Ok, you’ve made the big decision to sell your house, but the thought of it being on the market for months, or even a year, is enough to make you crazy. If you are serious about selling, you need to be flexible about scheduling showings at times that may not be convenient for you. Keeping your house showing-ready is tough when you are still living in it, especially with kids and animals. 

 

One of the things that can make it a little easier is staging. When you stage your home, you reduce the clutter and simplify each room so that it is easier to keep it neat and ready to show at a moment’s notice. Not having to vacuum and dust around a bunch of knick-knacks and collectibles will make it faster and easier to tidy up in a hurry. Plus, if you start packing up things now, you’ll have a head start on moving. 

Yes, You Can Do It Yourself

If you have a good eye for interior design and you already own nice furniture and accent pieces, you can do the staging yourself and save some money. 

To get started, pack up all the family photos on the walls and the photos and collectibles sitting around on every available shelf and table. Some agents believe that leaving one or two professional photos in nice frames can actually help the prospective buyers visualize their own family living here. Whether you leave some family pictures or not is a personal decision, but no matter which way you decide, most pictures and wall hangings need to go. You want to show large open spaces to make the room look as spacious as possible. 

 

After you remove the small items, its time to take a look at the big stuff. If possible, take out some of the furniture. Again, you are going for an open, airy feel so buyers can see how their own furniture will fit in the space. If you don’t have room to store the extra pieces, consider renting a storage unit for a short time.

Go Room By Room

Go through this same process in each room. Bedrooms, especially kid’s rooms, are tough because they tend to collect a lot of stuff. Consider packing up older toys and stuffed animals that aren’t used every day. Stuffed animals that sit on shelves tend to collect dust and make it harder to keep the overall room looking and smelling its best. 

 

In the bathrooms, remove all the bottles and jars sitting around the sink and bathtub. Buy each person a plastic or fabric basket and put the stuff they use every day in their basket and store under the sink or hidden in cabinets. That way everyone can pull out their basket when they are getting ready, then hide it away when they’re finished to keep the room looking neat. 

 

And don’t just cram everything into a closet. These, too, need be pared down so that they look spacious. Pack up and store out of season clothes and footwear. Serious buyers are going to open every cabinet and closet to see if there is enough room for all of their stuff so be sure yours look like they will hold a lot more than you have in there. 

 

After you have removed as much as possible in each room, its time to deep clean. Dust every surface including baseboards, crown, and window treatments. Walls should be washed or repainted. If you have anything but neutral colors on your walls, you really should repaint. While you may love red or lavender, prospective buyers can be turned off. Light neutral colors will also make rooms appear larger. 

Or You Can Hire A Professional

If you don’t have the time or desire to stage your house yourself, you can hire it done professionally. Home Stagers aren’t licensed like real estate agents so anyone can hang out their shingle and call themselves a home stager. You’ll need to be careful about who you hire because you will be entrusting them with your biggest asset, your home. 

 

Start by asking about their price range and the types of homes they typically work in. You don’t want to invest a lot of time finding the perfect home stager just to discover that they normally work on multi-million dollar homes and charge accordingly. By the same token, someone who usually stages beach homes would be out of place styling a log cabin. Ask up front and save everyone a bit of time. 

 

Ask for references and check them! At the very least, ask to see pictures of homes they have staged. Preferably, get names and phone numbers so you can talk to previous clients. Ask about their working relationship with the stager. Were they easy to get along with or did they have a “my way or else” attitude? 

 

You’ll also want to ask if they are insured. Accidents happen and you want to make sure they are covered for any damages they may cause. 

 

Ask what all is included in their price. Will they bring in their own pieces or work with what you already have, or a mixture of both? Will you pay extra for renting any furniture needed or is that included? Knowing these things up front will help you make an informed decision. 

Ask Lots of Questions

Ask about their professional training and/or certifications. The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) and the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP) are both well-respected organizations. Selecting someone who has invested their time and money in learning more about their profession will pay off in the long run. 

 

If you decide to go with a professional home stager, interview at least 2 or 3 and ask them all the same questions so that you are comparing apples to apples when you make your choice. 

The Final Decision Is Up To You

Whether you decide to do it yourself or hire a pro, know that staging will make your home more appealing to a larger number of buyers. If you’ve watched HGTV, you know that the right furniture and decorative pieces can transform a plain house into a gorgeous home. 

 

Most people start their home search online these days and they get their first impression of your home by looking at the pictures. Many otherwise fine homes are passed over because the pictures show messy, cluttered rooms. The assumption is that if you don’t care enough to clean up the kitchen, what else have you let slide? They start to imagine all sorts of problems down the road due to deferred maintenance. Don’t let your house be the one that gets passed over because of clutter, put staging at the top of your to-do list when you get ready to sell.