Most home staging articles teach you the tips and secrets to stage your home. Many home stagers hand out advice about keeping neutral tones and making sure your home is spotless, but very few tell you what not to do. There are many factors that can make your home difficult to sell, but if you can stay away from these home staging no-no’s, you will get a leg up on the competition.
1.) Cover up one stink with another
Bad smells in the home are usually due to bacteria, mold, mildew, or other such stinkers hiding in the nooks and crannies of your home. Carpets and other fabrics hold on to odors that are floating in the air and trap them in their fibres. All the air freshener and scented candles in the world will not cover up these odors. If you want to remove odors from your home, seek the root issue. Get carpets steam cleaned, wash all the fabrics (curtains, pillow slips, sheets, blankets, etc.) in your home, clean fabric covered furniture, and try to keep strong cooking odors to a minimum when you have your home on the market. Lighting scented candles to hide unpleasant odors, only masks the original odors and leaves your home smelling like a candle factory, which for most, is equally unpleasant.
2.) Avalanche Warning
Your realtor calls and tells you that they will be showing your home in an hour. You look around your home and see all the day to day junk that has been piling up all week. You have an hour. What are you going to do with all this stuff? Panic sets in and you are very tempted to just stash all the loose ends in any drawer, cupboard, or closet you can find. STOP! Resist this urge!
Prospective buyers WILL open your drawers, cupboards and closets. You do not want an avalanche of stuff falling down on these people. It sets a bad tone for the rest of the showing. Buyers will wonder what else is lurking in their wake as they walk through you home. If you don’t have time to sort out all the junk kicking around your home and the clock is ticking, grab a box, a garbage bag or anything that you can find that is big enough to hold it all and start throwing it all in. Label the bag, box, or container and neatly place it with all your other packed items. You can always come back to this stash of junk and sort through it. The idea is to get it out and away from the eyes of your potential buyers and maintain the tidiness of your drawers and closets. If there is a will, there is a way!
3.) Roaming Rover
I get it. Rover is a part of the family and your home. You love him and you do not understand how he could possibly be a deterrent when someone is deciding whether or not to buy your home! I’ll explain the possible drawbacks of keeping pets around during a showing.
Firstly, Rover was once a puppy, and everyone knows that puppies often have accidents. Where did these accidents happen? The first thing a potential buyer will think of when they see your loveable Rover, is that your carpets and underlay are probably a mess. This may or may not be a fact, BUT it will be an assumption.
Second, Rover is probably the most loveable and gentle animal on the planet, but if a potential buyer does not like animals, or has a fear of animals; it takes your home off their list immediately. The buyer will be so aware of the animal in the home that it will make seeing all the fabulous aspects of your home impossible.
Lastly, Rover will be stressed out. All the strange people coming in and out of the house will likely upset Rover and that may lead to unusual behaviors. You do not need poor Rover barking and growling at your potential buyers. Take him for a walk , a car ride, to a friends , across the street for a doggie treat and a coffee, it doesn’t matter where you take him, just make sure he is not in the house for the ten minutes it takes for your home to be shown. I understand that this seems like an enormous hassle and it is completely unfair to you and your pet, but at the end of the day, you and Rover need to sell this house so that you may both enjoy your new home together.
Knowing these home staging no-no’s may not increase your asking price or speed up the sale of your home, however it will make your home show well. Realtors are more likely to show your home if they know there are no major issues with it. The laws of probability state that the more people that see your home the more likely it that it will sell, and that is your main goal. SELL, SELL, SELL!
Would you like more information on what else you can do to get your home ready for your local market? Contact us today! info@prepthishouse.com
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