Home staging is a marketing investment in selling a home. Setting the stage for a higher selling price and a faster sale, home staging transforms properties from everyday living spaces into homes that buyers can see as their own. With it’s proven success rate, home staging is flourishing in real estate markets across Canada.

Home Staging Benefits:
• Staged homes show better than competing homes for sale
• Research shows that staged hoes often sell for considerably more money than non-staged homes
• Staged homes are recognized as properties ready to sell and are more likely to be shown
• Staged homes are recognized by Buyers as the best properties to see

In Summary:
• Make sure your homes is clean and in top condition. Display fresh flowers to add warmth to the environment
• Allow the schedule of showings at the time of day when your property looks best
• Remove any jittery pets and arrange them to be elsewhere when your home is being shown.

Showing a house is a lot like going on a first date: you try to look well groomed even if that’s not how you normally look! The mentally about first impressions being the most important is just as true for your home as it is for you. A clean house gives prospective buyers the impression that the whole house is well maintained including the out of sign items such as plumbing or heating.

Most Sellers know that a tidy home can help their home sell faster but ‘clean’ is a relative term. What one person finds acceptable could send another running for the door.

There are three main incentives to keep your house in perfect showing condition: your home may sell faster, you may get more money for it and be removing the clutter you will allow people to focus on any improvements you’ve made to your home. Be brave and pack up anything you don’t use on a regular basis and give away whatever you haven’t used or worn in a very long time! A good guideline to aim for is the uncluttered, unobtrusive look of a hotel room.

While you may feel that achieving such a high level of cleanliness is seemingly impossible for amateurs your efforts will pay off! Begin by washing the walls, windows and doors and shampooing carpets. If you have hardwood flooring, you may want to get them professionally cleaned and varnished. Put a drop of oil in any squeaky joints. Polish brass hinges and doorknobs.

Pets should be kept outdoors, in cages or elsewhere during showings for everyone’s safety. If you have a cat, ensure that the litter is changed or cleaned daily. Cat odour can be a great hindrance to the sale of your home since people may worry that the odour will be permanent. Open windows shortly before a showing if possible.

For the exterior of your home, a fresh paint job can do wonders! If painting your entire home is prohibitively expensive consider making small updates touching up rough spots. The garden is another outdoor area many homeowners overlook despite the fact that it is the first thing prospective Buyers will see. Keep the lawn and bushes trimmed. If you were never much of a gardener, you can still have fresh flowers be cheating a bit. Make a quick trip to the garden store and simply buy some small attractive flowerpots to put along a window ledge.

Don’t be surprised if people want to see the garage. Some Buyers feel the garage reflects the general maintenance of the entire property. If this is where you will be storing the items you don’t want to give away, try to put them in boxes piled neatly along one wall. Designate one area for bikes and other sporting equipment.

Once you’ve completed these tasks, it’s important to maintain the neatness of your home (inside and out) on a daily basis while you have it up for sale. Open houses often take place on short notice. If you start with a clean house, it’s easy to wipe off a counter or run the vacuum over the carpet to get it into good condition and ultimately complete the sale.