Stage Your Home for Sale

Staging is a must when selling a home. It is a must because it helps us sell our homes faster and helps us sell them for the highest price possible. And the best part of staging is that it doesn’t take a lot of your time and money – all it takes is following real estate trends and a little bit of creativity. So, stage your home, move out, and let the real estate agent do the rest! However, we understand that it is not always possible to move out before selling your home, so that raises the question – can we live in a home during a sale? The answer is YES! You just have to know all the tips and tricks on how to stage your home for sale while living in it!

Declutter and Downsize Your Belongings 

Nobody likes decluttering. Nobody wants to get rid of things they have been collecting for decades. But have you used those things lately? Or are you planning on using them shortly? If the answer to both of these questions is negative, then you need to declutter and downsize. Get rid of all the things you are not using which are cluttering your space. You can give them to some of your relatives, donate them to a charity, sell them online, or (if completely useless) throw them away.

And, don’t make one of those common decluttering and downsizing mistakes and try to hold on to something – if you are not using it, say goodbye to it. Doing this will help you stage your home better, and it will help you pack your items with more ease later on. Just think about it – the fewer items you have, the less you will have to pack.

Pack Some Personal Things 

When decluttering and downsizing your home, you will keep all of your personal things. Those will be things such as family heirlooms and memorabilia, travel souvenirs, your family’s photos, etc. It would be best if you hid these! Having a lot of personal things inside the home you are trying to sell will make it hard for buyers to envision themselves living in your home. And in return, it will make it hard for you to sell your home. Thus, depersonalize your home as much as you can. Pack up all your personal items and place them in storage, for example. Or, place them in your neighbor’s garage or family member’s spare bedroom.

You can also hire professional movers to pack these things for you neatly and carefully. Having them pack your precious belongings will prevent damage to your home when moving, and it will protect your floors and walls in the process. It’s essential yet easy to prevent potential mishaps that might occur while packing and transporting – you just need professional assistance. Thus, hire them ahead of time and figure out all the details. You will need all the help you can get when trying to stage your home for sale while living in it.

Clean and Keep It Clean 

You can spend thousands of dollars on renovating and staging your home, but it will all go to waste if it is dirty and messy. Thus, to get your home ready to sell, you need to clean it deeply and thoroughly. Clean from top to bottom, and don’t leave any cabinet or corner behind. A clean home will show the buyers how well you take care of it and how much potential it has. So, make cleaning a top priority when selling your home.

However, it is hard to clean and stage your home for sale while living in it. Pets will bring the dirt inside, your children will mess up all the decorations, dishes and laundry will pile up, etc. All of this is bound to happen, so don’t worry. You have to make sure your home is deep cleaned (professionally) at least once before putting your home on the market. And, of course, you need to make sure everything is in its place right before the open-house event starts.

Keep Your Cabinets, Closets, and Drawers Organized 

You are wrong if you think that buyers will not peak into your cabinets, closets, and drawers. They are not doing this because they are nosy, no. They are doing it to see how much space you have in there. That is, they want to see whether their stuff can fit there. So, if you don’t want to shock them with your mess, organize these places. This is one of those things you can do when still living inside your home during the staging phase.

Moreover, if you have too many items inside cabinets, closets, and drawers, items that you plan on taking with you to your new home, consider packing some of them. That is, have those same professional movers pack them and store them. And, while they are packing the things that you don’t plan on using right now, use this time wisely to organize what is left inside those areas.

Fix the Little Things

If you want to stage your home for a successful sale, you should avoid big projects such as kitchen and bathroom renovation, replacing the roof, upgrading the floors, etc. It is almost impossible to live in a home undergoing such significant transformations. But, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make some of those home improvements that add a little value. For example, you can repaint room by room. Or, you can upgrade lighting fixtures, replace the hardware, landscape, fix what is broken, etc.

As you have seen, it is more than achievable to stage your home for sale while living in it. So, don’t exclude staging just because you still have to live in that home. Just think about how staging can increase the value of your home by up to 15%! And, if you don’t know how to start staging your home, consider asking professional stagers or real estate agents for some advice – nobody can advise you better than them.

Paul Burrowes, CRS, CCEC, SFR, NHCP, LHC, REALTOR® Licensed REALTOR® with over 15 years of experience and expertise. Commits to being on time and transparent. Acts as your consultant to ensure you make the best decisions to fit your transaction at every step in the process. Negotiates towards a low stress, win-win outcome. Handles all the details for you, ensuring the hundreds of steps in your real estate transaction go smoothly. Proudly serving Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Santa Clara Counties! | DRE# 01955563 | (831) 295-5130 | paul@burrowes.com |