The viewing of a home is a pivotal experience for buyers, either inspiring them about how they might create a new chapter in their lives or sending them home disappointed.
When a prospective buyer conducts a walk-through of your home, it’s essential that you’ve done everything you can to give them the best impression.
As an experienced agent, I can’t think of a better way to present a home than by “staging” it. This involves using a consultant to select and hire furnishings to put your house or apartment in the best light.
Staging a home can be confronting to some as it involves stripping away much of your personal furniture and affects. But it ensures your home is properly furnished to best present the space you have, and it offers a blank canvas upon which prospective buyers can imagine their life.
Great preparation can be the difference of thousands on your final selling price, so it’s worth packing away the family photos and putting your favourite sofa into storage.
Below are some common mistakes that many homeowners make when selling that turn off buyers or potentially diminish the sales price.
- Blocked Doors – Clutter is the curse of a home that’s for sale. If you can’t even shut a door properly because it pushes up against a piece of furniture, buyers are going to think the space is inadequate.
- Bed against a wall – This shrinks a room. Even if it’s a small spare bedroom, move the bed away from the wall, put a small table next to it and it will appear larger.
- Desk in the bedroom – Working from home may be all the rage, but don’t have your work desk in a bedroom. It destroys the vibe of a restful place in the home.
- Toys – These need to go in a cupboard. Not only are they unsightly, but buyers can trip over them, and that potentially creates a new level of drama.
- Washing up – Clear the sink and the draining board. Nobody wants to see your breakfast dishes, or worse, last night’s dinner plates. If you have a dishwasher, put them in there and turn it on.
- Dirty clothes– Even if they’re in the utility room, make them go away. Stash them in a cupboard nobody would bother to open.
- Dust – It’s always a good idea to run a duster and vacuum the house before a viewing. Nobody is expecting the cleanliness of a pristine showroom because yours is a home that’s lived in. But the more cleaning sparkle you can add, the better.