Design and staging secrets on updating your house and attracting buyers without a significant investment.
With the modest start to the 2019 real estate market, sellers must seek to stand out. With more houses for sale in formerly red-hot markets like Seattle, buyers are less competition. Fortunate for them, but as a result, sellers must make their homes shine in a way they have not had to in years.
One of the cleverest ways to go about this is staging, which may help increase the perceived home values for buyers, said Redfin Concierge Lauren Lindsey.
“Sellers have their taste and style, and it might not be what buyers want,” she said. “Buyers may be thinking of spending their life’s savings. If there’s yellow on one wall and purple on the next, an immediate to-do list can feel daunting. Staging helps the house feel as new as possible, so there are fewer objections.”
Indeed for a 2 percent listing fee, the Redfin Concierge team provides all the benefits of a Redfin 1 percent listing, plus white-glove services to manage improvements to make a strong market debut. Including a custom improvement plan for updates such as decor, lighting, paint, furniture placement, deep cleaning, and decluttering.
“People do not want to go into a home and see someone else’s life. They want to envision their future. So I make design choices to allow that, and also find out what the client needs and how to accommodate them,” Lauren said.
“If the seller is going to live in the house while it is displayed, I want them to sleep in their bed and be comfortable, but eliminate pieces that might obscure their space or detract from the value of the home.”
To learn the best staging for your house, read Lauren’s easy ideas and insider tips.
1. Replace outlet and light switch covers
“Replacing yellowed outlet and light switch plates is an inexpensive, 28 cent way to change the perception of your house and make it look maintained. In addition, yellowed fixtures can encourage the mind to go to negative places such as wondering whether there was smoking in the house.”
2. Cross line items off your closing list
“Do simple things like replacing old carbon monoxide detectors. That helps take line items off your inspection report. One line item less is always a good thing.”
3. Say ‘so long’ too dark sofas
“If sofas are dark, swap them for staging. For example, replace a dark brown leather sofa or reclining chair with softer grey pieces that look more modern. Pillows and throws help, as does add high-end fake plants or succulents, which bring greenery and life to the house.”
4. Create systems to keep rooms neat
“Anything that shows you have been living there, like a toothbrush, needs to be put away. So I give clients caddy baskets, like the kind you took to the bathroom in college. It creates an easy daily system to pull what you need and then put it away. These habits help so you do not have to clean every day.”
5. Glaze your tiles
“I had a bathroom with all purple tiles, and my seller could not justify spending an outrageous amount of money on replacing it, so we glazed it white. That also works for kitchens if the tile and grout are dirty and marbled bathroom vanity countertops. They can all be glazed instead of replaced. The glaze is one of the tools I use most, and it is a no-chip finish.”
6. Do not show a bedroom as a home office
“Stage all bedrooms as bedrooms because the number affects the house’s value. For example, if you are staging one bedroom as an office, you have just lost a bedroom because your buyers are not going to come in and see it as a bedroom.”
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7. Pay attention to scale
“Scale of furniture should match the space. You want to have a nice weight to the room, so it is livable without too much open area and not too cramped. For example, in small bedrooms, at least one full-size bed at minimum, and always a queen or king in the master. People have trouble envisioning scale in bedrooms and incorrectly assume what can fit.”
8. Choose white or sheer curtains
“Remove dark or blackout curtains, and replace with sheer or semi-sheer curtains. They endlessly let natural light in to give the room an airy feel, but with privacy, so you do not feel like you are part of a zoo exhibit. My favorite is the $10 curtains from Ikea, all cotton, and come in a pair. You can not find a better price than that, and I take them from house to house. You can also hang curtain rods higher than your windows to make your windows look bigger and extend the room.”
9. Do not forget to deep clean
“Make sure baseboards and appliances are clean. Get a nice good deep clean before putting a home on the market. Then, before opening houses, do a quick sweep and ensure there’s the sink. Small things go a long way.”
10. Pick a simple backsplash
“Avoid opinionated finishes. A trendy backsplash might appeal to some but not others. Subway tile has been around since the 60s and has not gone away for a reason. You can dress it up or down, and it is inexpensive. It is a clean option and does not make enough of a statement to dislike it.”
11. Make your home light and bright
Bright white bulbs will brighten without overdoing it. However, if the lighting is too soft, it will not light the space accurately.
12. Neutralize and modernize living spaces
You want the buyers to focus on seeing their future, not distracting the seller’s taste and style elements.
13. Depersonalize the home
Takedown family photos replaced them with abstract artwork, but nothing too opinionated. That helps the potential buyer envision how they will add their personal touch.
14. Make your bed
“Create a bed setting stacked with pillows and shams for a nice polished look. Make the bed, and use white or grey duvet covers. You can give personality by adding pops of colors from throw blankets and extra pillows.”
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