Sell Your Home Quick With These 7 Tips

Less is more. Many people have too many ornaments, throws, pictures around. This is understandable, given a lifetime of collecting, but the purpose of staging is to make your home look like a hotel. Something comfortable but uncluttered and peaceful, where the buyer imagines themselves sitting on that sofa drinking a cup of tea. So put away at least half of everything unless you are a real minimalist!

  1. Colour coordinate! Walls and furniture and decor should flow well together. Throw pillows should be a pop of colour that ties the colour scheme together.

  2. Speaking of walls, consider painting. Apparently in some places in the US, realtors ask sellers to repaint the whole house a neutral beige berfore putting the home on the market. While that might be a bit much, if you have a room that is dark, consider painting it a lighter colour. Super bright walls might be something that turns people off (I recall my daughter’s bedroom in our last house. It was bright yellow with a dark blue ceiling, complete with a star chart).

  3. Everyone knows about turning on lights, but make sure you open all the curtains and maybe even prune branches around a window or move furniture that blocks the light. Light is your friend!

  4. Bookcases. If you stack books artfully, they look great. Some books lay flat, some stand up and sort by size and colour. It makes a difference!

  5. Flowers or plants. Not too many (see tip number 1), but a vase on a table provides a central point and a plant adds a neutral touch to a living room or bathroom. Orchids are popular and last a long time. Plastic flowers are OK if they look REAL, and that way they don’t need replacing.

  6. Consider removing most or all photos of children and family from walls and shelves. There are two reasons for this. The first I mentioned already; the prospective buyer wants to imagine themselves living in the space. And secondly, people will be distracted by the photos and will focus less on the actual space.

  7. When I said light is your friend, I forgot to say, only if it is clean! Cleanliness will make or break your sale. I once looked at a home that had dark burgundy carpet. The owners never moved the furniture to vacuum, so you could see the grey dirt marks around the edges of the room. 20 years later, it’s the only thing I remember about that house. Splurge and hire good quality cleaners to do the windows, the walls, and those cleaning things you just never got to. It is well worth it!

These few tips can make a world of difference when staging a home. Of course, hiring someone to stage for you can save that time and effort, and provide a fresh eye. Either way, when selling, think clean and uncluttered!

susan Ko