6 Home Staging Myths Debunked
Myths abound on the internet, and home staging isn’t immune to them. Staging your home is an important part of the selling process. Have you heard the adage, “show don’t tell”? Well, staging is how you show a potential buyer what living in your home will be like, rather than having a realtor tell them on a tour. When you prepare to stage your home, it’s important that you wade through the myths. Here are 6 staging myths debunked for you.
Myth 1: Only Big Homes Need Staging
“My home is too small to stage.” We’ve heard some variations on this quite a few times. The fact is, any home can and should be staged to sell. You want potential buyers to feel welcome and at home as they tour your home so that “potential” becomes “confirmed”.
Myth 2: Staging Requires a Kitchen/Bathroom Renovation
Yes, when you stage your home, you want to make minor repairs and a few cosmetic upgrades to your kitchen and bathrooms. However, that doesn’t mean you need to change out appliances, change countertops, and fully remodel your cabinets. It just means making any minor repairs to damage, such as crooked cabinet doors, and upgrading things like your cabinet and drawer handles.
Myth 3: Staging Is Just Cleaning and Decorating
The heart of this myth lies in the meaning of words. Yes, you will clean your home in preparation of staging, but that isn’t all staging is. Yes, staging involves decoration, but not in the way you typically think of decorating your home for yourself. Instead, you’re looking at ways to arrange furniture to help a room appear open and large. You’re not decorating a room to suit anyone’s tastes but adding decor to the room to help heighten appeal and showcase the room itself.
Myth 4: You Don’t Need to Worry About Staging the Outside of Your House
The outside of your home is the first thing potential buyers will see. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the interior is, you don’t want to create a bad impression with an unmowed lawn and bland exterior. It doesn’t take much to add curb appeal to your home – power washes the drive and walkway, clean your windows and shutters, replace lights, and add some potted plants or simple flowers around your porch.
Myth 5: You Have to Move Everything (Including You) Out
Not everyone is ready to move out of their home as soon as they put it on the market. You can stage your home and live in it at the same time. It will mean making some temporary changes as you move some furniture and decorations into storage. When you work with a professional stager, they can help you determine a balance between your needs and the needs for staging.
Note: You should ensure that you place any valuables in storage since you’ll have strangers regularly touring your home.
Myth 6: Staging is a DIY Task
While you can find plenty of resources to help you stage your home yourself, you will always get the best results from a professional stager. Professionally staged homes sell faster and often at a higher price. Moreover, a professional stager can help you balance your staging needs with your need to remain in your home through the selling process.
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