to depersonalize your home so that the buyers find it easier to envision it as their own.
- Let in as much natural light as possible. Strategically arrange plants and fresh flowers to present a home that looks spic and span. Be aware of any pet odours and other smells which may put a potential buyer off. Try and make sure that your pets are not at home when a potential buyer is shown through your house.
- Take heed of the opinions of your real estate agent. They have experience with what buyers like and dislike, so learn from their experience.
Why Use Stop & Store Fareham Self Storage for Home Staging?
As you can see, decluttering and organising your home for potential buyers involves a lot of work, but self storage can minimize the anxiety that accompanies home staging and selling your home. Packing up and storing your extra belongings in a self storage unit will go a long way to allowing you to present your home in the best possible light to enable you to sell it quickly and for top dollar. Remember that first impressions count.
There are some very good reasons for renting one of our self storage units.
- Our security is top-notch, with monitored CCTV, intruder alarms, fully fenced, and strict access control at the gate.
- We have storage units in a variety of sizes, so whether you need to store a few boxes of memorabilia, or the entire contents of your house while you wait for your new home to become available, you will find a unit to suit you.
- Our units are easily accessible for loading and offloading, and we even have a trolley to make your job easier.
- We offer discounts for certain sized units, so please check our website for these.
- We have reviews from past clients for your information.
Please contact us on Tel: 01329 556174