Quick question: Who likes moving? I don’t mean the normal, everyday, getting around movements, yoga, or other types of exercise. I’m talking about actually packing boxes and moving all of your stuff from one house to another. …Crickets… Moving sucks! It’s physically and emotionally taxing. It can damage relationships. But, moving can also initiate a fresh start, and open doors to the possibility of new relationships and opportunities. My family and I just moved a month ago. It was a quick decision. A house we love, in a neighborhood we adore, went on the market, we put in an offer, and 30 days later, here we are. We’re in a new house, different city, different county even. Our kids are in new schools, my husband has a different commute. Thirty days in, our life is kinda messy, and kinda fantastic all at the same time. There are many steps to the process of moving. Today I’m going to dive in to the first of three in my blog series relating to this super sucky thing that no one likes to do. Today’s topic is about staging.
The first step to our move was staging our home to sell. They say a well-staged home can bring offers that meet or exceed the listing price. True story! Staging is imperative, folks. How you live in your home and how you sell your home are two different chickens. You may love the Victorian porcelain dolls you have gathered on the maroon, velvet settee, positioned at an angle in the corner of your tiny living room, but not every buyer will dig it. Those clown figurines and paintings you have all over the place might not go over well with all lookers. You may love the smell of your dog, after all, he is part of your family, but Fido’s scent may not be one that buyers will want to bottle and spray about. Staging is all about aesthetics and establishing a connection. You have to create a vision, make it possible for potential buyers to envision their personal items in your space. So, I had to be honest with myself about what I could do to make my home more attractive, sellable. It took a minute to declutter all the closets and book shelves, remove all of our family photos, deep clean, and touch up paint and other various tasks, but all of that had to be done before the sign went in the yard.
It’s hard. How do you decide what stays and what gets packed away? How can you be objective when you’ve worked so hard to create a space you love living in? The best advice I can give you, and believe me, I had to take my own advice on this, LESS IS MORE. Remember, everything you pack away for staging can be unpacked and used to decorate your new home. The stuff is not going away, it’s resting. More advice here: this is a great opportunity to donate items you aren’t in love with or have outgrown. Why load all of those items onto a moving truck and unload them at your new residence, if you’re just going to reload them back on a truck to take them to donate. Unless you’re planning to have a kick ass garage sale, it’s best to purge. I may or may not be speaking from experience here, but I bet you are smart enough to read between the lines.
Dealing with keeping the house staged on the daily can be a fun game, said no one. I have three kids…enough said. Praise be to the 1 hour notification system, which is only helpful if you’re currently at home. It’s just enough time to make sure all the kid’s stuff is picked up, beds are made, dishes are put in the dishwasher, bathroom and kitchen counters are wiped down, dirty clothes thrown in the hamper, lights turned on, blinds open, and finally, make sure all the toilets are flushed (like I said, I have 3 kids). If you’re out and about and you get the call, hopefully you performed all the above tasks before you left the house “just in case”. It’s hard to keep your home show ready, but it’s imperative. Otherwise buyers will be judging your messy housekeeping and grooming habits and completely miss the diamond that is your home. Muy importante: Ya’ gotta keep it tidy.
I’m going to drive it home here: STAGING IS IMPORTANT. Don’t leave it to your realtor to be the bad guy telling you that you have to declutter, you know it needs done. If you want to sell your house sooner than later, get busy. If you really need help, I’m a phone call away. This is what I do, a service we offer at Unique Painting KC.
Thanks for checking in today. So, you’ve staged well, had fantastic feed-back, received and accepted an offer. My next entry, part II, will be about diving into the actual moving of moving to a new house. Fun stuff. Lol! I know, I’m hilarious.
