Home Staging Tips for 2021

By Mark Spain Real Estate

At Mark Spain Real Estate, we know how important a home is; it is where you feel safe, comfortable, and the most like yourself. This is why home staging is so important! When you’re selling your home, you want to make sure that potential buyers of all kinds are able to picture themselves belonging in your home. 

Mark Spain Real Estate wants to serve you in reaching your real estate goals! Whether you are looking to buy, sell, or get a Guaranteed Offer on your home, you can count on Mark Spain Real Estate, the #1 Real Estate Team in the US for Closed Transactions. To learn more about Mark Spain Real Estate’s service, culture, and tips, visit our blog!

What is Home Staging?

Home staging is the process of getting your home ready for sale by making it physically appealing to a wide range of potential buyers. Good home staging focuses on flattering the interior design and features of your home, arranging furniture, lighting, and other elements in ways that show off the home and allow buyers to picture themselves there. This can be done by decluttering and improving the flow, appearance, and feel of the home. 

How Does Home Staging Affect Home Sales?

According to the Mortgage Reports, staged homes sell 73% faster than unstaged homes. Home staging not only helps homes to feel nicer, bigger, and more move-in ready during open houses and showings but also improves photographs of the home that are posted online and to the MLS. 

Home staging can also make your home appear well cared for, newer, and cleaner, resulting in heightened buyer interest and increased sale prices. Often, the amount of money spent on staging your home will turn into a profit on the sale, as you can earn a higher sale price than if your home had not been staged. Stage your home to sell quickly and for the most money!

Our Top Home Staging Tips

Home staging is sure to impress buyers and convince them that your house is the one they want. Our top home staging tips fall into three categories; cleaning, defining, and fixing!

Cleaning

The first step to having a perfectly staged home is cleaning! No one wants to move into a dirty house, so make sure you take care of your house from top to bottom. Clean all counters, appliances, floors, carpets, walls, fans, blinds, and any other nooks and crannies! A spotless home will be far more attractive to buyers than a home that looks worn-in, so put on your scrubbing gloves and get to work!

As you clean your home, make sure you are getting rid of clutter and depersonalizing your home. You want buyers to be able to picture themselves living there, so removing all personal items will ensure they aren’t thinking about the house belonging to someone else. Clutter can make a home feel cramped and chaotic, so only keep items that make your home feel comfortable, fresh, and appealing!

Defining

Another pro-tip when it comes to home staging is to define your spaces. Potential buyers should recognize that all the space in your home is usable, and you can trigger these thoughts by assigning functions to each room. Instead of having empty spaces or rooms without meaning, get creative and brand your spaces. For example, your finished basement isn’t just a basement and multipurpose room, but an entertainment lounge. 

Other ways to define your spaces are with rugs, lighting, and furniture. When staging a home, it is important to bring in as much light as possible; make sure all bulbs are working, strategically place lamps, and open blinds for fresh sunlight. Utilizing light can make your home feel warm, clean, and inviting! Rugs and furniture, in moderation, can be used to separate and define spaces in large rooms, especially in open floor plans. If your kitchen and dining area are attached, consider a fun new rug to go under your kitchen table!

Fixing

When you are staging your home, make sure to fix any damage that has occurred over the years! Buyers want move-in-ready homes, not a list of to-dos before they get settled. To make your home the most appealing, inspect and patch any cracks or holes in the walls or ceilings, apply fresh paint to walls and ceilings, and ensure all fixtures are properly and tightly installed. Pay attention to your floors, and consider professional care for damaged carpets or hardwoods. Freshly buffed floors are sure to impress potential buyers!

Don’t forget that the outside of your house is what potential buyers see first. In addition to making sure the exterior of your house is clean, make sure also that all your doors, windows, shutters, and gutters are in good condition. Consider investing in your landscaping, and add any final touches that make your home feel nice and welcoming; like fresh paint on the mailbox or bold, new numbers on the door. 

Go the Extra Mile

If you’ve followed our three tips but want your home staging to go the extra mile, we recommend focusing on decorating and involving the senses. When you decorate your staged home, keep it simple and classy. Utilize furniture that is correctly sized for the room, making your home seem comfy and livable, but also clean. If you are hanging art or featuring another decor, remember that often less is more!

If you really want to impress potential buyers with your staging, involve the senses; your home already looks great, but it can feel, sound, and smell great, too! Improve the feel of your home by keeping it at a cool temperature and using humidifiers or dehumidifiers, if necessary. Allow sunlight to pour in and make your home feel naturally warm!

If you live on a busy street, appeal to the sense of sound by utilizing soft music or a quiet noisemaker to distract from the bustle outside. If you or your neighbors have pets, do your best to make sure they aren’t present to make noise while your home is shown. 

Lastly, appeal to the sense of smell by filling your home with great, subtle fragrances. Light candles in bathrooms, place fresh flowers throughout the house or use wall plug-ins to freshen your whole home. If you really want to go the extra mile, bake fresh cookies to offer to your potential buyers to make your kitchen smell delicious, while also attracting buyers through taste! What says home better than freshly baked cookies?

You can count on home staging and Mark Spain Real Estate to sell your home faster and for more money! If you are interested in selling your home or getting a Guaranteed Offer, contact us today. Mark Spain Real Estate is grateful to serve you in reaching your real estate goals!

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