There's always a fine line to be walked when making changes to prepare a home for sale. As stagers we need to recommend the changes that will have the biggest impact to keep (or get) the house at the top of its price range without eating into the potential returns.
There are always factors that cannot be changed, primarily location and price range. Beyond those, buyers are going to be most strongly influenced by fresh paint, flooring, and storage. It's all about the immediate visuals and forming the best first impression.
Painting is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to transform a space from overly personalized to neutral, or seriously outdated to current, and this applies to both interior AND exterior. Colour has such an emotional power, it can be warming or cooling, strong or subtle, and it's always best to let a colour specialist or home stager make the recommendations.
Flooring ~ type, style and condition ~ can say a great deal about the rest of the house. If it's poorly maintained and really dated, then it could be indication of other problems or areas of neglect that might be hiding. That being said, this is not a recommendation to put down new flooring to hide other problems! So, hopefully the flooring is in good shape, and only requires professional cleaning, but if it comes to the point of replacing it, carpet is always the most cost effective choice over laminate, vinyl, tile or hardwood. Again, it's that fine line... hardwood is a huge selling feature and if you pull up carpet and find hardwood then you've hit the mother load. But don't pull up old carpet with the intention of laying hardwood because remember, this house is being sold and the return will likely not be there.
Storage is the third, really visible feature that sells as house, and it starts right at the front door. Clean out hall closets, under sinks and garage spaces. Cleaned and well organized storage space allows the buyer to mentally move their own things in, so you really need to show it off. And cleaning out the closets costs nothing!
We always say that buying a home is all about the first impressions, and first impressions are almost always based on emotional responses, so address the most immediate and influential features of the home and you're well on your way to receiving an offer.
These are all items covered in our extensive pre-listing evaluations. For more information about New View Home Staging, visit www.newviewhomestaging.ca.
