How to Stage a Home for Sale

Median home prices in the US recently cracked the $400,000 mark. Of course, location plays a big role in the price you can expect. In areas of Los Angeles, for example, you often see prices above $1 million.

Of course, the white-hot real estate market can’t last forever. There may even already be signs of cooling.

Whether the market stays hot or gets cold, one thing doesn’t change. You must stage your home to get the best offers.

Not sure how to stage a home for sale? Keep reading for our quick home staging guide.

Declutter

Staging is one of the most important home selling steps, and it starts with decluttering. Even if you do a good job of keeping your home tidy, possessions accumulate. It’s inevitable.

When you stage a home, though, you must give potential buyers a chance to imagine all of their furniture and pictures in the same space. By removing as many of your items as reasonably possible, you depersonalize the home. That lets buyers see themselves there more easily.

Deep Clean

Next up in staging a home is the deep clean. Again, no matter how tidy your home is, it’s not the same thing as professional cleaning.

You’ll miss corners or forget to sweep under beds. In many cases, things accumulate so slowly that you don’t even notice.

Bring in a professional cleaning team. Even if you don’t have them do every room, make sure they hit the kitchen and the bathrooms. They should also do a thorough carpet cleaning.

Focus on High Traffic Areas

While you can expect people to think hard about the cleanliness of spaces like bathrooms and bedrooms, save your high-impact staging for high traffic areas of the home, like the kitchen, living room, and master bedroom.

You want these spaces to really sparkle because they’re the spaces the buyers will probably give the most attention to. They’ll think about lounging in the living room or preparing meals in the kitchen.

Fixes and Curb Appeal

You should also spend some time making any necessary repairs. If you’re not sure what you should fix and what to let go of, consult with your realtor for advice.

Don’t forget about curb appeal when working on your staging. If nothing else, get your lawn professionally mowed and edged. You can take things up a notch by adding some plants to your flower beds.

Pro tip: don’t favor flowers as not everyone loves them. Look for non-blooming perennials.