Home Staging to Sell: The Latest Techniques That Really Work

1. Find the right pros to work with. “I feel the most important thing for homeowners to focus on is choosing a great Realtor to represent them and to properly showcase their property with professional photos and staging suggestions,” says home stager Kelley Gardner in Madison, New Jersey. “I see too many poor photos, no floor plans and no staging. Most buyers are making their final selections using the tools of the Internet, so they will rule out the dated, ugly, messy homes that could actually be a gem if the homeowner had just taken the time to update the rooms with very little effort.”

2. Detach yourself from your house. The process of staging takes the focus of your home away from you and puts it on the potential new owners of your home. 

Somethings to consider "empty rooms look smaller than staged rooms," and  "home staging is an investment and not a cost. The first step a home seller can take to ensure a successful outcome is to get detached from their home; now it is all about the buyers."

 

4. Say goodbye to ugly. There is really no nice way to say it: We all have a few ugly bits in our homes, and it’s best to face the facts early on. The good news: There are plenty of quick fixes for your home’s trouble spots. 

“White towels and a white waffle-weave shower curtain can do wonders to a dated bath,” says Gardner. “If you have oak kitchen cabinets, paint them white and add quartz or stone counters to help update. Remove dated wallpaper and paint. Take down dusty, dated window treatments. Inexpensive updates can include changing out light fixtures, throw pillows and bed linens. I like a white quilt or duvet for photos.”

5. Know your buyer. This is the golden rule of staging. The new paradigm is a targeted approach capturing the likely buyer pool through specific design styles that will resonate, such as hipster, industrial or beachy modern style, say DeCapua and Moore.

Gardner adds that buyers in their mid-20s to mid-30s make up a large part of the market, so "that is the group to capture and market toward," she says. "They usually like the look of the big-box stores, like Homesense, Bombay, and JYSK. If you are staging your home yourself, ask your real estate agent for help identifying your target market.

6. Match your decor to your home's style and price range. "It is all about creating the right lifestyle for each house." says Sarikhani. "For example, for a high-end penthouse condo, the sofa should be a different one than in the one-bedroom condo on the lower-end price."

 

7. Consider color. The colors you should use depend, at least in part, on where you live. "Stagers in large metropolitan markets have abandoned the bland, beige and neutral for a more vibrant style that employs color and eclectic decor," say DeCapua and Moore. Those farther from urban areas may want to stick with neutrals.

Gardner adds that it is helpful to be aware of what is photogenic. "No red pillows, linens or accents, as this color looks awful in real estate photos. I suggest neutral colors — get rid of the hunter green and red rooms. Uncover your home's assets by removing worn wall-to-wall carpet and exposing hardwood flooring." And, she adds, "no pets in your pictures, unless you are selling Fido with the property."

 

8. Accessorize wisely. Decluttering is important, but once you have things looking streamlined, try layering back in a few accessories that telegraph the lifestyle you want your home to project. Details matter, say DeCapua and Moore. “We use lots of coffee table books, add curated collectibles to bookshelves, toss market baskets onto chairs, hang original art and use only real plants to give buyers the impression that someone actually lives there. Old-school staging style tended toward the sterile and looked a bit more like a big-box furniture showroom.”

Final thoughts. "There should be no forgotten spaces in any house for sale. It's all about square feet," says Sarikhani. Put every closet and nook to work by fitting in smart storage or furniture, and your space will seem not only bigger but more appealing and usable to potential buyers. 

Gardner says, "I always tell homeowners that we want the buyers to feel that they could drop their bags and move right in."