Home | Real Estate | Selling
In today's tough real estate market, it's more important than ever for a homeowner trying to sell a house to make it stand out from the crowded marketplace. Preparing a house for showing is called "staging:" here are some tips to help you do it right. -- Take your emotions and "warm snugglies" that you feel toward your home out of the equation completely when you're preparing it for sale. You absolutely have to look at your house as if it is no longer your own: after all, it soon won't be. You must get in this sort of mindset in order to successfully get your home staged properly. This is the hardest step of all to take in the staging process, and is purely psychological. When you're lying in bed at night, do a mental exercise: picture yourself packing up boxes, loading them in a van, locking the door and moving away. -- You want the house to look "lived in" but you need to depersonalize it as much as possible. Pack up all family photographs and other personal items, and take the children's drawings and the grocery list off the fridge. -- Next, get rid of all those years of accumulated clutter. If you haven't used it in a year, pitch it or donate it. Pack up everything on your bookshelves, including knick knacks and other non-essential items. Believe it or not, even book titles and collectibles convey the personality of the present homeowners, making it harder for prospective buyers to picture their own belongings in the house. -- Are you planning on holding a yard sale? Do it right now before the house is up for sale. You will get rid of a lot of boxes of unwanted items right away, and you will be free to keep the house clean and ready for showing when the time comes. -- A common place for clutter to collect is the kitchen. Ironically, a kitchen is often the selling point of a home! So take a deep breath, look at your cooking areas, and take everything off the counters completely. Toasters and other appliances must be tucked away under the sink where they can be easily accessible, but not visible. Again, when you are done with the kitchen, it should look like a model home's. -- People will be poking around in your kitchen cabinets, as is their right: they will even check in the fridge. These need to be cleared out as much as possible and cleaned thoroughly. Prospective buyers need to be able to get a good idea for how roomy your kitchen really is. Once you get the idea of how impartial decluttering works, you'll get "the fever" and do it for your whole house, which is great! Remember that a house seeker needs to be able to visualize his or her own family living in the home. There are so many other house sellers vying for attention, so take the time to stage yours so beautifully, that a buyer won't be able to resist!
Article Source: http://articlebridge.com
If you are looking for real estate in NJ, or plan to sell your New Jersey home soon, contact the professionals at RE/MAX of New Jersey (www.remax-nj.com). Art Gib is a freelance writer.
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
