Preparing Your Home For Sale

Once your home goes on the market, it becomes a product. Home Styling or Staging simply allows you to highlight the best of your home and de-emphasize its flaws. It's not about decorating, but actually turning your home into a model, to appeal to the broadest range of prospective buyers. The goal is to make people feel like they could live there, and the best way to do this is to "neutralize" the surroundings.

Try out these helpful styling tips taken from Setting the Stage - REALTOR® Magazine Online. They've compiled the best tips from stagers and real estate pros—things you can do for little or no expense—to put a home in prime showing shape.

• Clear out closets and clutter by at least half—sellers can give away or pack up toys, linens, and small kitchen appliances. Buyers are somewhat forgiving of storage boxes neatly tucked away in a garage or basement.
• Focus mostly on the most visible areas—the foyer, kitchen, washrooms, living room, master bedroom, and family room.
• De-personalize the home by removing most personal photos, mementos, and dated magazines and newspapers.
• Use plants in colorful pots or inexpensive wicker baskets to fill in empty spaces.
• Look to home catalogs for little inexpensive details on beautifying the home. For instance, small groups of books, pictures, and objets d’art strategically placed on bookcases,or a red bow around a basket filled with munchies or fruit.
• Try angling one or two pieces of furniture slightly and move furniture 4 inches to 6 inches from the wall to create more interesting room spaces.
• Put away large collections— porcelains, plates, and so on. You can leave one or two show pieces, if you feel comfortable doing so.
• Remove valuables, prescription medicine, collectibles, and breakables.
• Trim trees, prune shrubs, and make sure the lawn is mowed and watered regularly.
• In summer, turn on the sprinklers for five minutes, 30 minutes before the open house. It makes the lawn and driveway sparkle.
• Refrain from cooking anything that leaves a distinctive odor, such as fish, garlic, or cabbage but chocolate brownies and apple pie are ok.
• Hire a professional service to clean the home, including the carpets and the windows. Clean off the dust from unused areas.
• Set the dining room table with attractive linens, dishes, and stemware for 2 or 4 people.
• Arrange fresh or silk flowers throughout the home, but remember less is better..
• Light a fire in the fireplace in fall and winter.
• A mirror in a pretty frame can make a small room feel more open and reflect more light.
• Use as much natural light as possible. Add extra lamps in dark rooms or corners.
• Allow spaces to flow naturally, by declutering all smaller and tighter hallways areas. 
• Make functional repairs—fix dripping faucets, sticking doors, oil squeeky closets doors, and repair or replace broken parts.
• Bring in another pair of eyes—even if it’s not a professional stylist. The person may see problems you may have missed, and don't take the critique personally... this is about selling your house!