DIY Home Staging: Free Fixes for a Faster Sale

When you want to sell your house but have no budget for home staging, you can improve your odds for a quick sell with a few free fixes. Disclosure: Elbow grease may be required. Ask for help and use common sense to avoid injury.

DIY Home Staging Tips for Free - Tip #1
Improve Curb Appeal

Take a moment to look at your house from the outside with fresh eyes. If you were a potential home buyer, would you like what you see? Would you get out of your car to see what waits on the inside? Perhaps the inside is a treasure waiting to be discovered; however, if the exterior does not invite potential buyers to enter, they will never know about the treasure.

To improve your curb appeal for free, pull out your bucket of elbow grease. Trim any overgrown bushes. Weed the flower beds. Mow the lawn. Pick up any trash or debris in the yard. Sweep the porch. Remove any excess lawn furniture. Wash the exterior windows and the window shutters. Shake out the dirt or hose down the welcome mat. Make any improvements you can to show that your home and lawn are well-maintained.

DIY Home Staging Tips for Free - Tip #2
Clean Thoroughly

Buyers can be nosy. They will open your cabinets, peek behind the shower curtain, and look inside your refrigerator. If they see mouse feces, traces of mildew, soap scum, spilled drinks or anything else unpleasant, buyers will likely think twice before bidding on your home. On the other hand, a sparkling clean home might leave them with the impression that your home is well-maintained and turnkey, which might increase the likelihood they will bid.

When cleaning your home, pay attention to details. Remove the cob webs hanging from the ceiling. Clean the blades of the ceiling fans. Clean up the chocolate milk the children spilled down the cabinets. Do not neglect the baseboards, light fixtures, windows or vents.

DIY Home Staging Tips for Free - Tip #3
De-clutter, De-personalize and Re-arrange

When potential buyers walk into a cluttered home, they have difficulty seeing the space and features the house offers. Too much furniture, too many clothes, too many toys, too many collections . . . these things make your house seem smaller, unorganized, too much like someone else's home.

When a potential buyer walks into your home, remove his temptation to look at all the lovely things sitting around and instead allow him the ability to envision himself living there. Simply pack up the toys, photos, refrigerator magnets, and trinket collections. Put away the coffee pot and toaster to give the illusion of more kitchen counter space. Hide the television wires strewn across the floor. Better yet, remove the television if it detracts from the look of the room. Remove a piece or two of furniture when rooms seem too small.

Once you have finished packing up, re-arrange your furniture to provide better visual appeal and flow. Try a couple of different arrangements, if necessary, to see what works best. Finally, organize your belongings, beginning with the closets. To start, hang your shirts in the same direction and organize them by color. Fold the towels all the same way and stack them neatly in the linen closet. Organize the shampoo and lotion bottles under the sink.

Look at your home from a buyer's perspective and remember that buyers might not share your tastes. Appeal to as many of them as possible by presenting a clean, organized, well-maintained home.