Property Ready For Viewing

Many times an agent may feel uncomfortable telling a buyer that his or her home is not up to "snuff" with respect to general viewing by the public. The owner has built an attachment to the home and has yet to let go of the "ties that bind" him or her to it. In this regard, he may arrange for a professional stager to come in and ready the house for the market.

The stager, however, can be expensive. Especially if you remember that you can attain the same effect by yourself, if you know some of their secrets. You will just need to start viewing your property through the eyes of your potential buyer. The following steps will give you an idea of what a stager may suggest with respect to the inside of your property.

*. The first thing to do within the process of staging you house is to eliminate the clutter. This means taking a room by room assessment and removing anything that you see that may be viewed as clutter. Items that should be removed include: toys, decorative statues, possessions in closets outside of your required wardrobe, additional toiletries, and stacks of newspapers and periodicals. After removing the clutter, neatly organize the items that you use on a daily basis. For example, a bookshelf should not be loaded down with books. Rather a few books might be strategically placed within the case.
*. Secondly assure that all of the rooms in the house are well lighted. Dim or dark rooms signal to your prospect that you have something to hide.
*. Remove all personal photos. Pictures of family members definitely do not make your house appear as if it is on the market; so box all photographs up.
*. Apply a fresh coat of paint to the rooms that require it. Stick with neutral colors in the rooms you do paint; such as beige or cream.
*. Clean the bathroom and kitchen areas so that both are exceptionally clean and sparkling. Assure there are no items like magnets on the refrigerator.
*. Remove the piles of CDs and DVDs from the living room. Place them into boxes or in a storage cabinet. A decorative painting on the living room wall is acceptable as long as it is an art print and in good taste.
*. When a showing is booked, spray a hint of air-freshener in the house; however not too much. If you overdo it, your prospect may think that you have an unwanted odor to mask.

The objective is to move from making your property looking habitable to making it appear vibrantly marketable. Thinking in a new direction, the way your prospective buyer thinks, will make all the difference in getting your property sold quickly and at a fair asking price.

Posted in: Property Ready