We recently bought a home and it wasn’t staged one bit. In fact, they seemed to not have done much cleaning at all. Because of this, the home was on the market for over sixty days when we first saw it and over seventy when we put an offer on it. There was another result of this: we got the house for over $30,000 less than they originally listed it at. Where did they go wrong?
To sell a house for the maximum amount possible, there are a number of things that should be done before it’s put on the market. Below I list some of the things that you will see discussed by realtors and on shows like Buying and Selling that focus on selling homes for maximum value.
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Declutter
When putting a home on the market, getting a storage unit is usually a good idea. When a potential buyer is walking through a house, the last thing the seller wants them to be focused on is how much stuff there is in the house. Cluttered rooms appear smaller than rooms that have been decluttered. By moving excess clutter into a storage unit, rooms will look more spacious and the potential buyer will be focused on the house instead of the stacks of books and piles of toys.
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Define Spaces
Another common theme when putting a home on the market is defining spaces. When the kitchen counter is being used as an office and the dining room has a split personality between craft room and dining area, potential buyers will be distracted. When spaces are well-defined there is no question about the functionality of various rooms and the house as a whole.
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Make Small Fixes
A fresh coat of paint, new blinds, and updates to outdated aspects of the house can make a huge difference. The house we bought had arguably disgusting blinds, outdated light switches and outlets, and even a room with wallpaper that had to have been put on fifteen plus years ago. Had they simply spent some time and money updating the house they could have easily sold the house for $10k+. Buyers are giving sellers unnecesary leverage by not making small cosmetic fixes. The fixes I am discussing here are not major renovations and are relatively cheap to do.
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Stage
The house we bought was not staged whatsoever, but it didn’t come as a surprise, since we were more focused on the fact that they didn’t even replace old, dirty blinds. Staging a house for sale can definitely help get a house sold for maximum value. When a bedroom is staged properly, it has only the necessary furniture and no excess clutter. It gives the seller a vision for the room and again takes out the guesswork. One strategy for staging is to rent furniture since it is only going to be used to help sell the house.
One simple example where staging can help sell a home is if you have large couches or other oversized furniture. They may be comfortable and work well for you, but they make the space seem smaller to a seller. Throw them in storage instead and rent a smaller couch that will make the room seem spacious.
While having a bunch of your stuff in storage, spending time and money installing new blinds and fixtures, and renting furniture to help in staging a room may sound like a pain, they are the kind of things that can help sell a home for maximum price.
Don’t end up like the former owners of our house who did nothing to get their house ready for sale. The time and money you put into getting your house ready will pay off.
What suggestions do you have for people looking to sell their home?
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Photo by Jeremy Levine
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Good tips DC. Staging your house, not just with furniture but by making it look its best, is really important when you are selling. If staged properly, you can really accentuate some of the good points of your house and cover the bad areas. Of course, the inverse is also true.
If you are still living at your house, I’d also add that you should do some deep cleaning. We recently looked at a house that wasn’t particularly clean. The stove and oven were dirty, there was small pieces of food on the countertops, cobwebs in the corners, etc. We are experienced buyers, so we can look past that – but not everybody can. Regardless, it doesn’t leave a good impression. Plus, people are then concentrating on the wrong things, not the bones of your house.
These are all great tips. Doing small things can really make a difference in the offers that you receive on a house. Another thing I would add is to get rid of as many family photos and mementos as possible. People want to envision themselves in a house, not the current occupants. Another thing would be to completely hide all bathroom personal hygiene products from view. Because no one wants to walk into a bathroom and see crusty shampoo bottles or really anything that makes them think that other people have used this bathroom.
@JustinatTheFrugalPath Great points! I didn’t think about the bathroom but it really makes sense.
Once it is all cleaned and staged, take some great pictures. How many online adds have poor or no pictures, you can drive buyers away. Adds with pics will save you time too, people won’t come over for nothing.
Making it look nice with modern furniture is definite need. When we were house shopping, houses with older furniture just automatically seemed cheaper in our minds.
@SenseofCents Great point! It’s all about perception.
We did all of these things when we had our place listed. I learned a lot about it when I worked in real estate. The best analogy I’ve ever seen is giving someone the choice between two $100 bills. One is filthy and has just been dug out of the back of the couch and stepped on, the other is crisp and clean. Now, they’re both worth $100, but which one are you going to pick?!
Taking lots of pictures and making up your own brochure that is covered in great pictures and lists all of the features of the house is a good idea. Listing the “walking distance to park” and the small things that made you buy the house in the first place helps.
@Ugifter That’s an awesome analogy! Also you almost read my mind – we live across the street from a park and it’s SO nice! I think it’ll be a nice selling feature down the road.
Nice post. I would agree with Pauline in taking good pictures can be really helpful for online shoppers. Another thing I would add is do some small things in the front yard to make it look more appealing. When we looked for houses, there wee many that looked great inside but were terrible outside and thus had no interest in.
Those are great points. I would also add to make it as neutral as possible. I actually love to find things that are not staged and pretty, because you can get a better deal, but most people can’t see past bad paint, wall paper, or clutter. They would pay more for move in ready. I love my bathroom with black and white tile and red walls, but would paint it beige if we were selling. This goes along with your storage idea, but I would make the closets half full. Then potential buyers see how much space there is instead of all your junk crammed there.
Nice tips! I haven’t looked at purchasing a home but I have done plenty of looking for new apartments and it kind of goes closely to staging a house sale. Some management companies don’t even bother fixing up small things or make sure the windows are clean when showing a place. Nothing is more disgusting when looking at a nice new place and opening up the blinds to glance outside only to be stared down by a dirty window with fingerprints all over. Would a little cleaning hurt anyone? lol.
Good tips… I think decluttering is the hurdle that most people fall at!!
@SavvyScot1 I definitely agree!
Some great tips! And ya I’ve seen a few places up for sale that I knew would never sell because they just weren’t clean, organized, or staged properly, even though it’s so simple to do!
All excellent points. I was going to do a post like this. Now I don’t need too ;-) I would add, wash the windows!!!
The last house we sold, we sold 8 days after listing. One of the things I do is keep my house looking like a showhome the whole time I live there. I just like it like that. In our case it made it very easy to sell quickly for over asking price. But as per your story and as I can see from our neighbours, many people do not live like that. It is unfortunate for them because they are leaving money on the table.
Good for you for getting such a good deal though!
There’s nothing worse than clutter and crap around a house when you go to an open house. I know we all need to look behind this stuff but it really doesn’t add to the appeal. Nice tips! Mr.CBB
@CanadianBudgetB True, and that’s the hardest thing to get rid of for most people as it’s inconvenient to have all your stuff in storage.
Its amazing how many people do not clean up, paint, or fix obvious broken things when they put their house up for sale. Good tips! A few small moves can really create some appeal!
Great tips, DC! These are imperative if you want to get top dollar. I guess some people think doing a little bit of work isn’t worth all the extra money, but really I think that they must not know how much more they could get if they put a tiny bit of effort into their homes.
@seedebtrun Definitely!
Great post. If you can’t afford a stager, think again: I hired a stager but instead of having THEM do the changes, I paid her $80 (one hour) and followed her around my house while she made suggestions. Then I implemented them myself. That saved a ton of money and we got the pro POV for our home sale.
@AverageJoeMoney That’s awesome! I will consider doing something similar when I sell. Seems like you’d get at MINIMUM your $80 back ;)
I remember a friend of mine was trying to sell his house last year, but he had wiring showing, a hole in his guttering, outdoor pavers missing and a few other crappy little things that would have taken less than a day or 2 to fix.
I personally think he lost about 15,20K on the property just because of 1-2K worth of fixes that he was too lazy to fix.
@MonsterPiggyBank Wow, that’s a HUGE loss.
Nice article , want to know about this topic more
Nice article , want to know about this topic more
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