What’s the Secret to Selling Your House?

When attempting to sell your home, your real estate agent will hold private showings and open houses of your home for potential buyers. To make a great first impression of your house, having an aesthetically pleasing interior and exterior is key. It’s obvious that any organized house is pleasing to the eye; but there are other less obvious factors that come into play when you’re trying to impress that potential homebuyer.

What’s considered clutter?

One of the deal breakers for buyers on a home is when their eyes get distracted by the nuances of clutter. When we mean clutter, we’re not just talking about the general messiness of a home. We’re also talking about what’s being displayed in the home, such as old outdated furniture and old ornamental objects that are collecting dust. This kind of clutter deviates the buyers’ attention to what’s really important– the house itself. Presentation of a home can make a world of difference; so before buyers begin looking at your home, try to be a minimalist and put items you can live without into storage, or get rid of them entirely. The less items you have in the house, the more roomy your place will feel and the less distracted your potential homebuyers will be.

Furniture positioning makes all the difference.

Too much furniture will make your house look cluttered– and too little furniture will make your house look empty. You want to achieve a balance that shows the house is lived in, without filling up tons of extra space with furniture. To create a sense of roominess and functionality in the living space, position your living room furniture toward the center of the room– not only is it aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but it also gives the illusion of space. Placing chairs and couches in a more “conversational” position also helps buyers imagine having friends and family in their potential home.

One of the fun things about staging a home is the creative processes. If you have art work, some nice ornaments, or chic furniture, try playing around with the pieces and place them in different areas of the house; you may be surprised how well put together the end result will look. For instance, if you’re going for a cozy feel, try setting up a little reading nook with one of your living room chairs in the corner of your bedroom.

Optimize your space.

Rooms such as the attic or basement tend to get overlooked as a living space, and many people end up using these spaces for storage. If you have the time, you can optimize these rooms and turn them into functional spaces such as a mini library, play room, music room, work space area– just to name a few. When staging your house, the intent is to appeal to the buyers’ desires, so if you’re worried about not having space to store your extra boxes, try getting an inexpensive temporary storage facility for those extras. When buyers see a room being used for something unexpected, it can help to spark their imagination– putting their own unique spin on the place and perhaps causing them to fall in love with your home.

Use color to your advantage.

You may have heard that some designers use color to create certain feelings and effects to a space. But even without any knowledge of color theory, you can still play with this idea and make it work for you. For instance, if you want the rooms in your house to appear more spacious, painting all the walls in the interior of your home the same color is recommended to create a continuous flow. Another great color technique is having the draperies in your home be a similar shade as the adjacent wall colors to produce a spacious effect. In general, when selecting a color, go for safe neutral shades (also known as earth tones), as these colors are known to be more visually pleasant. For more information about what neutral colors are, you can check out this article on neutral colors.

Having a house with a good continuous flow is pleasant and highly recommended. However, if there is a room that has a nice fireplace or well designed shelving units, and you want to emphasize its uniqueness– consider playing around with a bold paint color to accent the wall and give it a more dramatic look. This can bring buyers’ attention to some of your home’s greatest features that they may have overlooked otherwise.

Bring the feeling of family and friendship into the space.

A house that is inviting encourages positivity in family and friendship. Bringing this element into the staging of your home is a good way to help buyers envision their family and friends having fun, and eating meals together in their potential new home. To encourage their imagination further, set your dinning room tables, set up your backyard barbecue area, or even turn your basement area into a game room.

Give your home some lighting love.

Having a well-lit home is a great way to show off your space. Aside from the natural lighting that comes through from your windows, there are three other types of lighting that help to make a home look its best: ambient lighting (general, overhead), task lighting (under-cabinet, reading), and accent lighting (tabletop, walls, paintings). As long as each lighting style is displayed in various rooms in your home, it’s sure to impress potential buyers.

De-personalize your home.

It’s okay to have a couple of nice images in your home on display to give the place a little personal touch. However, when staging your home, keep in mind that you want your potential buyers to envision themselves and their family and friends at the home. By minimizing the amount of personal accents, such as all the personal photos on your walls, you can help provide your potential buyers with a blank canvas to start imagining what could be possible in their new home. If the walls feel too bare after removing personal photos, try replacing them with some neutral artwork.

Don’t forget about curb appeal.

Nothing makes a home less appealing than a dingy, ill-maintained front yard.  Take some time to mow the lawn and plant a few colorful flowers in the front yard.  The extra curb appeal will add a bit of charm to the house, and encourage buyers to go inside your home.

For more tips on selling your home, read Selling Your House: Tips for Making a Good First Impression.

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