Home Staging: Five Essentials
When selling your home, it can all come down to first impressions. It has been said that potential buyers make a decision about your home within the first ten seconds – that means that they are already forming a decision as they park up and walk in the front door.
Home staging is the act of preparing your home to appeal to the maximum number of buyers and is essential when putting your house on the market. There’s an awful lot of advice online, and it can be a little overwhelming. So here is a round-up of the five essentials of home staging to help you sell your home.
De-Personalise Your Home
The aim of home staging is to help prospective buyers imagine themselves living in your house. While you want it to seem welcoming and homely, displaying your children’s finger paintings or your gran’s ‘Home Sweet Home’ cross-stitches will make it more difficult for them to imagine the house as theirs. Take them down, pack them away and give your viewers’ imagination space to breathe.
De-Clutter
When showing people round your house, you want them to focus on just that – the house. Tidying away clutter like your children’s toys, your unread mail, kitchen appliances and ornaments on windowsills can help them to focus and avoid distractions. Be strict with yourself and look with a critical eye.
Brighten and Rearrange
Sellers who paint their walls and door frames see a huge return on their investment. A fresh lick of neutral-coloured paint makes a house look bright, clean and fresh. Rearranging furniture to ensure that each room has a clear purpose is also very beneficial.
Clean and Freshen
Making sure that your house is clean and deodorised is a must. Dirt, dust or smells are the first things that prospective buyers will notice and are very off-putting but so simple to resolve. Pay a professional to do a deep clean – including soft furnishings. You can find a curtain cleaning company in London and also all-round cleaners, such as www.sooperclean.co.uk.
Remember the Outside
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and how your house looks from the street can set you up for success or failure. Make sure driveways, lawns, paths and gardens are clean and well maintained.
