Free House Staging and Redecorating
Low or No Cost Ways to Stage your Home to Sell
CNN reports that staging your home for sale is the least expensive and most effective way to beat the competition in a sluggish real estate market.
House Staging or “House Fluffing” is a sure-fire way to increase the perceived value of your home. According to Money Sense Magazine, staged homes sell for 6.3% more than the seller’s asking price (versus the scanty 1.6% garnered by the average home).
Often, sellers want to move into a new home without leaving favorite furnishings behind in the house for sale. Realtors and home stagers will frequently advise sellers to replace larger pieces of furniture to enhance the appearance of their homes. Sellers must then manage slim budgets to showcase and highlight their homes for the best return on investment. Here are a few inexpensive and free ways to maximize your home’s appeal.
Clear the Clutter, Not the Personality
Sellers who have already moved out of their houses are in an advantageous position when it comes to clutter clearing; however, depersonalization has to be done with a gentle hand.
Removing knick-knacks, personal items and kids’ art galleries from the refrigerator door are a must, but tastefully framed family photos on the living room wall are not distracting to a potential buyer. Showing buyers that a family has lived happily in a space is far more warm and inviting than a framed art print.
Do-It-Yourself: Clean and Repair
Even if you don’t have the cash at hand to repaint the whole house, at least make sure everything is clean and in good repair.
- Clean appliances – including the hot water heater and furnace – to make them appear to be newer and in good condition
- Clean out cupboards and closets
- Bleach tile grout in bathrooms and kitches.
- Mow the lawn
- Reduce sounds that might hint at disrepair: repair squeaky hinges, oil stiff drawers, fix leaky faucets.
Furnish Anew: Don’t Try to Sell an Empty House
Yes, you want tastefully decorated rooms, but can’t afford to rent furniture until the house sells?
You probably want less furniture than you had while living there, and smaller pieces. Replace a large sectional with a loveseat and a small side chair.
One great way to get gently used pieces of furniture is through Freecycle. And you can re-freecycle the goods once the house sells for others to pick up the pieces and remove them from the property to make way for new owners.
Low-cost furnture, drapes, and accessories are also available at goodwill. If you're feeling lost as to how to decorate your home to sell, decorating for the senses is one easy way to appeal to potential buyers.
Romancing the sale
Oft-interviewed “Staging Diva” Debra Gould of Toronto reiterates time and again “People shop with logic but they buy with emotion.” She compares house hunting to speed dating – “Whether you call it Home Staging or House Fluffing, remember your goal is to romance potential buyers... you want them to lose their hearts and say, "this is home, we have to have this house!"
Expensive furnishings don't necessarily help sell your home. But, an organized and calm interior can put buyers at ease and help them imagine their own furnishings in the space.
This chair shows three different textures
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