As professional movers, we usually get to work with clients after they have sold their homes, but it is not always the case! Since we offer safe and efficient packing services, we can also be involved in the process of getting a home ready for the market. Along the way, we’ve learned some tips and tricks from the real estate industry that we thought could help a lot of you thinking about moving. Particularly for any of you who are hoping to sell your home in the next few months, we have some tips for staging your space to boost your sale price. Staging is all about showcasing your home’s best assets, impressing any potential buyers, and getting the best price possible for your property. Here are our team’s top 5 tips for getting your home ready and staging it for an easy sale.

Tip #1: Make a Good First Impression

You want to spend the most amount of time and energy on your high-impact rooms and areas so that you can make the best first impression possible. These rooms are usually the living room, kitchen, and master bedroom so spend the most amount of time on these rooms. While still important, you can often focus less on bathrooms and additional bedrooms that have less of an impact. Don’t forget about the front entrance and exterior of your home as these are the very first things homebuyers see before entering your space. Keep your front porch area clean, free of seasonal decorations, wash any stains, add a welcoming doormat, and even place a fresh potted plant or two. You want your front entrance inside your home to be as welcoming and warm as possible so that your potential buyers get started in the right mood to look at the rest of your house.

Tip #2: Clean and Declutter

This is one of the most important steps to successfully staging any home. You want to make sure your potential buyers know that you take care of the property by keeping it clean. We recommend hiring a professional cleaning company who can make sure you don’t miss any important areas like your floors, ceilings, appliances, and everything in between so that it all looks fresh. Decluttering is a huge aspect of selling your home because clutter takes up space and space is what sells right now. Edit everything down to the basics and donate, sell, or pack away the rest so that your home feels bigger and more appealing. Any unnecessary clutter will distract potential buyers from your property’s best features and may even point out some of its weaknesses. While you still want your home to appear lived in, the less clutter you have the better and more spacious your property will appear.

Tip #3: Focus on Fresh and Neutral

Speaking of fresh, try to make your space as welcoming as possible by strategically adding some plants or flowers to high-impact areas. Make sure you spread out your plants and get rid of dying or sad-looking ones. Don’t forget to also focus on the scent of your home by replacing any unwanted odours with candles, diffusers, or baking smells. We are often immune to the clutter and smell of our own homes so really make an effort to notice any problem areas before other visitors do. Another step to making your space as fresh as possible is to make your rooms light and bright. Well-lit rooms are often more attractive to homebuyers so make sure to open all your windows and let as much natural light in as you can during any photoshoots and showings.

Tip #4: Define Your Rooms

It’s a good idea to define and organize each of your rooms so that your potential buyers have a clear vision of how they could use each space. Having each room and space hold its own function will help you maximize your floor space even if the homebuyer does not intend to use each room for the same purpose. Stage your home so that each room and each section within every room has a clearly defined intention so that every square inch of your property looks like usable space. Furniture plays a huge role in this step because you want there to be as much walkable space as possible while still feeling like a livable home. The rule of thumb is to remove roughly half of your furniture that you currently have in your home. Stick to this rule, unless your home stager tells you otherwise, because too much furniture will make a room feel cramped while too little can make your space feel cold.

Tip #5: Depersonalize

This is the step our clients always find to be one of the hardest to do, but it is arguably the most important. You want potential homebuyers to be able to visualize themselves living in your home so you need to create an almost blank canvas for them to work with. You essentially want to remove most of the personal touches to your home that reminds your potential buyers that the space belongs to another family. Having personal items, like family photos, clothing, and bathroom supplies out will hinder this visualization.

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We hope these tips help you get thinking about how best to stage your home for a quick sale. Our friends in the real estate industry often give similar tips to their homeowners to make the home selling process as easy and efficient as possible. Remember that buyers are often used to picture-perfect homes as shown in home magazines and TV shows so staging can really make an impact if done correctly.

Want more moving tips and advice? Never hesitate to contact our team with any questions you might have about the moving process. Whether you’re moving across the street or to a brand new city, choosing Deluxe Moving & Storage for your next move is the best thing you can do to ensure a safe and healthy moving experience for you and your loved ones. Learn more about our moving services and packing services and don’t forget to fill out our FREE, no-obligation quote form. We can help make your move easier and safer, leave the work to us!