Home Staging – What not to do

Believe it or not, many people don’t understand that the way we live in our homes is very different from how it should be presented at the time of sale. For example, we have two dog crates under the dining room table. It is very convenient for us and the space is not used frequently. However, if we were to put our house on the market, those boxes would have to go. The dining room should be presented as such, not as a kennel!

In today’s real estate market, it’s more important than ever to make sure your home looks good, performs well, and attracts as many buyers as possible. In no particular order, here are a few things I’ve seen in homes for sale, with recommendations. These things may have made life easier for sellers, but they made it harder to sell their homes!

• Fridge in the dining room; of course, there was also one in the kitchen. I told them to move it to the attached garage.
• Freezer in the kitchen, cluttering up the valuable dining room. Once again, the garage is a more suitable place.
• Water cooler in upstairs hallway, visible from two-story lobby. We moved him to the boys’ bathroom. You don’t want people to think that tap water is bad as part of their first impression.
• Dog cage, bird cage and treadmill in the formal living room. I recommended that they rent some appropriate furniture and remove the cages and treadmill.
• Bed tray with bottle and wine glasses in the master bedroom. That’s not staging. To really create a relaxing getaway, I told the vendors to get rid of the clutter, clothes, dog bed, and kids’ toys that littered the room.
• Overabundance of Asian art, objects, furniture and collectibles. These items are too specific for taste. We had them saved.
• An entire wall of the family room dedicated to model trains, all lined up on small shelves. Again, too specific for taste. The shelves had to be removed, because they were useless for anything else.
• A devotion to multicultural goddesses that results in too much art of specific tastes. By packing them up early, they stayed safe.
• Valuable fireplaces blocked by puppet theaters, tables and sofas. We provided floor plans that provided good traffic flow and highlighted the focal point and key selling feature – the fireplace.
• Heavy, dark curtains covered the windows during the day. Spacious and bright rooms for sale. Leave the curtains open as much as possible to let in light. Make sure the windows are clean!
• Bright brass fixtures. Updating them will attract more buyers and let them know you’ve maintained the house.
• Wallpaper and borders. Do not even ask. If you still have them, assume they MUST be removed. No matter how nice or new they are, buyers don’t want to have to do the work themselves.
• Masks of any kind. It doesn’t matter if they’re from Africa or Mardi Gras, masks can be a little creepy. Pack them up now.
• Large photos as art. It is not art that will attract buyers. Replace these photos of your wedding or your children with something more generic like a landscape or abstract.

If you’re getting your home ready for the market, consider how each space is supposed to function. Allow the personality and features of the house to come through, not yours. Present it in the cleanest, most up-to-date condition possible.