If you’re like many people who consider selling their home in the summer, you know this is a time when many people are looking for a house. You have a better chance of selling fast, with kids out of school and people trying to get settled before the fall. If you want to up your chances even more, consider getting your home fully staged for summer.
Staging may sound like a big ordeal involving someone else’s beautiful furniture or else you have to stage with no furniture at all, but the truth is that a home that is lived-in today can be staged well tomorrow, provided everyone works strategically and has a plan. Even if you have kids running in and out this summer, use these home staging tips to sell your home fast this summer.
Tidy up and declutter as the top staging choice
Staging is first and foremost about tidying, decluttering, and depersonalizing. You might feel like your home is already fairly tidy, but this will take it one step further: surfaces should be open and spacious, family photos should be packed up for the move, and the general air of the space should be more magazine-photo-spread rather than people-live-here.
If you’re concerned about clutter creeping back before you can show your house off on the market, make a plan for each room. A beautiful rattan basket with a lid can be a nice accent to a room while also serving as the last-minute-clutter-hider. When you have a plan, you can be ready for a showing in just a few minutes!
Emphasizing natural light can add spaciousness
Summer is a time when people are actively thinking about their time spent outside and in the sunshine. Do a quick evaluation of where your best natural light is in your home, and consider switching from thick drapes to sheer curtains just for the showings so that your rooms are always glowing. You’ll also want to stage areas of your home that are outdoors, like porches and patios, to look really lovely and inviting – put away the mismatched furniture and muddy toys and keep just a simple set of matching chairs or a patio set that has been cleaned till it sparkles. When summer is the target season for selling your house, you want to fill people with possibilities about spending time in the sunshine.
Use energy efficiency strategies to conserve A/C in a heat wave
Many central air conditioners struggle even when they aren’t very old if the temperatures get too high. A part of staging your house for summer should be coming up with some plans. If you can close off the cool air to a storage area to make the rest of the home cooler, for instance, that might be worth doing. Curtains with an R-value can help keep air in, as can caulking windows and adding weatherstripping to doors. Making an effort to keep the home nice and cool when the potential home buyers arrive can also make the experience better unconsciously, since they won’t be uncomfortable while they explore and focus on your home’s features.
Read more: How to Rent Furniture for Staging
