List 1 – Overview of the process
Most people have heard of home staging in some capacity. You’ve seen the dramatic before and after photos and seen the shows where they take an entire house and re-do every single everything in 53 minutes. And they make it look so easy. But we’re not liars. You’ll probably need to do more than karate chop a few well-placed pillows to get your house ready for that “For Sale” sign to go in the yard.
Anyone who’s actually sold a house knows there’s a very good reason to hire professionals. Getting your house ready for market can feel like a full-time job. Most of us, as it turns out, already have jobs, or children, or spouses, or basically anything else we’d rather spend time on. Here at Alme Design Co, we basically live to tell you how to organize, de-clutter, beautify and showcase; it’s our favorite. Since we can’t be there to physically hold your hand and lift your couch, we’ll do the next best thing: tell you exactly where and how to lift that couch while virtually holding your hand.
Step 1
The first step for readying your house is to think of it as a house. Yes, up until now, it has been your home, but you now want that status to change. So, from here on out, think of it as a house on the market, a product amongst other products. The goal from here is to make it the most appealing product on the shelf. To get yourself into the mind of the potential buyer, start by taking a quick look through any real estate site (www.zillow.com, and www.realtor.com are user friendly). Search for houses priced in your expected price range in the same general area that you are selling. Essentially, you’re “pulling comps,” looking at comparable houses. You’ll quickly notice the ones that show well, and the ones that, well, don’t. Take note of what makes you linger on a posting and what makes you leave.
Want to make this more interesting? Wait until evening (we’re not animals, after all), open a bottle of wine and do this with someone you believe has good design taste. You and your friend can mercilessly pick apart listing photos with reckless abandon. Which will then allow you to mercilessly pick apart your own house with the same sort of abandon. It’s for a good cause, after all.
It’s been said that your first showing are the photos in the listing.
When staging is done well, houses photograph well. When houses look good online, people want to come see them. Our current society is so driven by images that words just aren’t enough anymore. This man, Frederick Barnard, must have been a future-telling-genius when he said “A picture is worth 10,000 words,” way back in 1921. Today, no one will scroll down a real estate listing to see that your house was built in 1918 by your town’s first mayor and boasts original crown moldings and wood work, professionally landscaped grounds, and a hundred years of charm if your photos are dark and your rooms are jam-packed with furniture. If your
walls are covered in paint and artwork from 2 decades ago, that is all most people see. And then they move onto the next listing.
<Insert before and after photos of dated, crowded rooms and updated rooms>
So, now that you’ve completed Step 1 in a responsible-ish fashion, and you can consider yourself knowledgeable about your competition, start looking at your house though the same lens.
Step 2 – Declutter, Depersonalize, Pack-up
Quickly jot down all your house has to offer. Maybe you’re at the point where you hate your house and everything in it. We would like to remind you that you bought it for some reasons at some point. Bring those reasons back into your brain and write them down. These will be selling features. If you love everything about your house, well, you probably shouldn’t be moving. So, lets just assume someone is making you move against your will and whoever buys this house better love all the things you love, too.
Chances are the things you love are what will also describe your buyer. It is helpful to know who you are staging for. Is it a family home on a quiet street, multiple bedrooms and rooms for entertaining? Is it a condo in the city for the aspiring hipster-artist with exposed brick and beams, no parking, but close to everything awesome? Maybe it’s in a mostly retired community with a strict no-children/no-antics policy where peace is valued and windows are new? Write down things you wish to highlight in your house.
Next begins the work of decluttering and depersonalizing. Essentially, it’s like pre-packing for your move. It’ll have to be done anyway, might as well start now. If your friend is still with you and the wine is still flowing, grab a box and get to work. Refer to our extremely detailed and well-thought-out list (“List 2”) on how-to declutter and depersonalize your home. It’s house management gold, if we do say so ourselves.
Step 3 – Tips and Tricks for Each Room
At this point, you’re welcome to excuse your friend, so you can remain friends, and let us digitally walk through your house while gently suggesting what could further enhance your house’s market potential. Please remember that we already like you and that you’ve entered into a no-judgment zone. I assure you, we’ve seen it all. All. And anything you’re going to show us will be of no surprise. If there was nothing to do, then you wouldn’t have hired us in the first place, unless you just like throwing money away…but that doesn’t seem like you.
Set up a time for a digital tour. We’ll walk with you through every room of your home. Our brains will be flying high on serotonin as we mentally catalog what would be best for your house. We just can’t help how much we love this process. We’ll collect all this information while taking into consideration your buyer demographic, your price range, and trends in your city and will then get you a detailed list of the things you must do to earn top dollar for your house. Every change you make will be like putting money in your pocket. Now, we know how exciting this is for you too, but, we implore you, DO NOT GO TO SHOPPING, YET. YOU ARE NOT READY. This is one of those moments where we will save you from yourself. Even though Ikea seems like a great idea right now, IT IS NOT. There is much to be done first. The order in this process is important if you want your energy, time, and money to see you through.
We will get you a detailed list of what could enhance every room of your house once it’s ready. Then we’ll do a final walkthrough with you and let you in on tricks for handling showings and just how to “live” in a staged home.
You’re already doing a great job. Start “List 2” now while you’re still motivated to do so. Netflix will be there when you’re finished.