Home Staging in the Oklahoma City Metro

Today, we've invited Lisa Stitt of Oklahoma Home Impressions to tell us a little bit about preparing to list an existing home for sale. You can also view a video of Lisa on our Facebook page.  For most people, their house is their biggest asset. When it comes time to sell, getting back the biggest amount of equity is high homeowners’ minds. But where to start? Hiring a licensed Realtor is the first step. Well worth the money, their expertise in the area where you live will help you get top dollar. They can also put you in touch with professional stagers. A stager will not only help you on the right track as far as improvements that are proportional to your price point, but will also help teach you to live in the house while it is on the market. While each house is unique, there are some standard points that most stagers will discuss during a consultation: PREPACK- While we encourage both, prepacking is different from decluttering. Decluttering is getting rid of unwanted or unused items. Anyone can declutter. Prepacking is a term reserved for staging. Prepacking is getting stuff you want to keep, but need to get out of the house. This helps with the illusion that the house is bigger than it is. And your buyers can actually see what it is that you are selling! Also, spoiler alert! You are MOVING. Everything is coming out of the house. Prepacking is actually breaking the process into 2 more manageable parts: Packing before listing and packing after you are under contract. NOTHING will bring you more money on your house for a smaller investment than prepacking. Getting a storage unit is typically a smart move and worth every penny. FURNITURE PLACEMENT- This is where hiring a professional is important because each house is unique with its own set of challenges. Some tips to help with placement are: Making sure that the fireplace is the focal point of the living room, taking extra leaves out of dining tables to make space look larger, moving beds away from the doorways and making sure you square up pieces of furniture that might be at an angle, like an armoire or bed. Angles will eat up square footage. DEPERSONALIZE- The long running adage in Real Estate is that you depersonalize so that buyers can picture their lives in the space. Nothing is further from the truth. You depersonalize to protect your privacy. The internet is an amazing tool, but it’s also important to realize people in Hong Kong can see the inside of your house. Take down all personal photos AND names of your children off of their walls. There was a homeowner who argued once over this point. But after she realized that pictures of her daughters, their names, their address (complete with a map) PLUS what school they attended where all there in the information box, she promptly removed all the stuff off her walls. NEUTRALIZE: Remember that red wall you HAD TO HAVE in 2004? Or the time you wallpapered your powder bath? Painting can be a chore, but for $35.00 a gallon, it is the cheapest updating you can do. I once had some clients who had painted their bathroom a beautiful shade of grey, but their builder grade vanity was still honey oak. And water damaged at that. I suggested they paint it black and later found out they called their Realtor to ask if that was necessary. He told them it was his experience to do what I said and they did. They called him back and said they wished they had done it before they were moving. PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS- Leaving a hot tub? Have that thing bubbling! Surround sound inside and out? Have it on! If you’ve got it, sell it. I was talking to a homeowner and there was a storm shelter they had no idea they had until their guests commented on how cool it was to have it in a closet. Leave no feature undisclosed! Staging is a great way to get top dollar for your house and reduce the time it spends on the market waiting for a buyer.  And while it can also be a lot of work and time consuming, is always worth the payoff at the closing table! For more information about Oklahoma Home Impressions, you can reach Lisa at lisa@okimpressions.com or (405) 200-1832.