Staging of Homes

How exactly do you stage a home? What are all the items in the home you need to look at? How much does it really cost to stage a house?

HERE ARE A LIST OF SOME OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS YOU NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO GET YOUR HOUSE SOLD:

Make your entry more impressive.
This includes your yard, your walk, your door, and the entry of your home. If people spot problems outside of your home, they may not even go in.

Eliminate clutter.
You don’t want anything to distract prospective home buyers. Papers on the kitchen counter and even on your desk will distract someone from admiring the actual room. Even a bunch of shoes in a bedroom will be seen as clutter.

Eliminate the excess.
Remove extra pieces of furniture from your rooms. If a room is crowded with furniture, it will make the room seem smaller than it is. Starting putting things in boxes, label them and pack them in the garage. Your moving anyway, so why not start packing.

Pull furniture away from the walls.
Most people place their furniture right up along the walls in each room. Instead, make a room seem cozy by making intimate arrangements with your furniture away from the walls. Pulling furniture from the walls also allows shoppers to see the bones of the room.

Re-arrange your décor items.
Go around the house and collect all of your décor pieces. Re-arrange them according to color and/or type and then decide which rooms each set will go into. Since décor items are usually purchased one at a time, there tends to be problems with cohesiveness. This will eliminate that problem.

Find purposes for unused rooms.
Just because you don’t use a room does not mean it should "look" unusable. No one wants to see an empty unfurnished bedroom. Instead, transform the room into a sewing room, an exercise room, or a home office.

Take advantage of natural light.
Take down those heavy drapes and let natural light flood the room. The only exception to this is if a window has a horrible view. In that case, purchase very attractive window treatments instead.


Add more light.
Added light gives the illusion of a bigger space. If a room is dark and dreary, add lamps, change your bulbs, and brighten that room up.

Be creative, but not outrageous with color.
Use color creatively to add architectural interest to the room. However, be conservative with your color choices, remembering to keep the colors neutral but the impact dramatic.

Paint
Give your walls a fresh coat of paint. If money is an issue; paint the master bedroom, ensuite and family room. Use neutral colours.

Re-arrange your artwork and hang it at different levels.
If all the artwork on your walls is hung at one level, you need to take everything down and be more creative with your arrangements. Hang some lower, to be viewed by a person sitting in a chair. Hang a vertical stack of artwork. Create a design on the wall with art pieces. Please do not hang your paintings too high to the point that a person would have their head leaning all the way back in order to view the painting.

Use the rule of threes when accessorizing.
Too many accessories are translated as clutter. Don’t get carried away when decorating. And never use more than 3 of any one item.

Use seasonal greenery to bring the outside in.
Fresh flowers and foliage really make a staged home look great. The best place to get them for cost savings and seasonal impact is from outside. If at all possible, try to bring in flowers and foliage from your own yard to add to your home’s ambiance.

How Much Does Home Staging Cost?
Be careful not to spend too much that you cannot recoup your expenses.
Most of your money should go toward paint, kitchen and bathroom facelifts if necessary, and a bit of landscaping.

Don’t spend more than 0.5 and 1% of the property’s market price on staging.

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real estate

Top 7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE BUYING A HOME!

Step 1: Finding the right Realtor is one of the most important home-buying decisions you will make. Ask your friends and family for referrals.

Step 2: Make sure you are financially and emotionally ready to purchase a home. If you need to wait longer to accumulate more money for a downpayment -- wait -- don't rush into it.

Step 3: When you are ready -- next step is to find a lender who has credibility. Get preapproved for a mortgage before you start looking for that right house. You want to make sure you know exactly how much you can afford.

Step 4: Sit down and create a budget including, your mortgage payment, gas, water, food etc. before you head out to purchase that home. You want no surprises when you move into your home.

Step 5: Start looking for your home with your selected realtor. Always negotiate your purchase price. This is extremely important. Do not feel obligated to offer the vendor what he/she is asking. Cash is king!

Step 6: Once the vendor accepts your offer, get a home inspection done. You want to make sure that the house doesn't need a new roof, the plumbing is working etc. If there are deficiencies in the home, MAKE SURE THE VENDOR CORRECTS THEM BEFORE YOU CLOSE THE DEAL!

Step 7: Once you are happy with everything, Close the Deal.

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