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When you decide to place your home on the market, there is a wise old saying you’ll want to keep in mind: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” 

 

This is especially true when it comes time to show your home to prospective buyers. Making a good first impression can mean the difference between getting a quick sale with a great offer, or wasting valuable time showing your home month after month with no takers. It can also have a big impact on the final price you receive.

 

Every property will sell—eventually—if the price is low enough. But you’ve made a sizeable investment in your home, and you want a top-dollar return in the shortest time possible.

 

Investing a small amount of money and a little time and effort in home improvements and staging can give your house a solid advantage over your competition and reap big financial rewards.

 

Designs That Sell: How To Make Your Home Show Better and Sell Faster offers practical suggestions and decorating tips to make your property outshine all the others. It includes helpful hints and creative ideas for furniture arranging, accessorizing, lighting, staging, de-cluttering, updating, how to use designer tricks and more.

 

The topics below are just a few of the ones this book offers:

 

“Take Out the Emotion Quotient”

 

When you place your house on the market, it’s no longer your home, it’s a property to be sold. And remember, your goal is to snag a quick sale for the highest possible price. Therefore, you need to remove your “emotional” possessions—all those items you have collected over the years that represent ties to you and your memories. 

 

Depersonalize your home by removing collections of family photographs, souvenirs, trophies, refrigerator magnets, etc. These items not only make your space feel cluttered, they distract buyers. 

 

You want your buyers to focus on the layout of the home and its architectural features—not the clutter. They might also find it difficult to imagine their own possessions in a home that is filled with your memorabilia. 

 

Get a head start on your packing and box up all your personal mementos and treasures, then store them out of sight.

 

“Tone Down Your Décor”

 

Since you have no idea what the decorating tastes of your potential buyers might be, you need to tone down the level of your home’s décor in order to make it agreeable to most people. The key is to avoid eccentric décor. 

 

· Paint the walls a neutral color (avoid stark white) throughout your home. Light-colored, neutral hues can create the illusion of larger rooms and give your home a fresh, clean, updated look.

· Remove dated or flamboyant wallpaper. Freshly painted walls are always more appealing to buyers than the prospect of stripping wallpaper.

· Try to neutralize the décor in your living spaces by removing unusual artwork or eccentric paintings that some buyers might find offensive.

· Tone down the décor in your kids’ rooms by removing wild teenage posters, toddler-themed wall murals or scary reptile pets.

· Remove any decorative items that might be offensive or distracting, like stuffed animal-head trophies or 1960’s-style beaded doorway curtains.

· Reduce the number of accessories to a minimum, and remove any large collections of objects in order to present a clean, uncluttered look.

· Remove fussy or flamboyant window treatments that might make the room feel dark or outdated.

· Replace carpets that might be classified as an extreme color or pattern choice with ones that most buyers will consider “move-in-ready”.

· Choose a decorating style that has a simple, clean look that will appeal to a broad range of people.

 

Potential buyers want to see your house, not your personal decorating style. Get rid of anything that might distract them or worse, send them running out the door in panic.

 

“Set The Stage”

 

Staging a property for sale is a way to stimulate the buyer’s imagination about what it would feel like to live in your home. You want to create vignettes throughout the house that will make buyers want to linger in the space and imagine themselves living there. Set the stage by appealing to their emotions through sights, sounds and smells. Try some of the following suggestions for staging your home:

 

· Create a warm and inviting display in the entry, such as a framed mirror over a small table with a vase of fresh flowers that says, “Welcome home.”

· Set the dining room table with your best dishes so buyers can imagine themselves entertaining friends and family in the space.

· Put out fluffy white towels, scented soaps and candles in the bathrooms to create a look that says, “Come in and relax.”

· Add attractive new bedding in your bedrooms if your current bedding is looking a bit shabby or outdated. Use neutral or low-key colors to create a soothing retreat for new homeowners.

· Hang new curtains that make your room look fresh and airy. A simple valance over sheer curtains or blinds will present a cleaner, lighter feel.

· Light some logs in the fireplace if the season allows, which will create a warm, inviting atmosphere.

 

When staging your property for sale, try to create a welcoming, cozy feel for potential buyers.

 

Don’t pass up the opportunity to impress potential buyers. All it takes is a small investment of time, money and effort to showcase your home’s best features. The suggestions in this simple step-by-step guide will help make your home show better and sell faster. Put them to work for you!

 

Get more home staging tips and creative decorating ideas from Designs That Sell

and No Rules-Just Fun Decorating (both sold at left)

Visit the Blue Sage Press website for more fun how-to books and e-books about decorating, cooking, planning weddings and parties, and crafting

Click on the book covers above to order or read more about each one