Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around
Price, location, and condition of home. Those are the main criteria that will determine whether a home sale is going to be successful or a flop. The location of a home can’t be helped and the market determines the price. However, the condition of the home is something a seller can control.
During my tenure as a real estate agent, I have discovered the three staging truths that will sell a home.
Look Up. Updated light fixtures can really impress a buyer. The inexpensive brass and gold lights, fluorescent lighting in the kitchen, track lighting, and the old bulb stuck in the ceiling with a square or round cover just don’t do as well as modern lights. For example, the lighting in this kitchen is just okay …
But imagine how much better it would look with some updated lighting.
Invest about $200 to $800 in updated lighting to get top value for your home.
Look Down. I have shown countless homes where the seller promises a carpet allowance. Just this week I walked into a house where the seller had actually pulled the carpet out, leaving just the pad and nail strips in three rooms. The tantalizing suggestion in the MLS that the buyer could pick their own carpet sounded pretty enticing. But then we went into other homes where the sellers had already redone the flooring and the first home became a distant memory. My buyers always preferred the homes where the seller put in new flooring.
Look All Around. Finally, fresh neutral paint on walls will add incredible value to a home on the market. Forget the bright, neon colors like pink, purple, yellow, orange and green. Stick with warm colors like tan or other browns and remember the lighter the color is in the spectrum, the bigger the home will look.
Carolyn Kluesner of the Decorating Lifestyles Blog wrote an outstanding overview about home staging. She also reminds us to remember to CLEAN. My friends at Home Ec 101 offer some great cleaning ideas, along with a cornucopia of other household tips.
