Avril Brown runs Prep Home Staging in Halifax. For more tips and tricks, find her at prepstaging.com and @prepit.
1. There are many cost effective ways to prepare a home for sale. De-cluttering is huge and doesn't cost a thing. Look at each room with a buyer's eyes---taking a picture of the room helps with this. Piles of magazines, overflowing bookshelves, too many toys, stuffed closets and storage spaces, remember you are selling square footage, not your stuff.
2. Bathrooms are huge selling features for buyers so any upgrades, however small, are well worth doing. A fresh coat of paint in a neutral shade on the walls, repainting or replacing a vanity if needed, as well as new hardware, lighting and a crisp, white shower curtain work wonders for a dated bathroom.
3. Buyers love light, bright rooms and something as simple as taking down dark, heavy drapes and washing windows can make a huge difference. Mirrors reflect light to brighten a room and again repainting in a lighter shade can make a room look so much larger. Don't overfill a room with furniture, remove some pieces to other parts of the home or to storage to create more space.
4. Home staging is all about depersonalizing your space so any buyer can imagine themselves living there. It's hard to do when your toothbrush is in the bathroom and your family pictures are everywhere.
But taking too much out of a home and painting everything white is a mistake too. Add pops of colour for interest with accessories and non-specific artwork.
5. Every room in the home should have a defined purpose so buyers are not left guessing what it could be used for. If you have a bedroom that is used for storage, clear it out and stage it as a bedroom. This can be as simple as adding a blow-up bed, linens, a night table and lamp. Also empty rooms look so much smaller because there is no point of reference for a buyer.
Avril Brown runs Prep Staging in Halifax. For more tips and tricks, find her at prepstaging.com and @prepit.