Hickory Area Happenings!

According to the Real Estate staging institute a staged home sells 70 times faster than a non-staged home. Here are some of the most common mistakes made according to expert stagers.

1)Not creating space: People often move for more space. Make sure your home feels spacious. Remove clutter from closets and shelves. Closets should not be jam-packed full of stuff, you should be able to see the floor. Make sure that furniture fits in the room and its not to big or to small. Bedrooms should have a bed, dresser, and nightstand. Pull furniture away from the walls and allow the corners of the room to be seen.

2)Excessive furniture: There should be enough room for people to walk in and out of every room in your home. if you doubt a piece of furniture take it out of the room so it does not distract the buyer.

3)Smells:Decluttering and having a clean house are very important. Having an odd smell such as a litter box, dogs, or foods can cause a prospective buyer to walk away. Open the windows before a showing to let in fresh air, do not use mask such as potpourri. 
     Have someone come in and clean carpets, walls, and windows, it will make a huge difference in appearance and smell. If that does not help you may need to replace carpet.

4)Edit personal effects:Those hallway walls full of family photo's need to be cleaned off. Get rid of clutter and make decor mild. Your goal is to make the buyer see their family in the home not your family in it. Use accessories in groups of three, three pieces of wall art, candlesticks, something tall, medium, and short. Shapes and color help draw a buyer through the room and make it visually interesting.

5)Don't have more than one focal point in a room:Every room needs a focal point. usually for a bedroom it's the headboard, living room it's the fireplace, TV, or window.

6)Don't have drastic color shifts:It's important to maintain the flow of neutral paint colors throughout the main areas of the home, it provides a sense of openness. Everything doesn't have to be tan or beige either. Certain shades of grey, green and even purple can be neutral.

7)Don't cover light:You want as much light as possible coming into your home. Pull drapes aside and take unnecessary blinds down. You want your home nice and bright inside.

8)Skipping a walk-through:Make time to walk-through your home and test cupboards, cabinets, and drawers to make sure they open and close. If a door needs fixed or a wall needs painted this is the time to so it. Damages make a buyer think that your home is not well taken care of so its best to go ahead and do these things before you list.

9)Neglecting the exterior:Your front porch is the first impression, paint the front door and put out some seasonal flower pots on each side. Keep the yard mowed and bushes pruned. Pressure wash decks and aluminum siding, it makes that first impression much better.