Staging your home is a very important part of the selling process. After all, it’s important that your home is uncluttered, clean, and free of any personalization so that potential buyers won’t be distracted by your personal taste! A buyer needs to see essentially a clean slate so they can put their imagination to work with how they would make the home their own. So, what are the easiest ways to stage your home? Just take advantage of our top 5 tips!

1.  Enlist the help of a professional
Home stagers are professionals who know exactly how your home should look to get the highest response from potential buyers. They can go room by room and assess the staging needs. These consultations typically include a paint analysis, furniture placement, and most importantly, an honest assessment of what is going to maximize your home’s buying potential. If a professional home stager is not in your budget, then there are plenty of other resources to help you stage your home. Head to your local book store and pick up a book or two on the subject or spend some time browsing the internet where you can find plenty of articles and blogs to help get you started.

2.  De-clutter
Your home needs to look as clean, neat, and spacious as absolutely possible. Clutter isn’t just dirt and trash, though. It can mean anything as small as personal trinkets to as big as furniture. In fact, if you’ve got a lot of stuff, you may want to move it into storage during the selling process. The price of a storage unit will be worth it if you can sell your home faster! Remember, extra “stuff” makes your home look smaller, which is the last thing you want when you’re trying to get the highest possible price for your home. Pack up any clothes you won’t need as well as anything else that takes up space in your closet. The last thing you want is for a potential buyer to think there is not enough space in the home for all of their things!

3.  De-personalize
Although your children’s handmade finger paintings may have sentimental value, they are distracting (or even an eye sore!) to a stranger. Take down anything that is purely personal and not functional in your home. This also includes family photos or any souvenirs from family vacations. When staging your home, it is best if it really doesn’t look like anyone is living there at all. This gives the buyers a sense that they can make the home their own quickly and easily.
 
4.  Deep clean
You may be surprised to hear what kind of “unofficial inspection” a buyer will give your home. Opening closets, drawers, and cabinets is not uncommon when a serious buyer enters your home. Although cleaning may seem obvious, a deep clean is incredibly important for your home. Want to make sure it’s really clean? Walk through, turn on all the lights, and open up the blinds and curtains before a buyer comes through. The extra light will make the rooms appear bigger and more open, and it also gives you a chance to make sure every room is clean and free of clutter, dirty dishes, or laundry for every showing.  

5.  Go the extra mile
Make your house look like a home by and adding special touches to set it apart from the other homes for sale in your area. For example, walk around your home and make sure there is nothing cracked or broken. Pressure spray your sidewalk and plant flowers at the front of your home to add color to your house. This extra effort will make buyers more inclined to want to make the home their own!