How to Stage your House

Start by being your worse critic! 

• Go outside and walk up to your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the house welcome you?
• Open the front door and linger in the doorway. Then walk into every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer.

Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.

• Say to yourself, "This is not my home; it is a house -- a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.

Check Curb Appeal.-- If a buyer won't get out of her agent's car because she doesn't like the exterior of your home, you'll never get her inside.

• Front door should be clean and freshly painted

• Front Porch railings should be clean and if necessary repaint.

• Keep the sidewalks cleared.
• Mow the lawn.
• Paint faded window trim.
• Plant yellow flowers or group flower pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion. Marigolds are inexpensive.
• Trim your bushes.

De-Clutter!
People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven't used it in over a year, you probably don't need it.

• If you don't need it, why not donate it or throw it away?
• Remove all books from bookcases.
• Pack up those knickknacks.
• Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
• Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
• Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.
• Pack up those personal photographs.
• Removing the clutter of everyday life - all utilitarian items, stacks of paperworks, toiletries, kitchen utensils,

Allow as much light as possible to enter every room. Open up or remove all draperies, blinds, shades or other window coverings.

Remove furniture from each room that does not go with the decor, such as items that stand out too much and items that are worn or of an unappealing color.  Place the remaining room furnishings in a way that makes best use of the character of the space.  Less is best!

Rent a Storage Unit.
Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room's purpose and plenty of room to move around. You don't want buyers scratching their heads and saying, "What would I use this room for?"  

• Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
• Make Bathrooms and Kitchen glisten!
• Polish chrome faucets and mirrors
• Clean out cobwebs.
• Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
• Vacuum daily
• Mop  floors.
• Wash windows inside and out.
• Remove  used  towels and wash clothes from bathrooms.
• Clean out the refrigerator.
• Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
• Bleach dingy grout.
• Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.
• Clean, clean, clean. Every crevasse within the home should be spotless and gleaming. Even your normal weekly cleaning can not come close to the quality of clean you need.

Make Minor Repairs

• Replace burned-out light bulbs.
• Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls.
  (Don't give buyers any reason to remember your home as "the house with the orange bathroom.")
• Replace cracked floor or counter tiles.
• Patch holes in walls.
• Fix leaky faucets.
• Fix doors that don't close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.