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The Balance Between Packing and Staging When Trying to Sell a Home
Staging your home is basically decorating it for showings. The idea is to make your house look like a house other people would like to live in, and make the house appeal to as many people as possible. While this seems easy enough for most people, it does make packing your home up for a big move complicated. Of course, a full-service moving company such as these full service movers could come and pack everything for you after your house sells, but if hiring a mover isn’t in the budget then there is a complicated issue.
The balance seems impossible. If you pack up your stuff there will be boxes everywhere and your house will look like a mess while it’s for sale. If you leave it as is until the day before you move you will be rushed, stressed, and less careful. So how do you find the sweet spot? Hopefully the following tips will provide you with some valuable insight.
De-clutter Your Space
De-cluttering will be the most helpful thing in achieving this balance without a doubt. Not only will less junk make your house appear larger and more open, but less messy without unused furniture. Gather up everything that wont have a place in your new home and donate what you can, otherwise call these furniture removal specialists.
Repaint the Interior
This is something you will likely have to do for the next owners anyway. Putting a fresh layer of paint over every room will make the room seem much cleaner and brighter. You will want to stick to neutral colors to really chase mass appeal. This is a great home staging idea that can be done easily (and quickly with the help of these one day painters).
Use Packing to Help Stage
Pack each room individually and put away anything not necessary for staging. Pack up all your family pictures, souvenirs and mementos and place them in the closet. Basically half-packing each room will actually make your home feel more organized and clean while also removing remnants of the past owner. Taking your personal style out of the house will make sure that more people can visualize themselves making it their own home. Once the extra things are packed (or thrown) away you should have more space available inside the house. Take advantage of this to show a room’s full potential rather then just leaving all your furniture where it is.
Continue Minimizing
There are still ways to continue minimizing. Take all of your child’s wall decorations down and pack them up. I recommend putting all of the extra boxes neatly in the garage to maximize space inside the house. Continue purging the house for items that show the previous owner, as these must be packed prior to showing the house. Extra mirrors, wall decorations and small appliances are also great things to pack away ahead of time. People viewing your house may open up some cabinets in the kitchen so if they are partially packed they will look extra spacious.
Written by Matt Lawler www.zogdigital.com
Laura Key, Realty Goddess
310-866-8422
HOW MUCH IS YOUR HOME WORTH?
Laura.A.Key@gmail.com
Clean Home, Easy Sale
One of the biggest problems people run into when selling their home is the process of preparing it for sale. The best way to begin this process is to take a quick walk through your home then call me for an appointment! Laura Key 310.866.8422
One of the biggest problems people run into when selling their home is the process of preparing it for sale. Many homes are simply places where we keep the accumulated treasures of the years. Are you a clutter-bug, a pack-rat? It's OK, we all are to some degree. When preparing a home for sale, we need to be mindful of our "stuff." The best way to begin this process is to take a quick walk through your home. Make a list of everything that you have not used in the past 3 months, 6 months? Now, and here is the hard part. Get rid of it. Seem a bit extreme? It might, but things that you have not used in half a year are not likely to get used in the future. Remember we are trying to get rid of some stuff so that people can see the house, not what's in it.
There is a common line of thought that home buyers want to see the "personality" of the homes current owners. This is not true. Buyers want to be able to see their belongings in the home. They want to put their personality into it to see if they could see themselves living there. A backlog of your stuff will get in the way of them doing this. Go through every room in turn and remove the clutter! This includes the closets, shelves and cupboards. Also remove excess furniture if the room seems too crowded. Here is another important thing to remember, don't put all this stuff in the garage! Buyers will go through the garage like any other room in your home. Hire a storage locker if it is really necessary. Aside from that, use this as an opportunity to rid yourself of those things that you never use.
The minimalist approach is a good thing to utilize when showing your home. The lack of personal effects will make it easier for buyers to place themselves in your home. This will also make the moving process easier on you. With less things to pack when moving day comes, you can dedicate more time to creating your perfect space in your new home.
Laura Key, BRE 01908085 310.866.8422 Laura.A.Key@gmail.com www.KeyCaliforniaHomes.com