Quick Tips for Staging Your Home to Sell

There are a number of tactics you can employ in an effort to sell your home quicker, but one of the top tricks is to stage the house.

“When a seller decides to put their house on the market, they need to recognize that they are now selling a product and that product should be marketed as best as possible,” explained Nicole Rorem of Su Casa Staging. “This is where staging comes in.”

Not only that, says Lori Livers of Interiors by Lori, home buying can be emotional and staging a home can help the buyer feel that connection.

“Buyers purchase the house they are most drawn to — the house they want to make their home,” she said.

Here are five quick tips for staging a home to sell.

Forget about empty

An empty house makes it hard for the new buyer to visualize themselves living there. Empty rooms can also appear smaller than they are, without furniture to provide context to the space.

“We think about placing furniture to make the space feel large, open, functional, warm and inviting,” said Rorem.

Lead the eye

When arranging furniture, make sure it enhances the room’s best features. Don’t block huge windows, or crowd furniture next to a statement fireplace. Often, less furniture is more.

You can even arrange the furniture so it “downplays the negative characteristics, by leading the eye of potential buyers,” says Livers.

Remove personal items and clutter

The easiest thing to do to prep a home for staging is to hide personal decor and accessories.

“Put away all extraneous items like papers, personal bathroom items, pill bottles and personal collections,” said Rorem. “You want buyers to see all the features of the home and fall in love with the space as soon as they walk in. If the house is full of personal items and collections, the buyer may get distracted.”

If you are still living in the home and want to display personal items, store them in a decorative basket during showings.

Create a sense of comfort

Fluffy, luxurious towels in the bathroom and pillows arranged on the couch or bed will give your home a more luxe look and are easy additions to a space. Decorative candles, even when unlit, are a great styling tool and provide a light scent in the room.

Clean

No one wants to tour a dirty house. Cluttered, dusty rooms will be the first thing the buyer notices, rather than the great view your home has, or the convenient open kitchen. Cleanliness matters when selling.

And, if all else fails, call in a professional. Many real estate agents offer staging services, or can connect you to a staging professional that can help you see your home objectively and make changes that a potential buyer will enjoy.

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Erika Riggs, the Zillow Digs manager, covers home design and trends.