Staging Tips to Help You Get Top Dollar for Your Northern Virginia Home
Are you looking for staging tips to help get your Northern Virginia home sold? Through the years, you’ve worked hard to maintain your home and keep it in its best-possible condition. Outside of making it a nicer place to live, you’ve probably done this so that you can get a great return on your investment when you eventually sell your home in the future. When you do decide to list, you owe it to yourself to do everything possible to maximize your equity and get the most out of your home sale.
From staging your home to cleaning up its interior and exterior, here are our top tips for maximizing its value leading up to listing.
Modernize and simplify
At the end of the day, one of the keys to a successful home sale is helping the buyer picture themselves living in the space. Unless they’re buying your home as an investment property, buyers need to make a connection with your home. If they’re not able to picture themselves or their family realistically living there, they’re going to move on to other properties.
Unfortunately, there’s often a significant obstacle in this process: you. In the time you’ve lived in your home, you’ve made it distinctly yours. However, your furniture, decor, and layout may not resonate with buyers. Large furniture, in particular, makes rooms appear smaller and otherwise-spacious homes feel claustrophobic. Meanwhile, outdated furniture and decor can remind buyers of the property’s true age.
When you stage your home, you present its best side to buyers. Home stagers and realtors know what appeals to prospective buyers: modern furniture, minimalist design, spacious rooms, and natural light. If your realtor is recommending you stage your home, there’s probably a good reason why. Doing so could represent a value swing in the thousands—or even tens of thousands—of dollars.
Clean up the interior
Whether you’re staging your home with furniture or leaving things as-is, you need to clean up the inside. Ask any realtor: this is the most important part of the pre-listing process. If you have dirty walls, gross carpet, and dusty blinds, prospective buyers are going to quickly scroll past your listing. You have to think of selling your home in terms of a competitive market: if other homeowners are putting the time and effort into prepping and staging their homes, your home is going to look worse by comparison.
Here are several projects you should consider completing before you list:
- Painting: Yes, painting every room of your home is incredibly tedious. But it’s also one of the best ways to add value to your property ahead of sale. It also costs almost next-to-nothing and is something nearly every homeowner can take on themselves.
- Carpet Cleaning: Rent a professional-grade carpet cleaner from your local hardware store or hire a local professional. Either way, have your carpets deep cleaned and vacuumed.
- Revitalize: Thoroughly dust your blinds, fans, and door frames. Wash your baseboards and fix any dents or damage.
Put your (home’s) best foot forward
Now that you’ve addressed the inside of your home, it’s time to head outside. Take a good look at your home from the street. In the days before online listings, “curb appeal” used to be considered the top factor in a home’s attractiveness. Here’s the thing: it still matters. If your home doesn’t look quite right from the front driveway, it’s going to negatively affect buyer’s perceptions of your property before they even get out of their car.
Before you list, put the time, effort, and money into improving the outside appearance of your home. Start with paint: when was the last time your home was painted? If it has been a few years, you’re no doubt starting to see some fading, peeling, or chipping paint. Just as was the case with the inside of your home, paint sends a strong, subtle signal to buyers about the quality of your property and how well it’s been cared for over the years. Talk to an exterior painter and get your home back to like-new condition.
While you’ve got your phone out to call a painter, give your landscaper a call, as well. An overgrown lawn, trees, bushes, and other plants can really impact how good your home looks in its online listing. Right before you list—and your realtor takes pictures—make sure you have a professional out to get everything just right.
If the outside of your house has other minor aesthetic defects, now’s the time to act. Fix your fence, oil that gate, and repaint the numbers on your home. These small details can make a world of difference once your first interested buyers show up for a tour.
Work with us
We are not a realtor who handles paperwork and sets up showings. We know what sells and what doesn’t. If you’re looking to get your home ready to list, talk to us. We will advise you on home staging, what remodeling projects you should complete, and, in general, what you need to do to get your home ready for sale.
To learn more about MMK Realty visit our About Us page. For more tips and information feel free to contact me and follow me on social media on Facebook @mmkrealtyllc, Twitter @MMKRealtyLLC, and Instagram @mmkrealty. Also check out our Free Market Analysis. Sign up today and we will email you a free custom assessment of the current value of your home performed by MMK’s Principal Broker, Michelle Williams.
