Our resident home stager Kyleen Jackson shares some pro staging tips.
Today we’re joined by special guest Kyleen Jackson, our amazing resident home stager. She’s helped stage hundreds of homes throughout her career, enabling sellers to attract top-dollar offers and sell quickly. Now that we’ve officially entered the busy spring selling season, it’s more important than ever to take advantage of the services offered by home-staging pros like Kyleen. Competition will be fiercer than it has been for the last several months, and proper staging is the only way to ensure your listing doesn’t help to sell someone else’s home.
According to Kyleen, the most common issue that’s holding back sellers’ homes is clutter. Pack up or toss trinkets, remove personal pictures, get rid of eccentric or worn furniture, and free up as much space as possible. Too much furniture can make a room look smaller than it is. If decluttering sounds like a chore, consider the fact that you’ll be moving anyway; get a jump on that process by packing up unused items and storing them in the garage. (No one checks out the garage too thoroughly—just make sure it doesn’t look like an explosion went off in there).
A fresh coat of paint can go a long way. Bright, busy colors can intimidate buyers, so make sure your home has a consistent theme of neutral colors. Grays and light tans are safe, popular choices. Painting is relatively inexpensive, and most of the work that you’ll likely need to do can be tackled in a single afternoon. Even if you pay a professional, you’re only looking at a few hundred dollars per room.
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Staging not only shows your home in its best light but also helps the buyer know exactly what they’re getting.
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You’re probably asking yourself, “Isn’t the market red-hot? Why should I even have to do any staging work at all?” First of all, staging helps accurately display the dimensions of your home. It eliminates buyers’ concerns over whether their furniture and other belongings will fit into a given room.
One of the most frustrating things we see when showing homes is a lack of imagination amongst buyers. Instead of thinking about simple little changes that could unlock a home’s potential, many buyers seem insistent on perceiving roadblocks at every turn. That means you as the seller have to make things painfully easy for them—leave nothing up to the imagination. The more staging work you do, the easier it will be for them to visualize themselves living in your home.
Don’t just give your home a makeover for the listing photos; make sure it’s properly staged for showings. Be honest with yourself about items you don’t need on a weekly or even monthly basis, pack them all up, and keep them packed until you move.
We at The Downing Group are so glad to have a skilled staging professional like Kyleen Jackon on retainer with us. Staging is not all she does, though. She loves interior design and is always excited to help clients bring their visions to life. I can vouch for her, as she helped me make the most of my primary residence.
Kyleen’s expert services are free if you work with us to sell your home; I’ll pick up the tab. However, if you or someone you know wants some help decorating a home, Kyleen can be reached via email (s.kyleen@yahoo.com) or by phone at 864-784-7686.
As always, if you have any other questions about buying, selling, or investing in real estate, don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at The Downing Group. We’d love to be your go-to resource, and we’re ready to help you navigate the craziness of spring.
