Staging Your Toronto Condo or House
If your house could be sold looking the way a model home does, do you think it might bring in more money? Chances are it would. That’s why home staging is a growing profession that’s rapidly changing the way homes are sold.
Staging is not decorating. Decorating is optional, staging is making the house look as good as possible, to show potential buyers how it could look, to help sell the house for the most possible money in the shortest amount of time.
The concept of home staging is generally credited to Barb Schwarz who realized that homes would sell for higher prices if they were “prepped” first. When you put your home on the market, you have to realze that it is no longer your home, it is a product to be marketed.
Most home stagers start by viewing the seller’s home inside and out. They walk through the home that they plan to stage with the seller, being sure to take notes of items that need to be moved and/or removed. You can’t go out and buy new things for every problem that you have with a house, so stagers have to be problem solvers. There clients are selling their homes and they don’t want to spend a lot to do it.
Really, home staging is about de-cluttering and making a home desirable to the masses. Clutter prevents potential buyers from seeing what they could do with the home. They need to be able to see their own furnishings and personal touches in the house, not the seller’s.
The whole idea of staging your home is that you want to market to the largest number of people to get as many offers as possible.
There are five key points that must be applied when staging a home. The home needs to be clean, clutter free, have color, be creatively staged, and finally stagers have to compromise with the sellers, because many sellers continue living in their homes while they’re on the market.
People don’t see that a lot of things that are in their houses are part of themselves and when you try to sell a house you want to make it as neutral as possible, not necessarily in the colors, but in the way it’s presented.
I think that when people sell their homes they don’t necessarily see their house as a potential buyer would see their house. They become attached to things and don’t notice things that other people would notice. This is why it’s important to have an opinion from someone else.
Here are a few home staging tips from professionals:
For the Inside:
* Clear any clutter.
* Put away all extra appliances.
* Put away family photos.
* Think open space.
For the Outside:
* Shutters improve the look.
* Paint anywhere faded.
* Power wash and clean.
* Plants everywhere, with lots of color.
* Decks — even small ones can be a big improvement.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
