Folks selling their homes have, for the most part, a common top priority: selling their home as speedily as possible, and for the best price. While we’ve all heard the folk wisdom regarding tricks for a quick sale - let’s just say that statues of St. Joseph will never fall out of demand - there’s a proven and practical way to milk the max value from your home as expediently as possible, and it’s one that doesn’t involve divine intervention! The answer is staging, and, yes, it’s as big a deal as you might have heard.
Staging is a technique rooted in the fact that buyers are, at heart, emotional creatures. We humans all are. It’s been said that location accounts for ¾ of buyers’ motivation when choosing a home. You can’t change your street address - not easily, anyway - but you can anticipate and react to the less-concrete, more visceral variables that impact prospective buyers’ reactions to your home. Home staging has nothing to do with trickery or slapdash cosmetic concealing of serious flaws. What it does involve are basic, universal steps meant to help buyers picture your house as a home. There are intrepid sellers willing to DIY their staging, and many of them do a great job. If you are thinking of going this route, however, be sure to weigh your personal threshold for stress and aggravation (to say nothing of adding additional bullets to your undoubtedly hectic schedule) against the costs of hiring a seasoned pro.
On a very general level, staging involves the depersonalization of your home. While it can be tough to strip your living space of the adornments and decor that make everything “yours,” keep in mind that you are trying to appeal to the common denominator.
- The first step of the staging process inevitably involves removing “personal items” from each room: family pictures, diplomas and certificates, trophies, religious items, and anything eccentric. Lose the toothbrushes and shampoo bottles in the bathroom - you are trying to emulate the look and feel of a model home.
- Deep cleaning and minimizing clutter are obvious tasks on the to-do list as well. You may consider repainting your walls a neutral, inviting color.
- The most involved staging jobs go as far as upgrading flooring and even small household fixtures, the theory being that the increase in the home’s ultimate selling price will more than counteract the investment(s).
Psychologically, these steps are time-tested and proven to assist buyers in picturing your space as their home: a repository for their things, their personalities, and their memories. The above is only a very basic outline of the staging process, and needs will vary based on the age, location, condition, and price point of your home.
