Winnipeg Real Estate News Letter - January

5 Quick Staging Tips For Your Home
When homes are presented as-is, it’s
difficult for buyers to envision
themselves living there. By creating a
neutral yet stylish home, buyers can
see the home in its best light and
dream about adding their own style to
it.
You can’t just throw a “for sale” sign
on your lawn and assume the perfect
buyers will walk through your door.
Staging your home to make the best
first impression can mean the
difference between selling and having
to stay there another year.
Staging doesn’t have to be expensive
— you likely already own a lot of what
you need, and there are affordable
shops with lovely home decor. Clever
decluttering tricks and an eye for
decorating can also boost your home’s
appeal and get it off the market.
1. Declutter and Minimize
Your first step is to get rid of clutter.
Think about the items you don’t use on
a regular basis, like your clothing for
next season, and pack them away.
Consider renting storage space to get
everything out of the house (it’ll also
make moving easier)
2. Clean and Keep Up
With Maintenance
If you’re going to be living in your
home while its staged, you’ll need to be
extra diligent about cleaning. Be sure
to clean thoroughly on a regular basis
so you don’t have to scramble when
someone wants to see the house.
Bathrooms and the kitchen should be
especially clean. Also, keep up with
organization and maintenance. Don’t
let any room get cluttered and out of
hand, and fix little things as they
occur, like blown light bulbs or torn
fabric.
This goes for the exterior too. Curb
appeal is important, as your buyers
don’t want to purchase a home
knowing they’ll have to redo the front
walkway or replace the front door.
Keep up with landscaping, update the
hardware on the outside of the home,
and add lighting to make the home feel
more secure.
3. Decorate in a Neutral
Style
You don’t want to decorate in your own
style; you want to decorate in an
appealing, mainstream style. That can
be as simple as removing items that
are too bold or patterned to pare back
to just the neutral furnishings and
decor you already have. If you’re going
to add items, look for one-of-a-kind
furnishings or decor that viewers
won’t see in every home.
You need to de-personalize the home,
too, so that viewers can personalize it
in their imagination. People don’t want
to feel like they’re moving into
somebody else’s home. They want to
feel like they’ve found their home.
Place things like family photos,
awards, and trophies into storage and
out of sight.