When planning to sell your Calgary home, one of the objectives is for the sale to happen quickly rather than dragging out over time. Staging your home helps achieve this objective by appealing to more buyers. Here are 21 staging tips for selling a Calgary home fast:
1. Value curb appeal.
Make your home for sale look attractive from the curb. People touring your home will take a quick drive-by first before deciding to view the inside. They'll consider buying your house after they get the right "feel" from both the inside and out. Be sure to make the exterior impressive enough by doing the following:
- Stain or repaint the porch floor if necessary
- Thoroughly wash walkways and siding
- Mow your lawn and add fresh sod if necessary
- Grow fresh greenery and blooming flowers
- Place easy-to-read house numbers
- Take care of any obvious deficiencies
2. Invite the viewers with a welcoming porch.
Whether you have a spacious or tiny entrance, make your Calgary house welcoming. Prepare blooming potted plants, a clean doormat and one or two pieces of tidy furniture at the porch. Keep your porch lit in the evenings as there may be interested viewers driving by. Add solar lights to illuminate the front walk - it gives an extra touch to buyers who view your property for sale during the evening.
3. Make your home clean and sparkly.
The best and cheapest way to have your home get attention from buyers is by making it perfectly clean. Keep every surface sparkly, floors shiny, counters neat, windows gleamy and grout free from dirt and stains. You may hire professional services for heavy cleaning tasks, especially if your home is large.
4. Remove all clutter.
To make your Calgary property tidy and attractive, get rid of clutter. This is one of the first steps in staging your Calgary real estate. This means considering offsite storage. It pays to remove unsightly or unnecessary things so you can end up with clean floors, roomy closets and cupboard. A garage sale can help eliminate excess items.
5. Leave enough elements after cleaning.
When you free your home from clutter, think of how to make it appealing by adding a few new elements. Consider placing a basket of fresh produce on the kitchen counter, lemons in bowl beside the sink and vases of cut flowers where they can be easily seen.
6. Have the dining room table tell a story.
Often, your home's dining room becomes a challenge when decorating. A huge dining table can look dry and bare. Put some style and story to your dining table by having visitors in mind when styling up. Avoid having too formal or oversized arrangements, by placing a series of smaller decorative pieces in the centre of the table.
7. Give attention to your floors.
Thoroughly clean your home's floor. Dry clean your carpets and consider refinishing wood floors if they are worn and scratched. If you don't want to refinish the floors, place area rugs in strategic areas.
8. Change furniture arrangements.
In staging your house, rearranging pieces of furniture works wonders. For living rooms, having symmetrical arrangements works well. Also, try to pull furniture away from the walls for a much better effect. For an inviting conversation area, set furniture in pairs of chairs, sofas and lamps.
9. Select neutral and sophisticated colours.
Don't experiment with colours. When preparing your home for sale, it's best to choose neutral colours. This doesn't mean a totally white backdrop. Sophisticated colour combinations of rich mid-tone neutrals like "greige" and mocha make an impressive colour harmony.
10. Gender-neutral master bedroom is preferred.
Nothing beats a clean and organized master bedroom, free from clutter and personal items. Appealing to buyers is a master bedroom with tasteful artwork, crisp linen and a blanket neatly folded at the foot of bed.
11. Prepare your closets. During Open Houses, viewers may peek inside.
These can sometimes make or break a sale. Closet and storage space is always needed for every family. Leave buyers with the impression that the house has lots of space. One tip is to leave the door 20% to 30% open in each closet.
12. Clear away toys.
Families viewing your house may bring their children along. However, this does not mean that you can leave toys strewn everywhere. Prospective home buyers can have an organized kid's room with neat surroundings.
13. Utilize extra rooms practically.
To help sell your Calgary home, transform the spare room or bedroom you utilized as a dumping area for boxes and old furniture. Every room must have a purpose and be defined clearly. This is what buyers want to see and imagine. Help them build this picture by clearly defining every room in your house.
14. Utilize a pedestal sink to save space.
If you have a small bathroom, consider swapping your large cabinet-style sink with a plain pedestal sink. This will help make your small bathroom look bigger.
15. Use impressive personal accents.
Make sure that everything left for buyers to see is perfect. This is particularly true in bathrooms, where it is best to display only pristine personal effects while getting rid of nubby ones. This is applicable to bathrobes and towels. Take a look at things through the eyes of a visitor.
16. Keep buyers interested throughout the house.
Do your best to entice buyers to see the value throughout the entire viewing process. Place something that catches their attention in corners, hallways, or on top of the stairs to keep their curiosity. Some forms of catchy objects include: a vase of flowers, painted accent wall, a piece of artwork, hanging light, a window seat, or merely a colourful rug. These will help sustain their interest throughout their tour of your home.
17. Utilize wisely an awkward spot.
If your Calgary home has an awkward area like a room underneath the stairs, an alcove or nook, showcase it as a unique feature of the home. Custom built-in shelving, unique feature walls or a work station can become good selling points instead of awkward spots.
18. Control pet odours.
Be sure not to turn off buyers with strange pet odours. If you have pets in your home, get your rugs cleaned and carefully vacuum all floor surfaces. Remove doggie bones and pet toys during scheduled viewings.
19. Get a feel of real lifestyle.
Make buyers more interested in your Calgary home by portraying the lifestyle that your neighbourhood is known for. Perhaps having a bench swing or hammock in your backyard is a perfect way to depict a serene and relaxing ambiance. Get them feeling the real lifestyle that they could have by buying your home.
20. Include the outdoors when staging.
Having a small-sized balcony does not bar a condo from catching a potential buyer's attention. Use a small table and chairs, matched with a vase of flowers, a tray of dishes and a bright tablecloth. The buyers may not notice how small the space is, but will appreciate the nice breakfast setting.
21. Consider the seasons.
For buyers to truly appreciate your home, it is worth considering the seasons in staging your Calgary home for sale. In the summer time, make sure your amenities like pool or fire pit are clean and ready. See to it that your garden is in good shape. In winter or autumn, have the fireplace on with some hot apple cider on your stove creating a warm, inviting aroma.
Posted by Ross PAVL on
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