31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 30, Now Showing!

The photographer has come and gone, 

the realtor has your home's MLS# plastered over every website in town,

and the calls to show your home are coming in.

Congratulations!

This is the exciting part!

Here's how to have spectacular showings:

• When the real estate office notifies you that you are going to have a showing, make sure to give yourself adequate time to make sure that the house is perfectly ready to be viewed (if there are usually "stay-at-home" people in the house, assign each of them a zone in the house to tidy and get ready when "the call" comes)

And if still need more convincing 

that home staging is all about the details,

then  read this post that I wrote, entitled

How NOT to Sell Your House :: 20 Tips.

The next topic, 

and the one that you've been staging for:

Now Showing!

You have one more day 

to ask me any staging questions!

I will answer them all

on the 31st, Q & A Day.

31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 29, Nitpicky Details

Today, I am going to give you extra, but important, information

that will help you to sell your home that much more quickly.

Here we go!

• Never list your house before it's ready. If you were getting married, would you walk down the aisle with your perfected hair, make-up, bouquet, and shoes--but wear a sweatsuit? Neither should you list your home until it's completed. Not only will your showings be (happily) fewer, your home will be an asset that any realtor would be glad to show to their clients.
• Find a good realtor. My own opinion on "For Sale by Owner"? Unless you have a lot of time, experience (with legal matters--or maybe you are or were a realtor), and the patience to show, market, and wait for a buyer, don't do it. Realtors are professionals, trained to market and to sell a house. When home-sellers ask me who I recommend for a realtor, I immediately refer them to Dave Ramsey's site and his list of ELPs (Endorsed Local Providers). No one has ever been disappointed by going this route.

• Many folks use the same realtor to buy and sell their homes, thereby saving a percentage point or two on realtor fees. We do this when we move within the same county. It doesn't hurt to ask your realtor to help you with both transactions and to see if they will combine both transactions into one fee. 

The next topic, 

and the one that you've been staging for:

Now Showing!

You have one more day 

to ask me any staging questions!

I will answer them all

on the 31st, Q & A Day.

31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 28, Hallway, Hallway Closet & Stairway

Hi!

Welcome back!

If it's your first time here,
and you'd like to start at the beginning of this series,
which is entitled 31 Days to a Staged Home, 
click HERE.

Hallways, stairways, and hall closets!

Once you've decluttered, cleaned, painted, and updated them,

and if you have a stash of props from your Staging Area, 

are the most simple spaces to stage

because they should be kept almost empty.

Remember the Pottery Barn/Timeshare feel 

that we are hoping to achieve?

Here are some examples of staged hallways, stairways, and hall closets:

Tomorrow is:

P.S. I am getting a lot of fantastic questions from y'all!

Keep them coming!

I will have a Q & A Day on the 31st,

the last (whew!) day of this series.

Please have a beautiful, blessed day!

31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 27, Attics & Basements

Hello!
Welcome to Day 27!
If this is your first time to this series,
I recommend that you start at Day 1, HERE.

Not everyone's house will have an attic or an unfinished basement,

but if yours does, it's considered a plus to buyers

so you must take advantage of it.

If you have a finished basement, I discussed this space

on Day 21 :: The Bonus Room.

People typically use them for storage areas, but yours

should not be shown with your stored stuff inside them.

How to prepare the attic for selling:

These spaces are fairly simple to stage
once they have been cleared out.

Tomorrow we're moving into the Hallway & Stairway.

Only three more days

to ask me staging questions!

Ask me in the comments below, 

and I will answer them on Day 31 :: Q & A.

31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 26, The Garage & Shed

Hi!

Welcome back!

If it's your first time here,

and you'd like to start at the beginning of this series,

which is entitled 31 Days to a Staged Home, 

click HERE.

Today's post is going to be really short

(on this page) because I am directing you a post 

that I've already written about staging a garage, HERE.

Your assignment is to add "and/or shed"

every time you read the word garage, all right?

Simple.

A neatened shed.

Tomorrow's subject is the staging of the 

Attic & Basement.

I pray that your day is filled with hope and laughter!

Day 31 is Q & A time.

If you have anything that you'd like to ask me,

do so in the comments below.

Thank you!

31 Days to a Staged Home ::Day 25, The Laundry Room

Hello!
Welcome to Day 25!
If this is your first time to this series 
and you'd like to start from Day 1,
click HERE.

Ah, the neglected laundry room,

where piles of clothes wait to be sorted, pre-treated, and washed,

where shelves and cabinets are filled with everything else

that we don't want to be stored in other rooms.

It's usually dusty, dank, and dark.

It's usually the last room that we think about staging,

but it is so very important to make every space worth living in,

so that a buyer can fall in love with your house and make it their home.

Laundry Room Staging:

• Assuming the laundry room is already clean, decluttered, and updated, and painted, now pare down your laundry products to one each of the detergent, fabric softener, spot treatment, etc. you use; keep them neatly in a basket on a shelf or face-forward at the edge inside the cabinet
• All dirty clothing needs to be in a covered container or hamper

Simple changes in this space will go a long way 

to help buyers imagine themselves enjoying the caring for their clothes

 in their new home.

Tomorrow?

The Garage & Shed.

See you then!

Q & A Day is the 31st, so ask away in the comments below.

31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 24, Other Bathrooms

Hi!

I'm so glad that you got here!

If you're a first-timer, welcome!

You may want to begin this Home Staging series
HERE, from the 1st day.

Here are some simple ways 

to stage the other bathrooms

in your house to sell:

• The smaller bathrooms need to feel spacious: this means that less is more, so keep it really simple
• If the bath is clean, de-cluttered, and updated, and painted, all that's needed here is a new shower curtain (white is best) and liner, a bath rug, a set of white towels (two each: bath, hand, and washcloths), a new soap pump, greenery, and a tall lidded basket (under the sink to hide toiletries)

Tomorrow's post covers
The Laundry Room.

Please have a beautiful day!

P.S. Don't forget that Day 31 is Q & A day.

If there's anything you'd like to know, just ask me in the comments,

and I will compile them and address them on the 31st.

I've gotten some fantastic questions already!

Thank you! 

31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 23, Other Bedrooms

Hi!

Welcome!

I'm so happy that you're here!

I highly recommend, if this is your first time to this series,

to start at Day #1: HERE.

Bedrooms, 

once they've been decluttered, cleaned, painted, and updated,

are fairly simple to stage.

In this little girl's room, 

(which I decided didn't need to be painted since the decor was tasteful)

the wallpaper was simplified, the chair with "Emmy" on it removed,

and the bedding was made more neutral.

Sometimes, simple changes make a big impact.

In these unoccupied homes, these closets still got staged,

one as a teen girl's space and the other as a guest room closet.

(The sellers left in haste, but they came back a few weekends later 

to collect the items that were not used for staging.)

Tomorrow's discussion?

The house's Other Bathrooms.

Keep those questions coming!

I have about 85 to answer so far!

I will answer them all on Day 31: Q & A.

31 Days to a Staged Home :: Day 22, The Master Bedroom & Bathroom

Hello!

Welcome to Day 10!

If this is your first time to this series,

 I recommend starting from Day 1, HERE.

The master bedroom is one of the spaces in your house 

on which buyers cast a keen and discerning eye.

They need to know if this room is big enough, 

bright enough, quiet enough, and cozy enough.

It is quite simple, actually, to stage a master bedroom and bathroom.

Assuming you've already 

decluttered, cleaned, updated the lighting, considered the small stuff, and painted, 

then this room should be almost ready.

Here's how to simply stage your master bedroom and closet:

Tomorrow, I'll be talking about
Other Bedrooms.

Hope to see you then!

Any questions?

Please ask!

I will answer them on Day 31 :: Q & A.

Blessings to you while you make your home!