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Friday, May 13, 2011

How To Stage Your House

No, this is not my house, but it is a model home in Florida.
Husband asked me why I was up so early today. I said because I was going to do my Bible study homework, but I couldn't, because all my stuff was in a laundry basket in the back of the minivan.

His reply: That is so you.

Hey, I don't watch HGTV for pure entertainment reasons! The last thing potential buyers want to see is "your stuff" when they walk into a house. Including your kids photos, artwork, what you read, the bills you pay...

Speaking of bills, I've put our bills in a drawer.

Husband: Why would you do that? Are you afraid they might pay our electric bill?

Hmpf.

Anyhoo, the point is cleaning and decluttering isn't always enough. Buyers have to be able to envision themselves in your home and not be thinking, "gee, their kids are slobs..."

Our son's "stuff." Is that an empty water bottle in there?!?
'Staging' as it's technically called in the house-selling business is about making your house look move-in ready for a buyer. They need to say "yes, I could see myself living here!"

So clean off that refrigerator, put away as many photos as you can and allow your buyers to imagine themselves living in their 'new home.'

Spoken like a true house-selling veteran. (FYI- this is the fifth house we've sold.)

10 comments:

Gaspegirl said...

I hear ya... that is one of the hardest things that people have to deal with when selling their home. They have to begin to think that this is no longer MY home... it is potentially someone elses and they do not need to see what makes ME happy.

Great post!

Visiting from SITS, make it a great day!

Marlene said...

I can't even imagine having to be in a constant state of household perfection! Good luck with your sale. I hope it happens quickly for you!

An Oasis in the Desert said...

I enjoyed your "home staging" suggestions. We do have our house for sale & balked at removing my treasures for awhile. Now I have packed away (as in ready to be moved) most personal items. This weekend we are removing more items from the walls, patching holes & doing touch-up painting. This was our home for over 16 years, but now it feels like we are "squatters" here. I'm growing weary of my daily routine to keep everything pristine, but you do what you have to do. Thanks for the tips.

Happy Birthday,
CAS

Emily {Frilly Details} said...

I know that moving is great motivation to de-clutter. We've been in our house for 3+ yrs, the longest we've lived anywhere. The clutter is starting to take over! I need to do some major spring cleaning. Blech!

Anonymous said...

I need this. PLUS any more suggestions you have! Our buyer backed out again last week (for the second time), so we have an open house coming up on Sunday, and since we've been pouring all our time into the new place, this one has gotten a bit...cluttered, shall we say?

I took down all the personal photos, but I hadn't thought about the artwork all over the fridge. One more thing to add to the list!

April said...

Excellent advice, Suzanne! As you probably know, we just took our house off the market due to my husband being laid off. We had it FOR SALE for the past 17 months and I decluttered it in order to show it. When I've looked at homes to buy, the first thing that turns me off is lots of CLUTTER. Good luck with selling!

April said...

I know I left a comment for you on this post yesterday, but Blogger deleted a lot of posts AND comments. Mine was hit...looks like yours was, too, huh?

Suzanne said...

Yeah and apparently all my birthday wishes are gone! Thank goodness I have Facebook, otherwise I'd think no one cared! :(

Kristy said...

Good luck with that girl! I feel I'll about having to one day going through another move...We've had 8 moves, 2 across country, & one because Hurricane Katrina decided to evict us (lol). I do NOT like moving or having to have my house "perfect" until the right buyer comes along!

Anonymous said...

lol...stuff in the van! Good luck selling! We watched Leap Year last week. That was actually the first time I'd heard the term "staging!" It totally makes sense, though. We bought our first home recently and it was because we could "see" how we would use it.

Carla

ps. Happy birthday!

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