Buyer's First Impressions
Buyers can make up their minds in the first few minutes. First impressions count. The house has to be inviting, clean, and provide the potential for the buyer to see themselves in this home.
Staging Tips
- Declutter:
- Take everything off ALL your counters. It makes the counters look bigger and nobody wants to see your old mail, cereal boxes, or toothpaste and deodorant.
- No laundry or clothes out.
- No dishes.
- Remove anything too personal. If in doubt - take it out. Making the house generic might seem counterproductive, but how do you feel when you go see a model home in new construction? It excites you and you see potential, so create that model home feel by removing anything that makes it look like someone has lived there for many years.
- Stage only key rooms in vacant homes: Vacant homes are harder to sell because it’s difficult for buyers to feel connected to a house with nothing in it. According to the NAR, 81% of buyer’s agents reported that it’s easier for buyers to visualize how their own sofa and end tables will fit into your living room if they actually see similar furniture in place.
- Balance the colors: Eye-catching photos are not too busy and have a pop of color. If you have several primary colors, reduce it down to just one. Make sure that spaces are well lit, and not just internal overhead lighting but consider spots and colored lights to soften or cool the room. A bowl of lemons on a dining room table, a bouquet of roses in the kitchen, or a piece of modern art can all provide vibrant color pops, but are best on a bland or muted background.
- Time of Day: Twilight in addition to daytime photos. Sunsets and colored pool lights can really set the mood. Make sure that you capture interiors and exteriors at different times in the day to offer different perspectives on the uses and feeling a room emits.
- Try not to alienate your buyers by strictly adhering to any one style. Styles include modern, eclectic, traditional - and sometimes mixing it up a bit can help relate to multiple buyers. A modern dining room with a large antique wooden table is a great example of luxury staging.
- Speaking of dining room tables, set them! It's a great opportunity to help buyers visualize entertaining in the space. Chargers or dinner plates with some simple flatware and cloth napkins are a way to introduce that pop of color and make the space festive. The same can be done with outside dining, and twilight photos using candlelight. Show how the outdoor space can be used for entertaining and how you can utilize the outdoors as an extension of your indoor space.