Selling Your Home? Here’s How to Help Buyers Visualize Themselves There
If you’ve ever watched a house-hunting show on HGTV, you know that first impressions are everything when prospective buyers tour a home. But if you think home staging magic is just for television, think again.
First Impressions Happen Online
These days, the vast majority of homebuyers start their searches online. Even before prospective buyers enter your home, they are judging whether it could be a fit for them based on what they see there.
While cutting-edge cell phone cameras can make us all feel like professional photographers, this is another area where you can benefit from calling in an expert. Investing in a professional home photographer is key to getting the highest offer possible when selling your home.
Professional real estate photographers know how to light and shoot every room in your house to make it look its best. (If you think that’s easy, try figuring out how to take a decent photo of your tiny hall bathroom or that corner of your house that always seems to be either too bright or too dark.)
Staging Is Key
Unless your full-time job is interior design, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the thought of making extensive cosmetic changes before listing your home. But you don’t have to do it alone. Investing in a staging expert can give you the extra help and design eye you need to make your home look as appealing as possible to prospective buyers. Typically, this involves bringing in updated fixtures, on-trend furniture and a fresh coat of paint.
A home staging professional can also help you separate your emotions from how you display your home to potential buyers. If this is a property you’ve spent years in, it may be difficult to imagine redecorating your kids’ playroom or changing up the furniture layout that you’re used to. But home staging professionals keep up with current trends and know how to make rooms look large and full of possibility for any potential buyer.
Remember, while staging comes with an extra cost, it could add thousands of dollars of value to your home’s sale. Professional staging will also help your home sell quickly, so this is not an area where you want to cut corners.
Your Mainstreet REALTOR® is Your Best Resource
Your Mainstreet REALTOR® can connect you to a home stager and photographer. REALTORS® work with home stagers and photographers all the time, so your REALTOR® will be able to recommend professionals who have particular expertise in your neighborhood or style of home.
By working closely with your Mainstreet REALTOR®, home stager and photographer during the listing process, you can ensure that your home’s most valuable features are showcased in their best light.