Staging a Home for the Real Estate Marketplace

When it comes to selling a house, getting it ready to show to prospective buyers has become an important step to take before putting it on the market. This preparation process is called "home staging", and its purpose is to make a property charming enough to sell quickly and for more money. The following explains what measures are taken when staging a home.

Staging the Exterior of the House

Before taking any steps to stage the inside of a house, most who do the staging keep in mind what the potential buyer sees first, that being the outside. Since the first thing seen is the outside, and since curb appeal (as it's called) is what makes a homebuyer decide a house is worth viewing, creating an attractive home exterior is usually the starting point. To attain curb appeal, items such as tools, trash cans and rubbish of any kind (including old cars, rusty mufflers, fenders, or Fido's old doghouse) are usually removed from the front yard and discarded or placed in the shed. After this has been accomplished, the lawn is often made dressed to kill. Spending a lot of money isn't always necessary to improve the look of a lawn or garden. Maintaining the flower bed and weeding and mowing the lawn are often all that is needed. Making sure the house isn't hiding behind any plants or trees is something to check-out as well since the interested buyer is looking to purchase a house, not the giant evergreen peering into the front window. Steps taken to keeping the walkway, steps, and patio clean have enhanced curb appeal too, as well as replacing an old doormat with a new one. Paint touchups are often done if needed as peeling trim around the front door, or a chipped and peeling banister detract from a beautiful appearance. Taking all necessary steps to tidy-up the premises helps make the "house for sale" look its best.

Staging the Interior of the House

After making sure the outside of the house is ready to show, preparation of the inside of the house is the next step taken. If the house is vacant, the renting of furnishings and a few decorative items for the purpose of adding warmth to that empty space is a common practice. If the house is already furnished, keeping in mind that homebuyers like large rooms helps many successfully rearrange and/or removing furniture to make a room look more spacious. Making the house clutter-free to give the appearance of more open space is another part of staging. Unnecessary appliances are usually put away and decorative objects are cut down to a minimum (this includes the 104 magnets that cover the refrigerator door). As a general rule, neutral colors for walls and floors are recommended. Personal items of any kind are put away so the prospective buyer can visualize living there. When potential buyers are shopping, the house being viewed is usually well-lit to reveal a clean and maintained atmosphere.

Some people stage their homes themselves while others hire a professional stager to do the work. Professional home stagers can be found with a price tag of a few hundred dollars up to a few thousand dollars.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home staging

Ref: http://www.stagedhomes.com/public/tips.php