How to Sell Your Own Home – Part 2 – Staging

Part 2 – The staging sells your house quickly.

In 2009 many people started a real estate business selling their own home. Today, (2010) many of these same people are still trying to sell that first home. The market is tough and with so many houses on the market, today’s buyer is looking for an extraordinary house at a reasonable price, not an ordinary house at a great price. If you are a seller of For Sale by Owner who is not associated with a REALTOR®, this article will provide you with some guidelines that will help speed up the process and make your home extraordinary.

For example, using our checklist as a guide, the first task after setting the right price (see article 1) is preparing your home for sale or “staging” it.

Before we get to the heart of staging, we must discuss disclosure. Staging does not mean hiding. As a seller, you should know that disclosure of material facts by the seller is an important part of a real estate transaction. We suggest that you first have a licensed home inspector inspect your home. Make sure your home is termite-free and has good plumbing; water quality, lead, radon, septic tank, asbestos, electricity.

If you are partnering with a REALTOR®, they will know of a trusted and experienced professional. If you go strictly alone, you can look up their listings in the phone book under Home and Building Inspectors. However, be careful. Anyone with a do-it-yourself book and a business license can call themselves a home inspector. Some states do not require the inspector to pass a test or be certified. Make sure to submit them through the Better Business Bureau. Request their credentials and check references. It is a small effort that results in the maximum benefits.

As we discussed in the last “Pricing” article, the first thing to remember when selling your home quickly is to highlight the best parts of your home. Remember: the “first impression” is important. Just because many of you are still living in the home you are selling does not mean that the home has to appear “inhabited.”

Make your home attractive to a potential buyer by ensuring that the first view is the most attractive. Walk to the street in front of your house and turn around. Do you see? Be honest with yourself; Would you pay the price that you are asking? Is the grass cut and the curbs neat?

Are the bushes pruned? Is the paint fresh or peeling and discolored? Has the roof seen better days? Shingles missing or rolled in places? Are the windows broken, are the screens missing? Is there clutter everywhere, bikes and toys everywhere? Are the fences down or missing slats or links? Are the hallways broken, cracked, or missing? To answer the obvious question here: NO, the new buyer doesn’t want to do those repairs themselves, no matter how attractive the price is.

Ok, assuming the exterior checklist is finished, walk inside the house, with the same critical eye and notepad in hand. Make sure the interior of your house is attractive. A well decorated house, with freshly washed or painted walls and clean carpets, with well-arranged furniture, will sell faster and for more money than one that appears “inhabited.” It depersonalizes the home. Get rid of personal keepsakes and wall decorations, sports plaques, or your child’s finger paint stuck on the refrigerator, as well as clutter and rearrange desks and shelves.

Clean the kitchen and bathrooms until they shine. These are the two most criticized areas of the house, right after the living room. If you’re having trouble doing this, you may need to hire a home organizer and professional cleaning crew to keep your home looking organized, clean, and tidy.

Once your home is at its best, you can also hire a professional photographer to take great pictures of your home. Why do you ask? Because in today’s market, many home buyers and their buying agents first search for homes on the web.

If you belong to an FSBO service, they usually have a place for you to post photos of the house. Do not entrust this requirement to your trusty digital camera that you received for Christmas. Get a professional who knows real estate sales. Remember that first impressions are important, how can you sell your house quickly if your house itself does not look attractive on the web? You want them to be willing to see your house after they have seen the photos you posted.

After all of those things established, you can start doing an “open house.” Open houses should be scheduled at a time when your home shows its best performance or condition. For example, if you have a beautiful garden, put it up in the morning before the flowers start to fade. If there is something you like best about your home, be sure to share it with potential buyers, but don’t sit still. Let potential buyers search for themselves. Let them ask questions and answer them honestly, but then shut up. As a professional REALTOR® partnering with FSBO sellers, I have seen more first-time sellers convince a client not to buy than I have ever seen them convince one to buy.

With today’s influx of foreclosures, if you need to sell your home quickly, you may need the help of a professional to tap into your national buyer list and marketing.

If you are partnering with the services of a real estate firm, your REALTOR® will be able to help you determine what needs to be repaired or corrected.

In conclusion, selling your house fast by yourself is not an impossible task. Those expenses you will incur to renovate the home are worth it compared to the money earned from the sale.

By Hans Rosielle – GRI
Property Mill Real Estate Group LLC
A Fixed Fee REALTORS® Guide for the FSBO Seller.