The emergency guide to getting the most for your home Staging tips and quick upgrades

Getting the best price for your home comes down to capturing the heart of the right buyer, and helping  them see them to really see how wonderful their life is going to be in their new home. Human beings  are finicky creatures, and the way we see a property is dependent just as much on how the home is  presented as it is on a fair, objective assessment of the home.

Part of this is because of what the presentation says about the seller (its a big purchase, and we want to by from somebody we’re comfortable with), and part of it is simply that we have trouble visualizing it  it for what it really is without some help.

The point is, you can facilitate the sale of your home with good staging, and you can improve how  “stage able” your home is with some low cost, and relatively easy, fixes.

Tip #1 : Eliminate anything that could be considered a distraction from the viewer seeing themselves in  the home. That means odors from cooking or pets, and all clutter. Make sure the home is sparkling  clean. Minimize your own presence and personal touch as much as you can without making the place  feel empty. You don’t want it so empty feeling that its uncomfortable, but you also don’t want it so  personalized that its hard for them to picture their own furniture and décor in the home.

Tip #2 : Make every room feel purposeful. Stage the house to emphasize the strengths of each room.  You don’t want two lonely armchairs in a living room that is great for entertaining a dozen people. You  don’t want a bed inside an epic walk-in closet, and you don’t want a well-designed office to be  cluttered with storage items. You want them to walk into a space and effortlessly grasp how useful it is.

Tip #3 : Make the home feel spacious and bright. Natural light is your best friend. Open all the curtains  and clean all the windows. Trim back any hedges or branches that are obstructing light and darkening  the window frame. Brightness is just as much about how it feels as it is about actually being able to see,  so where natural light isn’t enough, have the lights on. Make sure you have bright bulbs and adequate  light fixtures. Finally, you can make a space feel brighter with bright colors, whether its paint or décor.

Quick upgrades

-Go for attractive new cabinet hardware, doorknobs, outlet and light switch covers

-Upgrade your light fixtures

-Put a bigger mirror in the bathroom

-Upgrade your kitchen appliances

-Re-stain your wood deck or porch

-Repaint walls to a less personal (and maybe brighter color)

-Paint the front door

-Install glass panel doors to let more light in

-Resurface hardwood floors

-Repaint the exterior

-Repaint interior or exterior trim

Choosing the right upgrades for your property

This above list is not exhaustive, of course. Even so, there’s a lot of items on it. Even if you did have  the time and money for all of them, they wouldn’t necessarily all be cost effective. To figure out where  you’re going to get the most bang for your buck, you can do an experiment. 

Hop in your car, drive around the block, pull up, park, and enter the house as if you’re coming there for  the first time, with an intent to scrutinize. What you want to notice is where your attention naturally  goes. This will tip you off to the things you want buyers to notice (or not notice). Additionally,  consider that the buyer is probably thinking the very same thing when they arrive. They’re thinking  about entertaining, and the effect that the home is going to have on their guests the first time they come  over.

If you don’t have time or money to address everything you feel you could address, you can just work  on the ones that are most noticeable.

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For best results when it comes to marketing and staging your home, you can hire the help of a  professional. An experienced real estate agent has done it dozens, if not hundreds, of times, with all  kinds of homes. That means that not only will you have the reassurance that your staging is well done,  but you’ll spend a lot less time on it.

You can consult a qualified agent that’s familiar with Bellevue and the greater Puget Sound area at  Better Properties Eastside. Call us at 425 990 3333  or click here to fill out a contact form.