When guests come to visit, most of us go to great effort to have our home looking its best. However, when you’re showing your home to prospective buyers many sellers forget that in this situation, you’ve got a totally different objective. You’re not trying to create a personal impression, showing mementos of your life‘s experiences, and décor that’s a reflection of your own personality. When selling your home, it’s time to get impersonal! This time, your goal should be to create a blank canvas or a setting that potential buyers can easily visualize placing themselves and their furniture into.
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When setting the stage, you’ll want to appeal to broadest possible audience, and that means making choices that virtually everyone can live with. A fresh coat of paint may be in order. Consider light, neutral colors such as cream, taupe, sand or sage to create an open, airy feeling and help buyers visualize their own furnishings fitting in perfectly. Don’t be insulted if they don’t like your burnt orange carpet. It may look great with your brown leather chair, but they are probably picturing how it will look with their purple and pink couch. It’s all a matter of taste, after all.
One of the simplest and easiest things to do to set the stage for selling is to reduce the clutter, particularly with very personal items. Pack up most of the family pictures, such things as plaques, trophies, photo albums, the kid ‘s artwork, treasures etc. You’ve heard of turning a house into a home. Well, now it’s time to reverse the process and turn the home back into a house.
Take a look at furnished model homes for inspiration. You’ll see the look is sleek, open, airy, uncluttered, and above all, impersonal. This look is your goal. If the task of de-personalizing seems overwhelming, just think of it as the first step in the moving process. Start packing now, and begin with those treasured family mementos that are most personal to you.
Before you know it, you’ll find that you’ve cleared out a lot of confusion, leaving just a few quality pieces, which will now be showcased to better advantage. Less is definitely more when it comes to home showings. If the task still seems too large, remember that there are many types of professionals you can call on now, including packers and home staging experts. You don’t have to wait until moving day to call in reinforcements. My experience has given me insight into what attracts buyers and what sells a house!