There is one truth in real estate, whether you’re selling a home in Coquina Bay or a condo at the Mustang Island Beach Club: your home is going to sell for more money if it’s properly staged. It’ll probably sell faster, too, which is a double-bonus.
So let’s talk about home staging.

What is Home Staging?

You wouldn’t walk into a job interview in sweatpants and a grungy T-shirt, right? Or even a pair of nice jeans and a button-down, right?
Think of staging your home as dressing it for success.
You want it to look its best so it makes a good impression on buyers, because when it makes a good impression on buyers, they reward you with an offer to purchase it.

How Do You Stage a Home?

You can’t stage your home until you’ve completed all the necessary repairs to prepare it for sale. Once those are done, it’s time to dress your house for success.
Many people choose to hire professional home stagers before they sell, but if you have an eye for good balance and know what you’re doing, you could stage your home for sale yourself.
Start by removing any non-essential furniture. Take the leaves out of your dining table, put away the chair that nobody sits in (preferably in a storage unit you’ve rented for this purpose), and rearrange everything so that the home has a more open look.
Take out everything that you haven’t used in the past six months, too, and pack it for your next home (or donate, sell, or toss it).
From there, rearrange the furniture in a way that promotes the look of an open floor plan and gives each room a distinct purpose; that could mean arranging a sofa and love seat in a vignette around a rug, moving the desk out of the spare bedroom and replacing it with a bed, and a number of other strategic moves.

Are You Selling Your Home in Port Aransas or North Padre Island?

If you’re selling your home, we’d love to help you do so quickly and at the right price. We’ll be happy to give you a free comparative market analysis so you know exactly how much your home is worth. While you’re here, you can also download our free home-selling eBook and read our useful tips for selling your home faster.
When you’re ready, call us at 361-563-7788 or contact us online to find out how we can help you sell your home in Port Aransas or North Padre Island.
 

Filed under: Blog, Selling by Julie Woodward
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Whether you’re selling a condo at La Mirage or you’ve just listed your canal-front home on North Padre Island, you need to know a bit about seller etiquette.
Your Port Aransas Realtor® will walk you through the basics, but the bottom line is this: Leave the house when someone is showing it.

Why Should You Leave Your House When Someone’s Showing It?

Provided that you’re selling your house while you’re still living in it, it’s always—always—a good idea to let buyers and their agents tour your home without your input.
Why?
Buyers can’t explore comfortably when you’re there. They feel like you’re looking over their shoulders, even when you’re in another room, and they feel like they’re spying on your personal space. Buyers also can’t talk freely with their agent (or each other) when you’re within earshot. They can’t get comfortable enough to look at the home objectively, and that’s going to cost you the sale.
You may feel like you’re helping, or that you’re pointing out important features that the buyers wouldn’t otherwise discover—but remember, what’s important to you isn’t necessarily important to others. The last thing you want is for buyers to rush through and hurry to leave, but that’s what they most often will do when the seller is present.
Let the buyers explore your house, envision themselves living in it, and discuss it privately with their agent and each other so they can make the right choice. The only way to do that is to leave the home while buyers are looking—including during open houses.

Are You Selling Your Home in Port Aransas or North Padre Island?

If you’re selling your home, we’d love to help you do so quickly and at the right price. We’ll be happy to give you a free comparative market analysis so you know exactly how much your home is worth. While you’re here, you can also download our free home-selling eBook and read our useful tips for selling your home faster.
When you’re ready, call us at 361-563-7788 or contact us online to find out how we can help you sell your home in Port Aransas or North Padre Island.
 

Filed under: Blog, Selling by Julie Woodward
No Comments »