Are you looking to make a quick and lucrative home sale? The difference between lagging visits and a perfect sale may just be hidden in how well you stage the most important rooms in the home. While it may seem a natural thing to do when preparing a home for sale, how best you stage the home has been found to have profound effects on many fronts.
Did you know that 47% of buyers’ agents revealed that home staging positively affected the buyer's view of a home? Sellers' agents reported a one to five percent increase in dollar value the buyers offered compared to other homes.
Staging the most important rooms, therefore, becomes an integral part of the home selling process. But how do you go about staging the rooms and which rooms in a home close a deal faster than the others?
Let's break it down.
The 5 most important rooms to stage in a home
The following rooms are listed in the order of significance to buyers as established by the National Association of Realtors Research Group.
They are:
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The living room
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The master bedroom
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The kitchen
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The dining room
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The bathroom
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Let's delve deeper into how you can stage each of these rooms and make the best impression on potential buyers.
The living room
The living room is no doubt the most important room to potential buyers. After all, it is the space where family members spend most of their quality time. Staging this room right can go a long way in helping the buyers to visualize their future in the home.
Here are the tactics to employ when staging the living room:
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Pare back on furniture
Balancing the furniture to the living room space makes it look bigger and easy to navigate. Take away the big furniture that may make the room look small and cluttered. On the other hand, smaller furniture will make the room appear cold. Arrange the furniture in a cluster of three or five pieces or facing towards a focal point like a fireplace or a great view to achieve the perfect balance.
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Remove personal memorabilia
To allow the prospective buyers to visualize their belongings in the home, take away all items that personalize the room. These may include photos, toys, and any other keepsakes.
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Incorporate mirrors
Place small mirrors at strategic locations to add depth and dimension to the room. You can also choose to have one large masterpiece mirror hanging on the wall across the window to make the room feel lighter and brighter.
The master bedroom
The master bedroom is the second most important room in a home to buyers. You want them to feel this bedroom is their perfect area to unwind and enjoy lots of peaceful sleep. Here are some of the best pointers to achieve a classy master bedroom buyer appeal.
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Get the bed right
The bed is the centerpiece in a master bedroom and should, therefore, be visible right from the door. Place the biggest bed, preferably a king or queen-size bed with the room's dimensions in mind. Make sure there's space for a nightstand on both sides to emphasize spaciousness.
To give off a luxurious feeling, use quality bedding with soft textures. You can never go wrong with white linens and neutral comforters or duvets. Incorporate lots of throw pillows to give the bed an elegant finish.
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Choose the right color scheme
Color can make or break this room. To add a taste of sophistication, choose warm neutral colors such as beige, gray, white, and light blues. These colors ooze elegance and tend to make people feel relaxed and comfortable.
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Add accessories and decor
Would you like to add a touch of class to this room? How about adding some interior decor pieces like a piece of vintage artwork or a statement rug to cover the bare spaces? A vase of fresh flowers or a small tree is the perfect accessory to help bring the inviting fresh aroma that buyers crave.
The kitchen
You cannot underestimate the appeal a kitchen carries to the majority of buyers. It's probably the only room in the house that you can consider fully upgrading as it certainly increases the value of your home. However, if you are running out of time to upgrade the equipment and finishes you can take up these staging tactics to win over your clients.
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Deep clean
Every inch of the kitchen should be spotless, starting with the appliances to all four corners of the room. It would be best to engage a professional cleaning service to get the sparkling kitchen effect right. They not only help you clean up but also provide efficient solutions for eliminating any lingering odors.
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Declutter and organize
Homebuyers value a spacious kitchen. To achieve a balance between an empty and cramped kitchen space, place two or three appliances on the countertop. Tuck away the excess foodstuff and containers on a hidden shelf. Arrange the dishes and jars in matching sets to show off the extra space to the buyers. For an elegant look, take it a notch higher and strategically display white dishes and clear glasses on the shelf.
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Decorate
A bowl of perfectly ripe fruit on the kitchen table provides the appeal of a colorful, stylish, and functional kitchen. Choose one type of brightly colored fruit such as oranges or apples to bring in beautiful pops of color in the kitchen.
The dining room
A dining room is a charming space in a home where family members and guests catch up on a meal and conversation. For a buyer to visualize sharing a meal with loved ones or lingering on long after the buffet follow these tasteful tips.
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Set the right table
The focal point of a dining room is the table. Get the size right while taking into consideration the size of the entire space. The number of chairs is generally determined by the size of the room. The bigger the room the more chairs you can play with and vice versa. The key takeaway is to structure the furniture in a way that makes the room look spacious and easily navigable.
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Light the space up
Proper lighting is a key component that needs to be just right when staging the dining room for potential buyers. The right type of color and brightness brings out the feelings of warmth and the buyer can't help but visualize sitting and enjoying their time at the dining table. Recessed lighting works fine for big homes while a stylish chandelier will always splash a touch of glamor to the room.
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Spread the fine china
Go all out and spread a set of your fine china accompanied by cloth napkins and clear glasses. Your clients will not only feel the warmth and love but also the sophistication the room holds and how it perfectly fits them and their loved ones.
The bathroom
Most homebuyers, if not all, will not wrap up their tour without glancing at the bathroom. So, what are the bathroom staging ideas you can incorporate to seal the deal?
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Update the fixtures
As a basic foundation for a good first impression, the bathroom should be impeccably clean and streak-free. But what hits home for a buyer are the shiny fixtures and luxurious accessories. These could be simple things like replacing the soap dispenser and shower curtains to adding a set of artistic glass jars to spruce up the decor.
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Depersonalize
People like to view the bathroom as a personal space and they can't visualize this with half bottles of shampoo on their faces or with the toilet seat lid facing up. Always remember to cater to the small things that may put them off. Put away all your personal items including toiletries and towels to make it a pristine space. Add fluffy matching towels to add a luxurious hotel feeling.
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Place a freshener in the bathroom
Place a freshener or a mildly scented candle in the bathroom to capture all the buyer's senses. This luxurious spa-like feeling is a nice touch to a bathroom and will linger in their minds for a long time.
Getting the right staging help for your home
Staging the most important rooms in your home may seem like a herculean task. But the job is already halfway done once you make the potential buyer and the ideals they hold your main focus. The easiest way to do this is to put yourself in their shoes and soar from there. As we've seen, each room holds unique significance to buyers. Before opening your doors for viewings, make sure that you can give each room the attention it deserves.
These staging tactics above will help you close the deal faster and without hassle. If you would like to get more professional help you can reach out to Jesse Dougherty who is more than happy to walk with you.
Since each home has a unique design, you can always ask Jesse to assist you to pick the right tactics that best suit your home. Reach out today!
