Staging your home, even in a hot seller’s market is always recommended! Even though the market may be hot with lots of demand, staging your home will help your home stand out from the competition. Remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. If you want to sell your home for top dollar in the least amount of time and with the least amount of headaches, staging will most definitely help.
Below are some interesting stats from 2021 related to staging from the National Association of Realtors:
• 23% of sellers’ agents reported an increase of 1-5% of the dollar value offered by buyers, in comparison to homes that were not staged. This is a prime example of how staging can help put more money in your pocket.
• 82% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. I see this on a daily basis when helping my clients with finding their next home. There is a clear difference in their response when viewing a property that is staged. The first response when we walk through the front door of a staged home is often “WOW!”.
Staging doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated either. I’ve included a list below of some basic staging tips that you can do on your own. Most reputable Toronto real estate agents will provide complete staging services for their clients as a part of their service but if you want to help out with getting your property prepared to sell for top dollar, you can tackle most of the items below on your own:
- Declutter and depersonalize everything. Remove all personal photos and personalized items from your shelves, counters and walls and replace them with photos and items that are not personal. You want to help buyers with imagining themselves living in your home.
- Deep clean the entire home top-to-bottom. Pay attention to the details, every little corner, in the closets, in your kitchen cabinets, in your fridge etc. You cannot over clean when it comes to preparing your home to sell.
- Make “curb appeal” enhancements such as adding fresh mulch to your garden beds, power washing your dusty front porch or the weeds in your interlock driveway, plant some hardy annuals that will add a pop of colour, shovel the snow, replace any burnt out light bulbs, remove any garbage from your lawn and the list goes on.
- Add fluffy white towels to the bathrooms and add white comforters to all of the beds along with white pillow cases. White pillow cases and comforters make the room feel larger, brighter and cleaner.
- Consider removing or replacing area rugs and curtains that are dark, dirty or dated.
- Remove any signs of pets such as cat litter boxes or dog food. Hide or remove the litter box or dog food and make sure you do a thorough cleaning of your home to remove any smells. If the smell is very strong, you may want to consider painting your home as painting helps to remove strong smells.
If you have questions about how to get your property in top showing condition, contact me any time, I am happy to answer any questions you may have and to provide you with professional advice. As a full-time Toronto real estate agent with over 20 years of design experience as the previous owner of a design and build firm, my invaluable experience helps my clients with preparing their homes to sell for top dollar. Click HERE to learn about the selling process and how I can help you sell for top dollar in the least amount of time!
