As a home seller, let’s say you’ve chosen the more profitable road to success through home staging. Your first task is to get your home ready to stage. Here’s what you need to do. (Your Realtor will be glad to connect you with affordable painters, gardeners and handymen to help you.)
Exterior
- Spruce up the landscaping. Sprinklers, accent lights, bark chips in planting areas. Seed or sod dead lawn areas.
- Trim and cut back overhanging tree branches. Let there be light!
- Pressure-wash concrete surfaces to remove mildew and oil stains.
- If you haven’t painted your house for a few years, get it painted. If you have an HOA, consult them first.
- If you have painted in recent years, get the exterior of your home low-pressure washed.
- Decks. If they are in good shape, just pressure wash them. If not, strip and either paint or stain.
- Wash the exterior of windows. Put the window screens in your garage. Buyers (and your photographers lens) will enjoy looking at your landscaping through your sparkling-clean windows.
Interior
- Repairs. Furnace, toilets, faucets, mirrors, ceiling fans, etc. Get these items out of the way first.
- De-cluttering. Enter one room at a time with four large boxes: A “Route It To The Correct Room Box,” a “Give It To Charity Box,” a “Store It In The Garage Box” and a “Toss It Out Box. Fill the boxes. Avoid distractions!
- Interior paint. If you already have light neutral interior colors, you may not need to paint. Your Realtor and his designer will take a look and give you an opinion.
- Cabinet painting. Consider painting older cabinets. This can transform a room from “dated” to “awesome.”
- Deep cleaning. Squeaky clean means well-maintained. Your cleaning crew will also clean inside-facing windows.
- Grouting. There are people who can make your grout look new. In Pleasanton, we recommend The Grout Doctor.
- Lightbulbs. Install bulbs that emit either incandescent or daylight-balanced light. Your home will show better and your Real Estate photography will look great.
- Carpet cleaning. If your carpeting is shot, replace it. If it needs cleaning or stretching, talk to your Realtor. Carpet cleaning is not just for looks, it’s also for removing cooking, smoking and pet odors.
Well done. Now, a home staging crew will apply the icing on your cake. Warning: When this is all finished, you may end up wanting to buy your own house…for more than you’re asking!
Best,
-Mark Byerly, blogging for Team Byerly
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