Selling a home is already a stressful process, and staging your own home can feel like a big extra step. However, staging your home has value — in fact, 77% of buyers’ agents say that it’s easier for buyers to imagine a staged home as their own. Staged homes also sell faster, which is a definite bonus. With this in mind, the NOVO Team has gathered these six things to do before listing your home and ways to impress home buyers with your home staging.

The first thing buyers see when viewing a house is the home’s exterior, and their impression can affect the way they view the rest of the house. Make sure buyers have no cause for complaint by completing tasks like mowing the lawn or raking the yard, trimming trees and bushes, weeding, as well as washing or sweeping the walkways and driveway. Also, power wash the sides of your house to help them look sparkling and new.

Buyers enter through the front doorway, so showing this area a little TLC can impact a buyer’s perspective on the home too. Consider doing things like cleaning the knobs and hinges on the front door, cleaning the door itself, and repainting the door if it’s looking old. Also, make sure the area is clean of dust and cobwebs, and replace your old doormat with a new one for an extra touch. These steps will help you sell quickly so you can find your new place to live in Brooklyn homes or Manhattan houses.

The next way the Novo Team suggests staging your home to appeal to buyers is to declutter and clean. To declutter, sort through items you haven’t used in a while and don’t see yourself using in the future, like old clothes and shoes, unused kitchen appliances, or other décor and items filling your closets. This also means clearing away small items you use every day, like cups or magazines on kitchen counters, and toiletries (besides hand soap) in bathrooms.

Once the space is decluttered, you can begin to clean. There’s nothing a home buyer likes less than a dirty home, which can indicate that the seller may not have taken good care of the rest of the house. To clean, begin by mopping and sweeping floors, vacuum and shampoo stains out of your rugs, and organize the belongings you have in closets and cabinets. Also, be sure to dust from top to bottom. Take special care to clean areas that would look especially bad if dirty, like bathrooms.

It can be tempting to store away items in closets, cabinets, or your garage, but piles of boxes aren’t going to appeal to buyers and can make the room look smaller. Make sure your home looks as big and roomy as possible by renting out a storage unit to keep your closets clear.

Too much furniture, as well as furniture that disrupts the natural flow of a room, can be another problem people face when staging their homes. You may need to remove and store away furniture to help a room look more open and spacious.

It can be difficult to remove your personality from your home, but not doing so can have negative effects on the buyer. A buyer walks into your home with the intention of imagining how their own life might fit into the space. Removing personal items helps attract as many potential buyers as possible, which ultimately is better for selling your home.

To depersonalize your home, pack away personal items like family photos, knickknacks, and religious symbols. This also means storing away any unique pieces of furniture that you adore but a buyer might not, and painting over bright colors or busy patterns.

If staging a whole house seems impossible to you, try focusing on areas that buyers find the most important: the kitchen, living room, and master bedroom/bathroom. As these areas buyers will likely use the most, it’s important to take special care that they are clean and the furniture is well laid out. Stylizing your home is key to making a great first impression. 

Other areas to consider staging are rooms that are tricky or odd. Whether a small side room or a uniquely shaped living room, if you take the time to stage it, you’ll help buyers envision what to use the space for. The space will become another asset of the house rather than a future puzzle to solve.

With this final step, you’ll be ready to sell and begin your own search for Brooklyn homes or Manhattan houses. Make sure you allow plenty of natural light into a home by washing your windows, opening blinds, and pulling back or completely removing curtains and drapes. Buyers like bright rooms, so making sure sunlight gets through is essential.

Also enhance the artificial lighting in your home by replacing old lampshades and dusting bulbs and fixtures. If a bulb is broken or going dim, make sure to replace it. To maintain a consistent look throughout your home, use the same wattage and color bulb in every room.

With these six staging tips, you're well on your way to impressing any buyer who walks through your front door. When a buyer falls in love with your home, you can begin your search for Brooklyn homes and Manhattan houses. To find the perfect place, contact The Novo Team to be guided through the process by their New York real estate experts.