Staging your home to sell when you still live there!
In an ideal world you’d be selling your house after you’ve moved out. But in the real world? You might still live there. We understand that and put together a helpful list of prepping your home for listing.
Step 1: Move out, but not physically.
While it is ok to still live in your house, there’s also still some moving out that needs to happen. The best way to stage your home is to start by changing your mindset. Pretend you’re moving out now, and remove as much stuff as you possibly can. Anything you can live without needs to be packed up and moved to storage.
Anything that makes the house YOU needs to be removed, family pictures, keepsakes, anything on the fridge, etc.. You should aim to make your space look like someone lives there, but not necessarily you. Make the house a blank canvas so the buyer can imagine themselves in the house without being distracted by the things that make the house personal. Less is more.
Step 2: Staging on a Budget
Use what you already have to make the space feel cozy. Use furniture, plants, and accent pieces to highlight desirable home features. Conversely, don’t place these things somewhere that draws attention to damaged areas or less-desirable features. For example, if the fireplace is a focal point in your living room, put a plant near there to draw the eyes towards that section.
Spend extra time making your entryway perfect. Like all aspects of your home, the entrance should be bright, warm, neutral, clean, and inviting. Make sure the house smells nice as you open the door (time to get out your scentsy!). That is the buyers first view of the home to start developing an opinion about it.
Kids Rooms: Consider buyer neutral bedding and putting away all toys and knick knacks. The buyers may or may not have kids so it is good for them to be able to see each room as a blank canvas.
Step 3: Clean and Keep Clean
We recommend having a company come in and do a very thorough deep cleaning of the house once you have finished the decluttering and “staging”. Once it has been deep cleaned it is much easier to maintain. If carpets are older it would be worth it to have someone come out and shampoo them so they are fresh and clean for showings.
You will be cleaning a lot since showings may be sporadic, but it is very important since that will be the buyers first impression of the home and how well the current owners (you) take care of it.
We understand that selling a house you currently occupy is a lot of work and may not be ideal, but hopefully these tips help you get it market ready so that it sells fast.
