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.
Want more articles like this?
Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inbox
Sign up for free
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.
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.
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!