Chester County Homeowners: Increase Your Home’s Value with These Home Staging Tricks
If you’re looking to sell your Chester County home, you want to do everything you can to make it look its best. That’s where home staging will be your greatest friend. By making your home look its absolute best, you can attract more buyers and potentially sell your home faster. Here are the top tips for preparing your home for sale, from Chester County’s best realtors.
Key Takeaways
- Check out the competition with your agent.
- Emotionally stage your home by getting rid of personal items.
- Boost your curb appeal
- Clean and declutter – it matters!
- Create that new house smell
Seeing Homes for Sale with Your Agent: A Fun and Eye-Opening Experience
Start by going to a few homes for sale with your agent! When you really start to pay attention to other homes on the market in your area, you will see them through the eyes of a buyer. You will have a fresh perspective on it. I highly recommend this, and it can be sort of fun! It’s good to know the competition in your surrounding areas, and how homes are presented.
Bring a notebook to the showing so you can jot down things that detract from the positive aspects of the home. You should also write down things that spark joy and make you feel at home.
It’s amazing how some overgrown hedges blocking half the front walkway can really distract buyers from how amazing the exterior of a home could be.
Emotionally Staging Your Home for a Successful Sale
You need to mentally prepare yourself and anyone else who needs to hear it: the best way to approach this process is to recognize that you are selling a product. It’s best to repeat that back to yourself twice and let it sink in. You are selling the walls, windows, driveways, toilets, cabinetry, and closets—not your decorating style or your family’s memories, hopes, and dreams.
The good news is that you get to pack all of that up and take it with you! What you are doing is emotionally staging the home so that many buyers can see themselves living there and rush to make an offer. This is how you create bidding wars: by making the house extra special. You do this first by depersonalizing it.
A great trick is to replace family photos with large mirrors. That way, buyers can literally “see themselves in the home.”
Boosting Your Curb Appeal: A Must-Do for Home Sellers
One of my personal favorites is curb appeal. Curb appeal is essential for catching buyers’ attention, especially in Chester County, where many clients do drive-bys before asking for a showing. Too often, people make the mistake of not paying attention to landscaping.
Ensure that you have a fresh lawn, trimmed hedges, weeded flower beds, and dressed-up flower pots. Rent a power washer to clean your siding, walkways, and outdoor furniture, making it look as new and clean as possible. You want to create an atmosphere that potential buyers could have a backyard BBQ the next day if they wanted.
Remember, you are selling a product. That product is a new home and of the possibilities that go along with it. You want it to look as clean and as new as possible. In my experience as a real estate agent, I’ve seen potential buyers completely overlook outdated fixtures simply because everything was cleaned and shined, and ready for them to have visitors over.
If the curb appeal is fresh, buyers will immediately feel that this home is cared for and maintained right from the start of the showing. People will see the value in the fact that the home is move-in ready, which translates to more dollars in your pocket at closing! Now is the time to hire some professionals to do some fresh lawn edging and gutter cleaning if you are too busy.
Windows, Trash, and Clutter: Home Staging Details that Matter
Ensure that your windows are clean either by yourself or by a professional. This includes cleaning the inside window sills too. When people open the windows, you want them to look fresh and clean, not dirty and old. Clean your windows inside and out and dispose of any large items and old furniture before your house goes on the market.
You should be starting to declutter your home months before going on market. Make sure to dispose of large items and old furniture on the curb BEFORE your house goes on the market. No buyers – I repeat, NO buyers want to see dusty and old junk sitting in your trash heap waiting for the garbage truck.
Neighbors talk, and they may know some potential buyers who are interested. Ensure enough time has passed so that they don’t recall seeing clutter on trash days. Also, make sure your trash cans are not overflowing on the day of the showings.
Potential buyers don’t want to see clutter or dust, and they may know some potential buyers who are interested. Start decluttering by renting a pod. Storing everything you won’t need for the next six months is a simple and easy way to start the process.
The Power of Fresh Paint: Creating a New House Smell for Home Buyers
Fresh paint is essential, and not just for the obvious aesthetic updating. It also gives you that new house smell, which is really inviting to buyers. There are new odor-absorbing paints available in the market, which work by covering and absorbing odors, making them perfect for family pets or exhaust systems in bathrooms and kitchens that may be at the end of the road.
Bright white colors are popular among buyers, as they make spaces feel larger when all walls are painted the same color continuously. Buyers appreciate having a fresh slate to start creating memories in.
Contact The Steve Laret Team for a Complimentary Pre-Listing Appointment
If you need any help or recommendations on staging your Chester County real estate, The Steve Laret Team is here to help.
As the best realtors in Chester County, The Steve Laret Team can help you to get the best price for your home. Contact Shannon M. Schwab via phone, text, or E-mail to schedule your complimentary pre-listing appointment and get your home ready to hit the market!
