STAGING THE HOME
The term “staging a home” describes the process of rearranging and decorating a home’s interior in an effort to downplay deficiencies and accent strengths. In its simplest form, staging involves adding specialty accessories like towels, candles, throw rugs, bedding, pillows, dishes, napkins, and stemware. Staging at its most extensive level involves rearranging or replacing furniture, or even adding specialty furniture pieces to create a feeling of comfort and livability.

Visit newly developed neighborhoods with model homes. Invest the time to see how new homes are being shown. Notice how the most appealing homes present master baths. Take a close look at desirable kitchens to see what is and isn’t on the countertops. Note how towels, dishes, and glassware are displayed. Most of all, study how furniture is arranged in various shaped rooms to create an open, warm, comfortable environment.

If you think you are really challenged by staging and design, turn to the professionals for help. Many interior decorators offer hourly consultation. Others offer full-service staging, by working up a design plan, bringing in the furniture and accessories, handling the installation, and dismantling it all after the sale – not free, for a fee. I do offer advice on staging your home as one of my services when I list your home.

Well-staged homes attract not only buyer prospects but also other agents who want to show homes that show well. In many cases, the investment pays off in two ways: A faster sale and a higher price. This will make you happy.

REMOVING CLUTTER
Realtors cite a truism about buyers: Buyers have to move the seller’s stuff out before they can move in. Literally, the sellers have to move their own stuff out. But figuratively, the buyers have to mentally remove the seller’s belongings when they assess how well the home that they’re viewing will accommodate their own possessions and activities. Some seller’s homes are so full of awesome garage sale and flea market finds that the buyers honestly can’t see the home through the clutter. They can’t “move in” because they can’t see anywhere for their own things to go. So they move on to the next house and rule this one out.

Remove excessive accessories and knick-knacks. Whether you get rid of them altogether or pack them up in preparation for your anticipated move, get them out of sight. The results can do wonders for a home’s interior appearance. Remember, you will have to pack them up later anyway, so, this way, you are ahead of the game...Less work on moving day.

Dismantle what I call the “shrine wall”... A wall of pictures of children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, acquaintances, and snapshots of every experience you remember fondly... While dear to your heart, they add clutter with little to no buyer appeal. The buyer may even get so into looking at the pictures, that later they don't even remember the home.

Follow the design rule “When in doubt, take it out.” Keep clutter, wall décor, and placement of figurines and mementos to a bare minimum. No more than 3 items on a surface. Box them up. The garage or an extra bedroom is a good place to neatly stack the boxes. The buyer knows you are moving and likes to see the fact that you are actively getting ready to leave.

SIMPLIFYING TRAFFIC FLOW
“When in doubt, take it out” applies to furniture as well. Rooms that feel cramped and hard to move through usually suffer from too much furniture.

Walk through the home, like you are the buyer, to see where you feel the flow gets held up. Where do transition areas from room-to-room or from one part of a room to another feel restricted? Improve traffic flow. You can’t move walls (without great expense) but you can move furniture that restricts movement.

Evaluate the size and number of pieces of furniture in each room.
Evaluate - Are there too many pieces of furniture?
Are furnishings too large and beefy for the room?
Does the furniture arrangement work in terms of space and flow?
Be on the lookout for small, decorative pieces of furniture. These are often the biggest culprits when it comes to restricting walkways and creating a crowded feeling
Most people have too much furniture in too small a space. Be ready to remove furniture to create bigger open spaces to make the home appear larger and more comfortable. A home with too little furniture almost always shows better than a home with too much. Pack it up.

TONING IT DOWN
Themed bedrooms ­– with matching wallpaper, wallpaper borders, sheets, pillows, comforters and wall hangings – are very popular for children today. The problem is that buyers walk in and can’t see an alternate use for the room. Or if they can, they see considerable expense and effort to get from where the room is to where they’d like it to be in terms of decoration and usability. As a result they’ll offer a lower price, if they make an offer at all, in order to cover the costs they anticipate incurring in order to replace the theme with a more neutral design.

Red flags are strong or unusual paint colors or wall coverings. Also, immediately visible and highly personalized themes. For example, a vibrant pink bedroom with lots of stuffed animals might be off-putting empty nesters or a family that has only boys. And if the boys are with them, it is probably a deal killer because no one wants "that" room... Next house please.

Many buyers are design-challenged and have little sense of how to redecorate or what kinds of costs are involved to repaint or re-paper. A more neutral design will attract more buyer interest and command a higher price.

Paint is cheap!!! It is really worth it to cover that "beautiful" shade with a neutral wall color or remove the "lovely" 1980's wallpaper and paint a neutral shade. It will sell faster and you will get thousands of dollars more for your home. And that will make you happy. And when you are happy, I am happy.

God bless,
Dee Smith