Selling your home always takes more effort than simply listing your Portland home for sale in an MLS and placing a For Sale sign in the front yard. No matter what the market conditions are, if you want top dollar, you have to showcase your home in a way that makes potential buyers desire it. You have to do what it takes to get ALL of the eyeballs on it and make it swoon worthy!
One of the best ways to create this desire is to stage your home so that buyers can see themselves living in it. This takes a bit of preparation, but totally worth it! Here are the 10 most important things to do when staging your Portland home for sale.
- De-clutter. Clear the bathroom and kitchen counters. Take knickknacks off the shelves (we will strategically place them later). Pack away half of everything including the kids’ toys.
- Organize your cabinets and closets. Take the time to neatly stack dishes and fold towels. Arrange your spices and canned goods. Interested buyers will look in all your cabinets and closets. We know it feels invasive, but buyers want to make sure their stuff will fit and we want them to immediately sense that there is enough space.
- Make minor repairs. Go through your home and take care of issues like stuck drawers, missing cabinet hardware, and leaky faucets. This shows potential buyers that you meticulously care for your home.
- Clean. Scrub every inch of your home including your ceiling fans. Replace the grout on the bathroom floor. Replace worn rugs. Hang fresh towels. Clean out your refrigerator.
- Remove personal touches. Buyers want to picture themselves in your home, not you and your family. Remove family photos, memorabilia and collections.
- Freshen your yard. Remove and replace dead or dying plants to add a some fresh seasonal color. Trim hedges. Rake leaves. Clean the windows.
- Get rid of odors. Take out the trash daily and avoid cooking with strong foods or spices. Place potpourri or essential oil pots strategically throughout your home.
- Think neutral. Neutral colors sell homes. Go ahead and repaint your rooms with a neutral color, especially if your home is decorated with very personal colors or wallpaper designs.
- Make your rooms look bigger. Take extra leaves out of your dining room table. Remove the extra chairs, bookcases and side tables in your living room.
- Rent a storage unit. Don’t stuff your garage with all those items you packed away or removed from your rooms to make them look bigger. Keep your garage looking great by moving the boxes and furniture to a storage unit.
If this list seems overwhelming, don’t worry, we will take you through this process and make our suggestions. You won’t be alone! If you hire us, as part of our marketing package we offer multiple staging and preparation consultations to make sure your place looks just right and is completely market ready. We can even bring in a professional declutterer and handyman to tackle the overwhelm. Doing the extra work up front is what helps you get top dollar and a smooth and hassle free transition!
Let us guide you to a swift sale!