Staging a Home: Small Changes Can Mean More Money First impressions speak volumes, whether we are meeting a new person, entering a new city,  or viewing a prospective purchase. These first impressions are particularly critical when a prospective buyer is viewing photos of a home online, or standing on the sidewalk looking at what might be one of the biggest purchases of their life. It is estimated that first impressions are made within the first thirty seconds, if not sooner. Thirty seconds? That doesn't leave much room, or time, for error. So, how do you work with your sellers to ensure that their home looks attractive, inviting, homey, and interesting enough to say "I'm worth buying" within those thirty seconds? One word: staging. A staged home will get more attention than one that has not been staged, as there are some key guidelines to staging that makes the home look bigger, brighter, and cozier. There are a number of companies who are professionals at staging, and they are definitely worth investigating if you and your sellers do not feel confident in doing the staging yourself. If your seller is willing to pay for a professional, then go for it. They are experts and will be able to make the home look amazing. It can be costly, though, which incents most people to attempt to do it themselves, which is completely possible. Following a few key guidelines, anyone can enhance a home's natural beauty and make those first thirty seconds count!
How you doing?
Taking a walk through the home, what is the current state of it? Are there repairs that need to be made? The first step in making a good impression is to ensure that the home is structurally sound and that the walls, windows, sidewalk, and foundation are in good shape.  This would be a great time to suggest a home inspection to the seller, as anything that needs fixing should be fixed. Even minor repairs like ending a squeaky door can make a big impact on potential buyers. Pay special attention to the exterior of the home, as that is what people will see first. Replacing dead or struggling plants, fixing patio stones, or putting a fresh coat of paint on the porch can mean the difference between "listed" and "sold".
Mr. Clean
Likely obvious, but ensure that the home is clean. Wash windows, sills, walls, floors, doors, light switches, light shades; basically every inch of anything that is or is contained within the house. A detailed, extreme cleaning is in order, and if this is something that sellers cannot do, there are cleaning professionals who are skilled at finding even minute traces of fingerprints and dust!
A house that shines from being clean and has the faint residual odour of cleaning products will be attractive to all five senses. As my Grandma used to say, "A clean home is a happy home!"
See the light!
 Humans are attracted to light, especially sunlight. This can work to your advantage while either showing the house or photographing it for the listing information. Opening the curtains and turning on the overhead lights or lamps can turn a room into a cold and shadowy place to one that is warm, inviting, and cozy. Even if the room has a lot of natural light, a lamp creates an inviting "come sit under me" feel that buyers will respond to when they see it. If there are rooms that seem a little dark, adding in lamps can make all the difference in the world. As a real estate professional, you may want to invest in a few generic lamps that can be used during your photo sessions or open houses.
Go with the flow...
 To make the home seem larger and more concise, consider the 'flow' between rooms and within the rooms themselves. You should be able to move in a circle within each room if the furniture is positioned correctly. These circles increase movement and encourage discussions, should the room be full of people. Rearranging or removing furniture that would break down the communication of the people will help with the flow. As well, consider removing any furniture that prevents you from easily moving between rooms. Think of yourself as a small car. Could you move between the rooms or would you hit furniture? An 'open flow' within a room and between rooms will not only encourage potential buyers to take a look throughout the house, but also provide the feeling that the home is functional and will work with any furniture or possessions they may have. Open and easy flows also help make the house seem larger.
Wide open spaces...
No matter the current size of the room, potential buyers will likely always want them to be bigger. "Bigger is better" has been ingrained in us! Capitalizing on the current room size and 'expanding' it visually will appease viewers. This can be done in multiple ways.
 Eliminating bulky furniture or removing unnecessary furniture will ensure that more of the walls and floor are visible, which can visually expand the size of the room. As well, 'questionable' furniture that needs repair or is dirty should also be removed, fixed or enhanced, as it can make the room seem smaller than it is. Consider having a stock of neutrally-coloured and generally-shaped slipcovers that can be used for any of your clients, which eliminates accidentally insulting someone's beat-up velvet 70's couch! Using slipcovers also adds visual texture and warmth to a room, making it inviting and cozy. Another option is to completely remove the furniture and replace it with rented furniture. Some professional stagers will even invest in some key pieces that they just move between the homes of sellers who hire them. Another way to make a room look larger is to add some plants or a mirror. There is something about a living plant that feeds a human's excitement and makes things look grand. Mirrors serve to provide another visual 'dimension' to the room, especially when positioned opposite of something visually appealing or another open space in another room. Probably the most essential (and likely the easiest) way to make rooms seem larger is to organize each room by removing all of the unnecessary items that we as humans seem to accumulate! Remove all of the throw cushions, the extra coffee tables, the knick-knacks, the pictures, the DVD's, the gadgets, the gizmos, the electronics, the kids' toys (one of the worst culprits for clutter), and all of the 'collections'. Having your seller take away anything that is not used on a daily basis can make a huge difference! These items can be packed into moving boxes, which will save time later. Better yet, have them look at each item and ask, "Have I used this in the last six months or am I likely to use it in the upcoming six months?" It is almost surprising how many things we have in our homes that never get used! Encourage your sellers to have a garage sale to not only get rid of these items, but also gain some revenue for moving costs or new items for their new home.
Back to square one
When a buyer purchases a home, they get the basics of that house: walls, floors, windows, siding, etc. Attempting to return the house to its natural state is one way to get the house staged and ready for potential buyers. This can be done through two actions: returning rooms to their intended purpose and neutralizing the rooms.
Returning rooms to their intended purpose means what it implies. The kitchen should contain the items necessary for preparing and consuming food. The dining room should contain a table and chairs. The living room should have seating and entertainment items. The bedrooms should have beds and items for storing clothes. You get the idea. This tip really ties in with the idea of decluttering rooms. In everyday life, the kids' toys invade all rooms of the home. That is life! When staging a house, though, you want to work towards marketing the home for any potential buyer. Returning those rooms to their intended purpose will make them seem larger, as well as give the house an overall 'larger' feel, as it is easier to see that there are a lot of rooms for a lot of different purposes. One note about the bedrooms: always ensure that there is at least one bedroom that is marketed as a child's bedroom, even if there are no children in the house. Not everyone who is buying a home has a child, but for the majority of buyers, children of some age are part of their lives. Having a child's bedroom implies that this house is 'child-friendly' for potential children in the future, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, friends' children, etc.  Neutralizing the rooms means a multitude of things, but primarily the colour and the context. Since colours can evoke a number of emotions and responses from people, it is safer to have the house in neutral tones like white, beige, and brown, which usually don't evoke as strong or as varied responses as colours like orange, red, or green. This may mean a fresh coat of paint on the walls or some slipcovers on the furniture. A new coat of paint serves a dual purpose in not only neutralizing the environment, but also freshening up the home and making it seem larger, as neutral tones reflect more light. Neutralizing the context of a room means removing anything that could be offensive, unappealing, or themed. For instance, a basement rumpus room may be a great place for a seller to showcase all of their deer heads and guns, but potential buyers may be turned off or offended, especially if they are animal lovers. A good rule of thumb: if it is sexual, racial, religious, ethnic, violent, illegal, scented, or pet-themed, you should encourage your seller to remove it. Scents and pets are often over-looked, but are important because so many people have allergies to them, which can kill a deal immediately. As well, removing pets avoids the annoying and awkward 'I'm-going-to-lick-your-face' moment with the family poodle.
Who lives here?
If you cannot answer that question with a name or by using a photograph, then you have properly staged the home! One of the most successful staging activities that you can do is to completely remove any personal items of the sellers and make the home impersonal. This may seem counter-intuitive, as you want the house to be inviting, but it makes perfect sense...and what's more, it works! If your potential buyer walks into a home full of baby pictures, kids' drawings, hobby items, and personal mementos, they will feel more like intruders into a family's living space than potential buyers of the underlying home. Remember, first impressions are made within the first thirty seconds. If the buyer walks into a home that looks like a room configuration at IKEA, they are much more likely to envision themselves in that space, just like we all do at IKEA. That's part of the appeal of the store, really: "Will this work for me and my life?"
Depersonalizing a home comes in many forms, one of which is removing items from the front and backyards. Remove the family sign; put away the shoes and toys from the front porch. Clean up the toys or entertainment items from the backyard.  Remove the 'cutesy' gardening signs. Empty the driveway by parking elsewhere on the street. Clear out the garage of vehicles as well. This will encourage buyers to think of how they would set up their lives in these spaces. In the home, remove all pictures of loved ones, hand-drawings by children, magnets from the fridge, 'cutesy' items like salt and pepper shakers or themed oven mitts, collections (porcelain dolls, beer steins, posters, etc.), and set a maximum of five toys for the children's rooms. These actions will really help declutter the home and make it appear more organized and buyer-friendly.
Staging the house really starts with you, the Agent, encouraging your sellers to take the steps necessary to declutter, depersonalize, and neutralize their home in preparation for listing photos, open houses, and viewings. These small, albeit time-consuming, steps can make a huge difference in the perceptions of potential buyers, their feedback, and the price for which the house sells. As mentioned, you may want to assist your sellers by having extra lamps, slipcovers, or plants on hand that you can bring with you to increase the coziness and attractiveness of the house. As Herb Cohen once said, "You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are." A staged home will assist potential buyers in seeing the house not as the staged property that it is, but the open, inviting house with potential that it can be for them, their possessions, their personalities, and their lives. ~ Tanya D. Spilchak, Education Coordinator |