“Staging” your Knoxville TN home to sell quickly
A relatively new buzzword in the real estate business is “staging” a home.
Staging simply means arranging your home to show in its best light. This goes beyond simple ‘clean up, fix up’ and often involves rearranging or replacing items in the house and on the walls, some new paint, some new decor items, and whatever else it takes to make you home appear bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loved, and, most of all, entice your prospective buyers to want to buy your home above all the other for sale.
The absolute worst single mistake a seller can make is overpricing their home relative to comparable homes for sale. Buyers look at other homes before they make their buying decision; unless your home stands out in their minds in at least one area you’re just one of the crowd.
But, if your home is not only priced competitively compared to others, AND staged to appeal to the broadest base of buyers you have a huge edge on the rest of your competition (other home sellers).
Here’s a couple of easy staging tips to make your Knoxville area home stand out from the others.
- Curb appeal: you have to attract buyer’s attention from the street and make them think, “Wow, that’s a great looking home, I want to see the rest.” A big splash of color goes a long way here. It can be a simple as buying a couple of large flower pots and creating an attractive & eye catching focal point with a birdbath, gazing ball, or even a colorful birdhouse. Of course a neat, well trimmed lawn is a must as well.
- A Great Kitchen: kitchens are the number 1 selling room in most houses. Get everything except one or two items off your countertops to create the illusion of more space, make sure everything is sparkling clean to the eye and to the touch. Don’t forget the windows, floors, ceiling, and cabinets (hint, a rubdown with orange oil will restore the luster to tired cabinets).
Here’s before and after shots of an inexpensive kitchen remodel that will result in a faster sale of this home for top dollar.
Before, the kitchen was dated with lots of ’stuff’ setting on the old counter tops.
Compare the photo above to this ‘after’ shot. Which would you want to buy? I think the answer is obvious.
If you’re thinking of selling your Knoxville area home I offer staging consultations as part of my real estate services.
Usually I can suggest a few inexpensive things that will make your home show better, appeal more, and sell faster than the rest.
Here’s a link to some great ‘before’ & ‘after’ shots to give you some insight into what staging is all about.
In today’s highly competative Knoxville, Tennessee real estate market hiring a real estate broker experienced in staging your home will get you a long way towards a faster sale for more money.
Visit my website, www.KnoxvilleMLS.com and click the “Selling” link for lots of quick, easy, staging tips and tricks you can do yourself.