In today’s climate, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your property is presented to its full potential to be able to secure the best price.
Houses that are staged correctly can sell more quickly and, in many cases, for a higher price. For those who aren’t familiar with home staging, it’s a method of decorating or arranging your home to highlight its most impressive features and help buyers visualise themselves living there.
On behalf of OnTheMarket, Gregory Perrins, Partner Agent for Fine & Country, reveals his are top six tips for staging your house to achieve more clicks, viewings, offers and, most importantly, sell your home for the highest price you can.
1. Be ruthless and declutter
Deciding to sell your home is the ideal time to declutter. Items that are sentimental or of value can be stored away until moving day.
Having 50 pairs of shoes under the stairs or wardrobes with doors that don’t close due to the sheer number of clothes forced inside, will make the house feel small and lacking in adequate storage space.
Now summer is approaching, pack all your winter clothes into boxes and put them in the loft space.
2. Depersonalise space
Clearing away all unnecessary items and depersonalising your home will go a long way to helping the prospective buyer visualise living there – remember, they are buying the house not your lifestyle.
Clearing away these unnecessary distractions will allow the buyer to focus on the house. The ideal is to have a property that showcases the space on offer and encourages buyers to visualise living in the house.
3. Carry out a proper clean
Before you can even think of allowing anyone to view your home, or the agent to take photographs of your home, you need to get down and dirty and do a proper clean.
A house that is not as clean as it can be could lead buyers to think that the owners aren’t looking after the property, which could lead to assumptions that other things aren’t being maintained correctly, such as the boiler.
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The entire house will need spring cleaning from top to bottom – this includes cleaning cornicing, skirting boards, splash backs, shower cubicles and even inside the oven.
Lighting scented candles prior to viewings will also help with creating a sense of luxury and cleanliness when entering the home – by contrast, the smell of wet dog or grease from the morning’s fry up will be off putting to buyers.
For the outside, make sure the garden is tidy, the drive is jet washed, bushes are pruned and the front door is clean.
4. Rearrange furniture
In our own homes we tend to move furniture around over time to suit our needs, such as new additions to the family or changes to our lifestyles such as suddenly having to work from home.
Rather than leaving furniture where it suits your lifestyle, you need to arrange the furniture to maximise the space on offer and make the property feel bigger, helping the buyer visualise their furniture and belongings in the house.
As part of the decluttering, now is also a good time to clear out any old dilapidated furniture. So if you’ve still got that old chair that’s comfy to sit on but looks like the dog’s chewed it, now is the time to either get rid of it or put it in storage.
The house needs to flow nicely with no furniture obstructions and be light and airy.
5. Get the colour scheme right
Experience shows that many viewers can’t see past individual tastes when it comes to decor. The key is to present the house in as neutral a way as possible so that the property appeals to the widest audience it can.
Bold colours should be toned down if possible as this can be a distraction, as can feature walls. If you’re unsure on colours, you can call one of the many home staging and design companies who can assist.
6. Get help from the professionals
There are many professional home staging and design companies that can dress and stage your home. Offering services from simple advice on what to declutter, all the way to complete redecoration and staging of empty properties with rented furniture to help buyers see how the space can be utilised to its full potential.
