HOW TO PREPARE FOR HOME STAGING

It is first important to consider whether any repairs or cosmetic improvements need to be undertaken. You don’t need to do a full renovation, but minor repairs such as fixing day to day wear & tear, structural issues, plumbing and electrical issues, should be completed before listing your property for sale. People tend to want to purchase a “move-in-ready” home and even having to do minor repairs themselves may deter families from buying.

Your real estate agent or staging professionals will be able to advise you of anything that should be done.

Giving the place a fresh coat of paint will instantly make the home seem newer and cared for. As well as covering any cracks in the plaster. If you do choose to paint your home, use neutral tones, such as beige and off-white, to create a clean, cool look and make spaces appear more open or larger. This also ensures that your staged furniture pops and showcases the home in its best light. At the very least, you should deep clean carpets to remove stains and polish any wood flooring.

It is pivotal that your property is clean – no one wants to live in unhygienic conditions. If you don’t clean mould from the shower or grease from your range top, you’ll turn off buyers in a big way. Cleaning your house from top to bottom is essential when you are preparing it for sale. Pay attention to small tasks like polishing mirrors or chrome fittings, as well as larger jobs like mopping tiles and washing windows. This extra effort will be noticed by buyers, who may be willing to overlook other downsides to the home if they believe it has been well cared-for.

To help ensure your property is clean to the highest standard, we offer a pre-staging cleaning service to take care of everything; from dusting to window washing. Our cleaning service team will make sure that nothing is overlooked so you get the best value for your property.

If you’re going to be living in your property while it is staged to sell, you should declutter and depersonalise your spaces. You need to cut down on the number of items in your home, particularly personal ones, as buyers find it hard to imagine their life in a house when some else’s personal effects are there.

Start doing away with clutter that marks it as your property by clearing away books, children’s toys, and family photos. This will help at inspections, when buyers will want to be able to imagine themselves living in your home. With your family’s items cleared away, they can start thinking about how to best arrange their own personal items in the space.

In addition to removing personal items, it’s also time to start clearing other areas of the home that could do with a good cleaning. This could include drawers, benches and the pantry. With less clutter clouding their view, buyers will perceive the property as being light and spacious. Clutter can lead to even a good sized home feeling claustrophobic. Pay special attention to storage spaces, because buyers will be bound to sneak a peek in your wardrobes and cupboards as they inspect the house.

Read our article “Top Tips for Living in a Staged Home” for more ideas and preparation tips.

The level of preparation you need depends on the condition of your home; and professional stagers and estate agents can help determine which elements will increase the value of your home. However, you will still need to take care of repairs and thoroughly clean before staging can commence.

First impressions matter, when buyers arrive at the property, they want to fall in love instantly. Which is why landscaping and the condition of the exterior matters. Setting the tone before anyone steps through the door puts buyers in the right mindset without even seeing inside.

Weather can take its toll on a home’s exterior, so remove clutter from the yard, clear out dirty gutters, get rid of moss which may have accumulated over time and a fresh coat of paint may be necessary to modernise your property.

At the very least, mow the lawn, weed and tidy the garden. Planting new plants and applying fresh mulch may also help improve the curb appeal of the property.

Those with front porches or balconies may wish to hire furniture to stage this area as you would with the other living spaces in your home.

Lastly, you’ll want to go over all of your work one more time to ensure that you haven’t forgotten anything. Walk through the house as if you were a buyer, assessing whether or not the property looks comfortable and inviting. Try to remove yourself from thinking about the property as your own home, and instead think about whether it shows the right level of potential to be someone else’s home. If not, you may have to go back and make some more improvements.

Then this is where the team at AU Inspire comes in. We transform your property into a professional ‘display home’ look that will create the ‘wow’ factor and draw in prospective buyers. You’ll simply have to open up the window curtains to allow as much light as possible stream into your home, and you’ll be ready to make a sale!