Home Staging Tip #2: Is Too Much Stuff Standing Between You And a SOLD sign?

Hi… I’m Darlene Parris with UPSTAGED! a Professional Home Staging Company right here in Los Angeles.

Today I’m going to talk with you about tip # 2 of our 5 part series of how to avoid deal killing criticisms when trying to sell your home.

Today’s tip has everything to do with decluttering.  I know that on the surface, decluttering sounds very easy like ‘well I’ll just put my junk in a closet’.  Well, not necessarily the case when it comes to decluttering your house to prepare it for sale.

Let’s take a minute and think about what buyers are and what they do.  When buyers show up to your open house or to view your home, buyers are going to go through all of your cabinetry, your kitchen, your drawer space, they’re going to open up every single closet you own, they’re going to look at how much counter space there is in your kitchen, they’re even going to look into your garage because all buyers and everyone needs space for their stuff. 

That said, if you’ve just taken all of your things from the living room floor and from the bedroom that are unsightly that you don’t want around, and just shoved it into a closet somewhere, then technically you’re showing the buyer that they won’t have enough space in what will be their new home.  And remember you’re trying to sell a buyer your home but also a lifestyle that goes with the home. 

So That said, decluttering is more than just taking your stuff and sticking it into a corner.  You will really have to take a look at how much you have and how much you need.  You may look at off sight storage for some of the things that you can put away for your future home.  So if you don’t have enough garage space to pack things away neatly and label them as such… living room, dining room, etc, as you’re moving and stack them neatly into your garage space, then doing an off site storage unit would be the answer if you have excessive things.

Of course closets, you want to pare down things that you don’t need.  And you can always prepack.  So for example, if its summertime and you’re selling, well you can certainly pack up all of your winter clothes and heavy garments and such.  Prepack those things and have them labeled in your garage or off site storage and have those things out of the way so that when buyers or prospective buyers are looking at your home, they see the kind of space that they would be able to enjoy once they’ve purchased your home.

The same thing is true for kitchen counter tops.  You don’t need every single kitchen appliance you own on top of those counter tops.  Maybe a few would be out but again, neatly organized so that a prospective buyer can visualize themselves, not in your old house but their new house.

I’m Darlene Parris with UPSTAGED! Professional Home Staging Company here in Los Angeles.  Thank you so much for joining me today.  And tune in next week when we’ll cover the 3^rd tip on ways to avoid deal killing criticisms when trying to sell your home.

Thanks… see you then!

Darlene Parris

Interior Redesigner, Organizer, Home Stager

UPSTAGED! by Darlene Parris

www.GetUpStaged.com

888-224-0323

Home Staging Tip #4: What's That Smell? Is It Your Deal Going Out With The Garbage?

Hi… This is Darlene Parris with UPSTAGED! a Professional Home Staging Company right here in Los Angeles.

Today I’m going to share with you tip # 4 of our 5 part series of Ways to Avoid Deal Killing Criticisms when trying to sell your home.

Today’s topic is ODORS!  Funny.  Right?  Well…not so much in the eye of the buyer.  It is very, very, very important that no matter how immaculately staged your home is for sale, that there are no potentially offensive odors existent in the home. 

Potentially offensive odors are pet, food or even cigarette odors that kind of linger.  For those of you have pets or smoke or enjoy that highly seasoned food cooked at home, that’s wonderful.  But when you have potential buyers coming into the space, it’s going to be important to note that they will see and smell everything you don’t. 

When you live in a space, you become very easily acclimated to the smells and sounds of that home.  A prospective buyer come in, it’s all new, it’s all fresh to them and so they’re going to very quickly pick up on anything that seems out of place.  And certainly if they smell pet odor or last night’s dinner or even cigarette smoke, that will be something that will be a deterrent for them and turn them off to purchasing your home.

An impression that one gets when smells of a home aren’t quite right is a very lasting one and they will walk out of that beautifully staged home thinking ‘Ugh… it’s beautiful, but it stinks!’  So they won’t be able to live there.  So certainly, you want to make sure you make your best effort to clean up any potentially offensive odors for prospective buyers.

Again, this is Darlene Parris with UPSTAGED! Thank you so much for joining us here today.  And see me next week when we’ll talk about the 5^th and final way to avoid deal killing criticisms when trying to sell your home.

Take care.

Darlene Parris

Interior Redesigner, Organizer, Home Stager

UPSTAGED! by Darlene Parris

www.GetUpStaged.com

888-224-0323

Home Staging Tip #3: Mine, Mine, Mine!!! Is That What Buyers See When They Are Looking at Your Listing?

Hi… I’m Darlene Parris with UPSTAGED! a Professional Home Staging Company right here in Los Angeles.

Today I’m going to cover with you tip # 3 of our 5 part series of 5 Ways to Avoid Deal Killing Criticisms when trying to sell your home.

So today’s topic is all about depersonalization.  Well what does that mean exactly right?  Well when you live in a home the house is yours so you tend to personalize it the way you want with all the accents and colors and things that you enjoy.  When you’re trying to sell your house however, you’re trying to neutralize the space as much as possible while still making it feel like a home.

So that said, we want to then take away some our most personal effects. So if you have things as simple as your toothbrush and toothpaste out on your vanity top, those things need to go away and be out of sight so that when a potential buyer comes in, they’re not looking at your things.  They’re visualizing their things in the space instead of yours.

Another thing to depersonalize is artwork.  You may be a person that has lots of family photos or memorabilia on the wall.  Those kinds of things can serve more as a distraction for a potential buyer than an added feature.  You want them to look at the bones of your home, what your home is all about, not necessarily your family and your lineage or the team that you’re involved in.  Although those things are wonderful for you, it is very hard for a potential buyer to actually get past those things because in every space as they walk through your home, they’re looking at YOU, YOU, YOU.  And what they’re trying to do and what you need to allow them to do is visualize ME, ME, ME.  Which is ‘hey… how do I see myself in this home?  Does this home make me want to put in an offer because I can see me in the home?’

So remember, Depersonalization is our #3 tip of what to do to in order to avoid deal killing criticisms when trying to sell your home.

Thanks for joining me today.  I will see you next time.  Take care.

Darlene Parris

Interior Redesigner, Organizer, Professional Home Stager

UPSTAGED! by Darlene Parris

www.GetUpStaged.com

888-224-0323