Inexpensive ways to "stage" a house for sale?

[ReadingMama]

Our house is going to be put on the market soon and it's our first house, so we've never had to sell a house before. What are some inexpensive ways to spruce things up that make a big difference?

[pitter_patter]

I'd de-clutter as much as possible then go over each room with a hyper critical eye. Repair any dings in the walls, molding, door frames, etc. Make sure the walls are clean so eyes are drawn to positive attributes and not focused on scuffs. Curb appeal is important too, dust the shutters, power wash the outside of your house, trim shrubs, and plant some nice flowers.

On HGTV designers are all about making sure each space is defined. If you have a formal dining room have it set up as such, same for bedrooms and home offices.

[Olma]

I second the de-cluttering part, it makes such a big difference not to have a lot of personal stuff laying around and distracting the potential buyers from seeing the house. When we staged our house, we put about 1/4th of our belongings in storage, including stuff in the closets, pictures on display, etc. We made it as neutral as possible, without being bland. Candles, plants, flowers are nice touches without being too personal. On the other hand, family pictures, kids art, too many toys, etc, makes it look like is very much yours and hard to imagine for buyers as theirs.
Think maybe hotel rooms when you stage your house, just the bare necessities without a lot of fuss/personal items. Also,like the pp said, have a purpose for every room.
Wash the windows and let in as much natural light as possible. Bake some cookies and leave them on the kitchen counter along with a pitcher of iced tea as a snack for buyers and also for that nice, cozy smell of fresh baked goodies that says 'home'.

Good luck!

[laura-belle]

Thirding the advice to declutter--not just knicknacks and pictures, but furniture as well. Clean everything thoroughly--stove, baseboards, windows, blinds/curtains. I think that these two things make the biggest difference in how the house looks and they're both basically free (although a whole lot of work).

HGTV is actually not a bad resource for figuring out the 'look' you're going for; I'd recommend "Get it Sold" which is about staging houses.

If you can spend a few hundred dollars, I would paint the interior of the house; as a DIY project, painting isn't very expensive and can make a huge difference. Things like new towels, a new shower curtain, and nice soap in the bathroom or new, modern-looking, bedding in the master bedroom can also make a huge difference for relatively little money (and you get to keep the towels and bedding (: ).

[sewaneecook]

Everyone has already had great suggestions, so I won't say those things again.

One other thing is to make sure every space in your house is defined. If there is a bare open area, make it in to a reading nook. Is your front porch bare? Add a swing or a couple of chairs for more personality. Giving each place in your home a purpose helps the buyer to know it isn't wasted space. One other thing: plants and fresh flowers go a long way to warm up a space.

While all these things are great ideas, I will say that we bought one of the most cluttered, undefined houses we found simply because we were able to see though all that.

[cschick]

First, declutter. Specific areas people tend to miss: nothing should be on the top, front or sides of your fridge. Pack away anything from the kitchen counters that isn't decorative. All counters and toilet backs in all bathrooms should be empty as possible.

People will be opening your closets and peering at the sizes of them. If you have any badly packed or overloaded closet it, reorganize it. Same with kitchen cabinets.

As someone else said, define areas even if that isn't the way you would generally live. If you have a dinette and dining room, both should have tables and chairs in them, even if the table is only something cruddy neatly hidden under a nice and long tablecloth.

This starts to get to the little more expensive: double layers of curtains in all standard sized windows. We did manage to do this for cheap (under $100 for almost all windows) when we were staging our old house using clearance curtains from Target. Get the white hardware that's a couple of bucks, an filmy curtain, and a heavier curtain, two pullbacks per window. No tab or other curtains that exposes the hardware though, it doesn't look good on the cheapy hardware. When staged, the filmy curtain should be closed and the heavier curtain open with the pullbacks. When done right, this will both really upgrade the look of any room, and lets in muted natural light.

[Amys1st]

When we sold our house 3 years ago as the market was going down, we took out 30% of the contents and packed it up. We were moving anyhow! It was stored in my in laws basement.

We removed:

-all pictures of family (I remember looking at houses, I would always look at peoples' pictures instead of the room and then leave)

-the dvd collection
-kept all counter tops in kitchen clean
- did the same with dressers, nothing on top, store in top drawer instead
-80% of the toys went into storage.
-knick knacks, or anything that attracts dust
-anything in kitchen not used everyday making cabinets spacious and drawers as well.
-all closets, we took out all out of season stuff and boxed up. had all clothing etc staged like a container store display. It was a good excuse to make a trip to goodwill for clothing no longer worn too.
-have carpets cleaned or refinish hardwood floors

Our realtor recommended getting rid of toys because during showings, people would actually let their kids play with the sellers toys she had seen. Also its easeir to tidy up for those last minute showings.

We took out at least a piece of furniture in every room. We painted the living room to brighten it up, scrubbed trim, walls and painted a few white areas to brighten up.

Spruce up all outside areas. Mow lawn, rake leaves, borrow patio furniture, freshen up mailbox, sweep everyday its on the market etc.

Be show ready by 9am or 8am on Saturday. Have beds made, be dressed so you can leave, dishes washed and put in washer or dried and put away so it dosent scream cluttered kitchen or no dishwasher.

Do NOT:

-light candles, have scents. It can turn people off. DH left a house one time because of the smell in the air of some scent the owner had plugged in.

-have anything political of nature on display. I know you're proud of that picture of you and OBama or Sarah Palin, but you stand a chance of offending 50% of your potential buyers coming thru.

-hold off cooking very spicy or grease laden things for a few weeks.

-plan to entertain while on the market. The house is for sale and your dd's birthday comes up, have it at a venue or at a friends house.

-have laundry piled up any where. Clean or dirty.


Also:

Be flexible! Remember, you may get a call to look at the house in an hour and its time for your 18 mo old to go down for a nap. IF your dog dosnet sit well in the cage while house showings, take him with you or stay in neighbors back yard.
Dont take what a buyer says to heart or another agent for that matter. A big yard is great for a family with a few kids, but a downsizing couple will see it as work. We had some other people from different cultures come thru and saw the large back yard not as a place for their kids to run but as a place to take care of that they didnt know how. But a couple with twin boys came thru an hour later and LOVED LOVED the back yard- make sense?

When we staged our house, we probabley put out about $200 all together for paint, a few loose tiles etc.

[proudmamanow]

this is a great thread. I am looking long term at selling our house next spring, and I want to be thinking ahead for all the little ways to get it ready--and we are definitely on a tight budget.

Flylady also suggests going through each room with a clipboard and noting down all the little things that need fixing/replacing/decluttering. It will at least give you a starting point.

I should add though, that we bought our current house even though it was extremely cluttered (and full of exotic pets including a tarantula) but we got $10K off the asking price.

[griffin2004]

1. paint; check with your agent to see what the current popular colors are
2. an operating-room level of cleanliness
3. declutter, especially personal items
4. curb appeal; tidy the front yard, beds, walkways
5. wash/shine windows until they're squeaky clean and clear

[summer_time]

All of the above, plus stage the insides of all cabinets and your fridge. People look. I also had little bottled waters and a pretty bowl of packaged snacks on the bar for each viewing and the open house. We couldn't afford a storage unit so we used brand new same-size boxes and stacked them neatly on one side of our (freshly painted) garage. We also painted the front door and paid to have the windows done. That made a HUGE difference and was worth the money v. it taking me days...

ETA: We also removed books from shelves b/c some people are offended easily. I put fresh flowers in the dining room and bathrooms, remulched the beds, pulled weeds. Cheap and pretty. I staged the crap out of our house and it was only on the market 8 hours before we had an offer over listing (summer of '09.) It was a pain, but sooo worth it.

[zebra15]

SInce you have pets, make sure the house is spotless. Even tho I have a dog and keep her clean and her space clean there is nothing worse than walking into someone elses house who has pets. You have to get the pet smell out. You need to get the dog hair up etc. If possible have a friend or family member 'hold' the pets while you are selling the house, that way you only need to deep clean 1x.

[ReadingMama]

Thank you for all of the wonderful ideas. I am so overwhelmed!

I'm planning to have a teenager girl from our homeschool group to come clean for a couple hours a week. My house is never as clean as I'd like it to be. I have some medical issues and just don't have the energy to keep up with everything.

About pets--yes, we have two dogs. And I guess we'll have to pack the dog beds and bowls and toys and the dogs into the car and go somewhere when people view the house.

About books, I started packing some up today! But we homeschool so I can't pack them all. My son needs his books and curriculum. And in our sunroom, we have all the board games and project materials (string, tubes, plastic stuff for science projects). The shelves are cluttery. I guess I could get a box just for that stuff and store it in garage to get out as needed.

Man, this talk about the cabinets makes me realize that I'm going to have to repaint the inside of the cabinets! I have a small cottage-y house with white painted cabinets and beadboard on some of the walls. The outside of the cabinets look fine, but the inside is worn out.

We have a spare bedroom that only has a keyboard, two guitars and a file cabinet in it right now. We're planning to move our computer desk in there. But what about all the paperwork that's usually on the desk?

And we have laminate floors and ceramic tile. Both are issues because the laminate never looks clean. It has this smeary film everytime I clean it no matter what I use, and then it gets footprints all over it as soon as we walk on it. The tile looks nice but the grout is stained. I really think we're going to have to do something about that in order to make the house look clean.

Thanks for letting me think out loud!

[Usually Curious]

I traded tables w/my sister for my staging. Mine was big, an 8 person table, hers was a small, round table w/only four chairs. It made my breakfast room look huge. Also, we removed two of the dining room chairs in the formal dining room. I staged the table w/only four chairs and made the DR look huge, too.

Wash the windows. Free.
Weed the flowerbeds. Free.
Mulch the beds. Cheap.

We had our house and deck power washed. It was amazing. Our deck looked like it needed replacing but after the wash it looked like it had another ten years in it!

[summer_time]

The inside of our cabinets were yucky too. We didn't have time to paint them, so I bought lots of roll out shelf liner in bright white. It looked much better. As far as the HS stuff, I would at least 'hide' it, maybe in some nice baskets on the shelf? That way the room has a clean look to it.

No paperwork on the desk ever!!! You don't want people to be able to identify you or your goings on in anyway. Every surface should be clean and clear, minus appropriate staged decorations. If the furniture is ugly or doesn't go with your house it must be stored or reworked. Our file cabinet went into the garage. We also stored our instruments at a neighbors. If you have a guitar out, it will get messed with.

[VroomieMama]

I was going to suggest you to check out HGTV on TV but someone else already mentioned that.

[BookGoddess]

Originally Posted by ReadingMama

Thank you for all of the wonderful ideas. I am so overwhelmed!

I'm planning to have a teenager girl from our homeschool group to come clean for a couple hours a week. My house is never as clean as I'd like it to be. I have some medical issues and just don't have the energy to keep up with everything.

That's a great idea.

Originally Posted by ReadingMama

About pets--yes, we have two dogs. And I guess we'll have to pack the dog beds and bowls and toys and the dogs into the car and go somewhere when people view the house.

I think the dogs need to be elsewhere. Some people are just not pet people. Even if your dogs don't smell and shed, they might see those issues in your home if dog memorabilia is around.

Originally Posted by ReadingMama

About books, I started packing some up today! But we homeschool so I can't pack them all. My son needs his books and curriculum. And in our sunroom, we have all the board games and project materials (string, tubes, plastic stuff for science projects). The shelves are cluttery. I guess I could get a box just for that stuff and store it in garage to get out as needed.

The books should be shelved neatly. The project material should go in a large bin and stored in the garage.

Originally Posted by ReadingMama

Man, this talk about the cabinets makes me realize that I'm going to have to repaint the inside of the cabinets! I have a small cottage-y house with white painted cabinets and beadboard on some of the walls. The outside of the cabinets look fine, but the inside is worn out.

Painting is one of the cheapest ways to make something look good. White paint will in a cottagey home will look really nice.

We have a spare bedroom that only has a keyboard, two guitars and a file cabinet in it right now. We're planning to move our computer desk in there. But what about all the paperwork that's usually on the desk?[/QUOTE]

Ok, after having watched HGTV for years, what I've learned is that a room like this should show its purpose. If you have a keyboard, a file cabinet, and guitars, the room is not being shown to its full advantage. Can you borrrow a bed from someone? Is there a spare bed and nightstand in your home that you could move into that room? Make it a guest bedroom with clean bedding and good lighting. You want to show case this either as an extra bedroom or a nice home office. However, decide on what the room is meant to be, but it's best not to show it as space that's there to keep guitars and a file cabinet.

And we have laminate floors and ceramic tile. Both are issues because the laminate never looks clean. It has this smeary film everytime I clean it no matter what I use, and then it gets footprints all over it as soon as we walk on it. The tile looks nice but the grout is stained. I really think we're going to have to do something about that in order to make the house look clean.[/QUOTE]

Retile it because bad grout will turn off a potential buyer. You want the house in move in condition. Putting new grout isn't that hard. I wouldn't say to hide it under a rug because buyers will lift it up to see what's underneath.

Thanks for letting me think out loud! [/QUOTE]

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by Usually Curious

I traded tables w/my sister for my staging. Mine was big, an 8 person table, hers was a small, round table w/only four chairs. It made my breakfast room look huge. Also, we removed two of the dining room chairs in the formal dining room. I staged the table w/only four chairs and made the DR look huge, too.

Wash the windows. Free.
Weed the flowerbeds. Free.
Mulch the beds. Cheap.

We had our house and deck power washed. It was amazing. Our deck looked like it needed replacing but after the wash it looked like it had another ten years in it!

We did this as well. My parents (who were wintering in Florida) had a table that seated 4 where ours seated 6 and was much longer. So we stored our table and chairs in their garage and we used their smaller set. It also made the space look huge.

[Peppermint Leaf]

All of the above ideas are great

MY DH and I are realtors and homestagers! When you are all done and you think you are ready to list your home--- take a digital camera and take tons of pictures starting from the front of the house (curb appeal) and then waking through the house starting at front door. Load them onto your computer and take a good hard look at those pictures and see it through the eyes of a buyer. It is so amazing what the camera catches.

I do this just when I want to change a room in my own house.... it catches the little things like cords hanging down from lamps and a picture not quite right for the space.

Secondly -- check out your competition --- see what the homes look like in your price range and neighbourhood -- make sure your home looks better!

Happy Selling

[zebra15]

Just reposting, as someone with a child who has asthma, you need to get the dogs to a different home during the selling process. Yes my son has a dog but if we were in the market to buy, just walking into a house that has dogs and dog 'stuff' in it would be a total turn off and I would most likely turn around and walk out. I see in your sigg you have 2 dogs.... thats 2x the dog hair, dog food, dog bowls, they really need to be re homed for the short term.

We homeschool as well so I totally get the 'needing stuff' but when you are selling a house that 'stuff' has to be put away and stored. Most buyers are not homeschoolers and dont want to see a gazillion books, science projects, art projects etc all set up, even if its in the 'homeschool area'.

Everyroom needs to have a purpose. The bedrooms need to look like bedrooms. Officespace needs to be clean and pristine. NEVER EVER have papers out - that is just asking for identity theft, (same goes for jewerly etc)

It could be worth you $$ to hire a cleaning service to deep clean the floors, the baseboards, and such. I dont know if a teen can do a good enough job for selling purposes.

Think what a house looks like in a magazine or model home... thats what you want to achieve and keep until your home sells... yes from the day it hits the market until your offer goes thru... its hard, but it will get you the most $$ in this definate buyers market.

[SunRise]

Originally Posted by summer_time

All of the above, plus stage the insides of all cabinets and your fridge. People look. I also had little bottled waters and a pretty bowl of packaged snacks on the bar for each viewing and the open house. We couldn't afford a storage unit so we used brand new same-size boxes and stacked them neatly on one side of our (freshly painted) garage. We also painted the front door and paid to have the windows done. That made a HUGE difference and was worth the money v. it taking me days...

ETA: We also removed books from shelves b/c some people are offended easily. I put fresh flowers in the dining room and bathrooms, remulched the beds, pulled weeds. Cheap and pretty. I staged the crap out of our house and it was only on the market 8 hours before we had an offer over listing (summer of '09.) It was a pain, but sooo worth it.

When I sold my house the linen closet and my closet were "staged" I guess! I kept only a few towels, neatly folded, a few wash clothes, a few sheets, a basket with cotton balls, qtips etc etc. All the extras were boxed. The towels we used hung neatly on a hooks behind the bathroom door.

The master bedroom "closet" was actually a sunroom porch that had been converted to a closet. I took out all the clothes that I regularly wore, painted the inside of the closet (it needed it) and left the pretty things hanging on hangers, a few jeans/pants/sweaters folded on the shelves. Lined up my dress shoes. Put down a throw rug and spray painted an old mirror frame and leaned it against the wall. It wasn't bare, but had minimal stuff in it, enough to show off its potential. I wish I had made it like this for myself while I lived there. I recall this as the sellers agent had positive comments on these two items as we signed the deal.

(I had many boxes stacked in my bedroom, in the corner and the clothes I regularly wore were part of this. Potential buyers didnt seem to have a problem with the ceiling high stack of boxes...clearly I was getting ready to move out.)

Make a list of all the things that you may want to do, but then go through it and prioritize ...