You’ve decided to sell your Sugar Land home. Congratulations! Selling your home in the least time possible and fetching the highest sale price possible is not a matter of luck or timing … it’s a matter of strategy and execution.
The strategy is simple — make home-buyers see the home’s possibilities, not its past. Set the stage for the greatest number of buyers to see themselves making the home their own. The execution, however, is not simple. It’s called “staging” and involves removing as much of yourself as possible from the home … after all, you’ve been making it yours since you bought it.
Staging is preparing a home (and its contents) for sale, with an emphasis on presentation and appearance. As opposed to preparing a home for sale (performing small repairs, cleaning, and making interior and exterior upgrades), staging stresses the aesthetic over the functional. It’s about making the house appealing to the largest number of buyers possible. And while it’s a task best left to professionals, who have no investment (emotional or otherwise) in the home other than selling it for top dollar, you should know the staging basics.
De-Personalize — Pack away your personal photographs and family heirlooms; you want buyers to imagine their photographs on the walls and their heirlooms in the rooms, and they can’t do that if yours are there.
De-Clutter — Remove all books from bookcases, pack up knickknacks, and clean off everything on fireplace mantles, kitchen counters, and bathroom vanities (essentials can be kept in a box and stored in a cabinet, closet or storage shed).
Neutralize — Consider painting your walls neutral colors, and if the carpet is worn, consider replacing it with a neutral color, weave, finish and fiber. As a home-seller, you want to minimize as many home-buyer “distractions” as possible.
Simplify — Most homes show better with less furniture. Remove pieces that obstruct traffic flow (put them in storage) and leave just enough furniture in each room to convey its purpose. Remove leaves from your dining room and/or kitchen table to make the room appear more spacious.
Tidy Up — Buyers love to open closets and cabinet doors. Not only do they love to snoop, but how you take care of your things can send a subliminal message about how you probably take care of the rest of the house.
Visit my website SugarLandLiving.com and let’s discuss how I can help you sell your Sugar Land home by staging it to bring in the greatest number of potential buyers and get the best price possible.
