6 Simple Staging Tips to Make More Money When Selling Your Home

The answer is really simple. Follow the tried and true rules for preparing your home for market. Declutter. Pick up. Put away. And then stage your home to make it really inviting and memorable. After all - you are competing with new, regardless of where you live and what market you find yourself in.

Staging can have a huge impact on your bottom line when you sell your home. Some believe staging can boost the sale price of a home by as much as 10 percent. In good staging you are creating a world between lived-in and never-owned. When someone comes to see your property for sale, most buyers want to know that a real person lives there because they are real too. Sterile is scary. Cluttered is claustrophobic.

How do you achieve that balance when staging your home? Visit a few model homes and take note. Model homes engage buyers with the form-follows-function blended with the hot button preferences of today's buyers. Here are some tips:

• Define the purpose of the room and then remove anything that doesn’t fit its intended purpose.
• Define sections in large room with area rugs, and “float” furniture away from walls and around the space.
• Group solid furnishings, like sectionals or bookcases, with visually lighter pieces, like a glass side table or raised bench, to convey spaciousness over sparseness.
• Increase lighting throughout the property. Change light bulbs for ones with higher wattage. Mix general and task lighting in rooms that see the most traffic. Install lighting between open-air shelving or underneath overhead cabinetry in the kitchen, and place a small lamp on a desk or work space in a child’s bedroom.
• Less is more with accessories - but this doesn't mean no accessories. Minimize your "stuff." Reduce your collection of books in bookcases or shelving units to just a few with like-colored bindings, add one healthy house plant to a side table, or hang one piece of artwork (scaled appropriately) over a bed or fireplace.
• Create a luxurious master bedroom retreat with new bedding, a bed skirt, and pillows - lots of pillows. Add a folded comforter or quilt to the foot of the bed. Treat yourself to new towels and a new shower curtain. Your competition is doing this so you need to do the same.

Follow simple staging rules and you'll soon be selling your home for more.

If you would like to see more articles by Lise Howe, Associate Broker, Long and Foster, please visit her blog at AllAboutBethesda.com. If you are thinking of selling your home and need hand holding or advice, just call 240-401-5577 or email lise@lisehowe.com.