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BlogArrowReal Estate MarketingArrow6 Staging Tips to Follow Every Single Time You Sell a House
Real Estate Marketing

6 Staging Tips to Follow Every Single Time You Sell a House

Larry Alton
Expertise: Landlording & Rental Properties, Real Estate Investing Basics, Personal Finance, Real Estate News & Commentary, Business Management, Real Estate Deal Analysis & Advice, Real Estate Marketing, Mortgages & Creative Financing
104 Articles Written
home-staging-tips

Sometimes you have flexibility in terms of how long a property can stay on the market before needing to sell. Other times you absolutely must have a home sell in a set amount of time in order for the numbers to work out on your end. In these cases, every single showing counts and you want to impress buyers as much as possible. With the following home staging tips, you should be able to sell any home in a single weekend.

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6 Staging Tips to Follow Every Single Time You Sell a House

1. Spend on a Deep, Deep Clean

There’s something to be said for saving money by becoming a DIY master, but don’t attempt to clean a home on your own. If you’re putting a house on the market, it needs to be professionally cleaned. Not just a one-hour light dusting, either. We’re talking about a deep clean that gets in every nook and cranny.

Carpets should be professionally cleaned, bathrooms bleached and scrubbed, kitchen appliances thoroughly washed, patios pressure washed, and hardwoods buffed and polished. It may cost you a few hundred dollars, but your efforts will be rewarded. While homebuyers notice when things are clean, they notice even more when things are dirty. Don’t skimp on this step.

clean-rental

Related: 10 Home Staging Tips to Help Sell (or Rent) Your Property FAST!

2. Invest in Unisex Appeal

It’s important that you don’t limit yourself by only appealing to one sex. This is especially true when it comes to the master bedroom. By avoiding being gender-specific, you’ll cover a wider audience, and by sticking to a neutral palette for wall color, as well as bedding materials, you’ll allow potential buyers to envision their own items in the home. This is pretty simple to do, but easy to ignore.

3. Get the Small Things Right

While most people focus on the big picture things like layout, location, and neighborhood, it’s the small things that can sometimes finalize a deal. For example, something as simple as wall art placement can subconsciously impact a person’s response to a room. If you’re going to spend extra and stage the property with artwork or other focal pieces, make sure you maximize their value. The center point for any piece of artwork should be at 60 inches. This is the average eye level for a person.

4. Install a New Front Door and Garage Door

According to the annual Cost vs. Value report, two of the highest returning home improvement projects for 2015 include replacing the front door and garage door. A steel entry door replacement costs an average of $1,230, while it adds an additional $1,252 in value (101.8 percent ROI). A garage door replacement costs somewhere around $1,595 and adds approximately $1,410 in value (88.4 percent ROI).

Related: How to Stage a House on a Budget to Sell FAST

5. Pay for Professional Landscaping

Landscaping is another one of those things that you need to pay for. It’s the first thing potential buyers notice and the last thing they see on the way out of the driveway. In the weeks leading up to putting the house on the market, have the lawn fertilized and watered, plant fresh flowers, clean up weeds, and add as much color as you can.

landscaping

6. Aim for Multi-Sensory Impact

Inside the home, you need to aim for multi-sensory effects. It doesn’t just need to look appealing; it also needs to smell and sound appealing. Some low music, burning candles, and properly adjusted lighting can go a long way.

Ready, Set, Sell

Using these six tips, you can enhance your chances of selling your home and spend less time marketing and advertising than you have to. After all, you’ve got better things to do than wait for the right buyer to come around.

For those of you who sell property frequently, what tips would you add to this list?

Leave a comment below!

By Larry Alton
Larry is an independent, full-time writer and consultant. His writing covers a broad range of topics including business, investment and technology. His contributions include Entrepreneur Media, TechCrunch, and Inc.com. When he is not writing, Larry assists both entrepreneurs and mid-market businesses in optimizing strategies for growth, cost cutting, and operational optimization. As an avid real estate investor, Larry cut his teeth in the early 2000s buying land and small single family properties. He has since acquired and flipped over 30 parcels and small homes across the United States. While Larry’s real estate investing experience is a side passion, he will affirm his experience and know-how in real estate investing is derived more from his failures than his successes.
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16 Replies
    Sharon Vornholt from Goshen, KY
    Replied over 5 years ago
    Nice list of tips Larry. Having unisex appeal is a great one. Sharon

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    Katie Rogers from Santa Barbara, California
    Replied over 5 years ago
    When I look at a house, I turn off all the lights so I can see what the house looks like in natural light. I really appreciate houses that already have all the lights off.

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    Karen Rittenhouse Flipper/Rehabber from Greensboro, NC
    Replied over 5 years ago
    Fabulous! Thanks for the tips, Larry. There’s far more to getting a house sold than simply putting a sign in the yard. This is excellent advice.

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    Janos Koos from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
    Replied over 5 years ago
    Great article! Thank you!

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    Daniel Mateus Investor from Charlotte, North Carolina
    Replied over 5 years ago
    And don’t forget the photographer 🙂

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    Nicole Harding from Lake Villa, Illinois
    Replied over 5 years ago
    These are great tips! Wondering if you see a value in using professional stagers?

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    Amilia Bargues from Paris, Île-de-France
    Replied over 5 years ago
    Yes, it’s always nice when a house is clean and well maintained, and its owners are smiling. When I sold my house a year ago, I also took care of everything. And it worked!!! The house was sold in two months. A lot of people came during this period and after two months my property broker (Tranio company) said that the house sold at the price designated by me. I advise you to take care of the property throughout the duration of your stay!

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    Augustus Martinez
    Replied over 5 years ago
    Great tips for home-sellers especially when they are selling old houses. Excellent advice! Got a tweet from me.

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    Whitney B. Professional from South Jordan, Utah
    Replied over 5 years ago
    I think many people are hesitant to spend a lot of money staging a home, but there is no doubt that having a clean, nice looking home is helpful. Buyers need to see the home’s potential, so sellers should put in that extra time and money to make it look inviting and presentable. It may help to sell the home a lot sooner. Great article!

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    Breck Lewis
    Replied about 5 years ago
    I really like how you gave a bunch of idea of things we should do before selling a house. I think it is a good idea to invest in your landscaping because it will attract more viewers. I\’m currently selling my house and had a company approach me because I\’m on commercial property. Should I sell my house to a commercial business or keep it with residential owner?

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    Alex Lane
    Replied about 5 years ago
    Thanks for the ideas. My wife and I are trying to get our house ready to sell early next year. I had not thought about installing a new garage door. That would great help the overall look. Does that investment usually pay off with how much more you can make from the sell?

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    Jake White
    Replied about 5 years ago
    I am about to sell some old property, and I just wanted to make sure that I am prepared to go through the whole process. I liked these tips, especially the one about professional landscaping. This is definitely something that I need to spend some attention on, but for some reason I hadn’t even thought of hiring somebody else to do it. Thanks for sharing this!

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    Drew
    Replied almost 5 years ago
    The small things really do add up in a buyers mind so it’s always a good idea to have those in order. You never know what minor changes you can make will impact a buyers decision. Thanks for the tips.

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    Barbara Herbert
    Replied over 3 years ago
    Seeing a house that no need to repair is a big plus. Then they will just decide by the price if is equal or more of the value of the house. But it is not always means that the more cheaper the house the less quality it have.

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    Ernie Parnell
    Replied almost 3 years ago
    There are many factors affect while selling a house. I agree with that, hire a profession home buyer is an important thing to look for. Thanks for sharing..!!

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    Ernie Parnell
    Replied almost 3 years ago
    There are many factors affect while selling a house. I agree with that, hire a profession home buyer is an important thing to look for. Thanks for sharing..!!

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