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Ready To Show: A Home Staging
Checklist
Many of the techniques
that professional home stagers employ you can easily do yourself. Below
is a checklist to make your home ready to show and ready to sell.
Consult with your real estate agent for more tips and tricks.
ENTRANCE
– Make
sure your front door is clean and put on a fresh coat of paint if
needed.
– Consider
buying a new welcome mat and putting up new house numbers that can be
seen easily from the street.
CLEANING
– Clean
everything in your home from the largest most-obvious areas down to the
smallest least-conspicuous nooks and crannies.
– Consider
hiring a cleaning service to come in and give your home a good
once-over.
CLUTTER
–
Get rid of any visible
clutter on countertops, bookshelves, tables, sink tops, etc. Box it up
and put it in storage or throw out what you don’t need.
– Remove
any personal items such as pictures, artwork, or similar knick-knacks.
– Get
rid of any furniture or other larger items you don’t use.
STORAGE
– Organize
and remove clutter from all closets, cabinets, and easily accessible
storage areas. Potential buyers will look in these areas.
– If
you don’t have enough room for storage, consider renting a storage unit
or asking a friend if you can borrow storage space in their home.
FURNITURE
– Move
your furniture away from the walls. A room will look larger if you
“float” your furniture away from the walls.
– Reposition
your furniture so that each room has a natural traffic flow.
– Don’t
be afraid to switch furniture between rooms to achieve new looks.
REPAIRS
– Give
the inside of your home a fresh coat of paint or, if it’s been painted
recently, touch up places that have scuff marks.
– Make
minor repairs such as fixing leaking faucets, creaking cabinet doors,
running toilets, etc.
LIGHTING
– Open
all of your curtains and blinds to let in the maximum amount of natural
light.
– If
possible, replace heavy curtains with sheer fabrics—even if it’s only
temporary.
– Make
sure that each lighting fixture has high-wattage bulbs (up to the
maximum that is safely allowed).
LANDSCAPING
– Remove
any stray yard debris and make sure your grass is cut at least once a
week, if not more.
– Consider
hiring a landscaping company to keep your yard maintained on a regular
basis or just to spruce up your yard once before you put it on the
market.
EXTERIOR
– Wash
or power wash your home’s siding as well as your driveway, concrete
walkways, patios, decks, etc.
– Clean
out your rain gutters and wash your windows and screens from the
outside. ∆ |
