With such a glut of listings in the housing market, as a
home seller, you need to do anything you can to set your home apart so it will
be noticed. One big thing you can do is to stage your home well. Here are some tips from HGTV.com on staging
your home:
1.
Say goodbye to clutter: While you may be proud
of your shot glass collection, to a potential homebuyer, it just makes your
home look cluttered. Put away most of your collections, so your home doesn’t
appear busy and cluttered. Furniture can also contribute to a cluttered look.
This doesn't mean you need to strip your house to unusable bare bones, but even
removing that one extra chair from your living room can make a difference.
2.
Pull the furniture away from the walls a bit. It
makes the room look bigger. Use good judgment when doing this though—if pulling
furniture away from the wall a bit means that you can’t comfortably walk
through a room, don’t do it.
3.
Rearrange furniture: just because a piece of
furniture was purchased for a specific room doesn't mean that it has to stay
there. Experiment.
4.
Make spaces valuable: if there ‘s a room or area
in your house that just gathers junk, turn it into a reading nook or small
office space. Turn an unfinished basement into an exercise area with the
addition of some padding on the floor. Use your imagination to figure out the
wasted spaces in your home, and how you can utilize them to increase your homes’
value.
5.
Lighting: good lighting is hugely important in
staging your home. If rooms are dim, add lamps or other accent lighting, and
increase wattage in lamps and fixtures. As an added bonus, use compact
fluorescent bulbs, which last much longer than traditional light bulbs, and are
no longer much more expensive.
6.
Décor: a general rule to keep in mind is that
groupings of décor look best in odd numbers.
7.
Flowers: If you have flowers or other plants in
your yard that cut well, be sure to regularly stock your house with one or more
arrangements. Something living adds a lot to a room.
8.
Bathroom: polish tile in the bathroom. Set out
coordinating towels and candles to give a spa-like feel.
If you follow these tips, there’s no guarantee your home
will sell but it will have a better chance. And if nothing else, your home will
be more pleasant while you live there!
