Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Staging your Millburn-Short Hills, NJ home


A major part of selling your Millburn-Short Hills, NJ home is staging.  Staging, quite simply, means making the house look nice.  Ideally, potential Millburn-Short Hills, NJ home buyers will walk into your open house and be able to immediately imagine themselves living there.  That is a lot easier for them to do when the house is free of clutter and looks like a place buyers would want to live—clean, comfortable, and well-designed.  Some people hire professional stagers, others get help from their realtor, and many sellers do it themselves.  Regardless of which route you go with staging, here are some general guidelines worth following:

Don’t forget about the outside
Outdoors is where your staging should begin.  This is what people see first, and if they don’t like it, they’ll keep on driving.  The grass should be cut short and nothing should be left in the yard or driveway, including garbage cans, bicycles, toys, gardening tools, etc.  Planting flowers or setting a potted flowering plant by the front door is an attractive touch.

Remove everything unnecessary
Paring down everything you own helps your home look less cluttered and larger.  If you don’t want to actually get rid of stuff, take out a storage unit for the time being.  Each room should have only what is necessary.  For example, the living room might have a couch, coffee table, and two chairs.  A bedroom might simply have a bed and dresser.  The less of your stuff potential buyers see, the more of their own things they can imagine in a room.

Clean, clean, and clean some more
When you clean your house for a staging, it needs to reach hotel-level cleanliness.  Every little detail adds to the impression home buyers get, and things you might not normally notice could make the house look bad.  A spider web in the corner or smudges on window glass might leave buyers subconsciously thinking the house hasn’t been taken care of well, or isn’t in great shape.  If you don’t like cleaning, hire someone!

Spend a little to make a lot
Investing a bit of money up top in order to repaint walls and spruce up the place is worth it.  A new rug and throw pillows can transform a living room and make it look up-to-date.  Ask your realtor for advice on staging—he or she will have knowledge on what works and what doesn’t work.  Any time you’re having an open house, buy a bouquet of flowers for the dining room table (and maybe a second one for the living room!). 

Hopefully these tips will help you sell your Millburn-ShortHills, NJ home for the price you’d like.  Many sellers don’t realize that these little touches can make a big difference in selling time and price.  If you’d like more information, or need help with buying or selling in Milburn-Short Hills, NJ, please contact me.  Have a good week!

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