By Patrick Galvan, Storage.com
Whenever you’re changing homes, you have a lot to think about. Let Storage.com help you navigate the process with tips on buying, selling, or renting, or with some additional space to help along the way.
Many factors play into successfully selling a house: price, the quality of the surrounding neighborhood, and local job opportunities, for example. Equally important is the house itself and its condition. Obviously, presenting the property in the best light is every homeowner’s goal when working toward a successful sale.
Staging a home for sale can be a complicated process involving many preparations to make the household as appealing as possible to potential buyers. This includes organizing and decluttering your home, as well as reading into how buyers will perceive what they see. Whether you’re preparing your home on your own or hiring a team to do it for you, you’ll also need to decide where to keep your extraneous belongings while staging a house.
Self storage can be a perfect solution when you need a temporary place to keep your belongings while your house is on the market. When selling a home through a realtor, sometimes you get notice of a visit just a few hours in advance and need to have everything cleared out and ready to make a good impression. Keep your home in tip-top shape for showing with the help of self storage.
Declutter Your Household
In staging a home for sale, you always want to give potential buyers an accurate perception of the amount of space they will be purchasing, and this is much more difficult to accomplish if your rooms are cluttered up with personal belongings. In particular, you want to create space in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, as these are the parts of the house they will most likely to be looking at the longest and most closely. Good examples of items to consider removing when home staging include extra furniture, personal collections, boxes of packed belongings, photographs, and toys for children. Make sure the foyer is especially clear, as this will be the first part of the house the buyers see. Remember, the first impression must be a good one!
Clear as much floor space throughout the house as you can. Avoid storing in your closets or basement, for buyers will naturally want to look in there, too. You can’t leave your possessions outside (in addition to risking damage, piles of items stacked outside your house will reduce curb appeal) nor do you want to sell them.
This is where it’s helpful to have a self storage unit when home staging. Now you can clear out your household space, make it look more appealing to potential buyers, and provide comfortable and secure storage conditions for your belongings.
Increase Your Home’s Curb Appeal
Self storage can also be helpful when giving the house’s exterior a good appearance, which is also very important to making a good impression—buyers are less likely to pick up a pamphlet if the house looks unattractive. An empty driveway and garage will give them a better impression of the home they are considering buying.
Don’t forget about pictures, too! People are more likely to stop by if they see photos online or in brochures showing a house that is already staged for them to view.
For both pictures and home showings, remove any automobiles, RVs, trailers, boats, ATVs, and other large outdoor or garage equipment if possible when staging for a move. Anything large or impeding—unless you are selling it with the house—should be out of the way.
Many self storage facilities offer parking spaces and units reserved for the purpose of storing vehicles, even massive ones such as RVs. What’s more, you can keep your vehicles there as long as necessary, whether just for a few days, a couple of hours, or until your home is sold.
Repaint and Repair as Necessary
The newer the house looks, the better. In addition to refreshing the space, you also need to make any necessary repairs. You might also have to make some adjustments for the sake of selling. For instance, if you have any rooms with dark paint, you might want to consider repainting with a more neutral tone. These lighter shades give the impression that the room is larger and will make it more visually appealing for the buyer.
However, in touching up these rooms, you’ll naturally want to avoid getting paint on your personal belongings, such as furniture and hanging artwork. The same applies if you need to make any renovations. You wouldn’t want your sofa to become coated with sawdust. This is another advantage to moving extra belongings out of the house and into storage when staging a home. Now you will have total peace of mind when touching up the place.
Ready to Sell
By renting a storage unit and moving a large amount of your personal belongings out of your home, you will have the space to properly stage your home. As you remove clutter, repaint, and complete repairs, your home will naturally gain that fresh feeling that homebuyers seek. Best of all, when your home does sell, you will be that much closer to completing your relocation and moving on to your next phase in life.
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