7 Staging Tips to Help Your Listings Sell Faster

Staging a home for sale may require some extra pre-sale prep, but the time and money reap plenty of rewards. The majority of buyers' agents (82%) said that staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors. Nearly a quarter (23%) of buyers' and sellers' agents said that a staged home received an offer 1% to 5% higher than a similar home that hadn't been staged and 18% of sellers' agents said the value of a staged home was 6% to 10% higher. In addition, 31% of agents said that staging decreased the days a home spent on the market.

Among the places to stage, living rooms and kitchens are the most popular, followed by the master bedroom, dining room, and home office. Revive provides professional guidance and services to help you and your clients decide which areas to stage before a sale to help buyers see themselves living in a home.

While each home is different, these seven tips offer a starting point for every listing:

1. Update the kitchen. While a complete kitchen upgrade may be too costly, painting the cabinets, changing the faucet, updating the backsplash or changing the hardware can provide an instant lift to any kitchen. Homeowners with a bigger budget can upgrade their appliances or install a new counter. Revive can provide the funds upfront for a renovation and recoup the costs after the sale.

2. Add an office. Whether it's staging a bedroom for an office, redesigning a closet into a workspace or creating a desk space in an underused nook, a place to work or do homework is increasingly valuable to buyers.

3. Touch up the bathroom. Besides a deep clean, bathrooms often need new caulk around the tub or shower or have cracked or old grout to replace between tiles. Painting the walls or updating the mirror are minor fixes that have a maximum impact.

4. Organize the closets. Sellers should always empty their closets to pack items that aren't urgently needed, but before they put everything back, they may want to invest in new shelves, racks and bins. Storage is a top priority for most buyers, so flexible organizers can be a big attraction.

5. Add lighting. Brighter lightbulbs are one of the simplest ways to stage a home. Adding under cabinet lights or pendant lighting can be an inexpensive yet valuable asset to a home. Replacing older light fixtures with more modern ones is another simple fix to appeal to buyers.

6. Do minor repairs. Loose hinges, corroded doorknobs, small holes, sticky windows, dented heat vents and dripping faucets may go unnoticed by homeowners but will send buyers a signal that some maintenance may have been deferred. Painting the front door and replacing its hardware can make an important first impression. A contractor can typically do multiple minor repairs in a few hours.

7. Upgrade the floors. Replacing small floors such as in the kitchen and bathroom can have a big impact on the appearance of those rooms. Depending on the budget, adding hardwood floors or luxury vinyl tiles or planks can elevate larger spaces.

Whether your clients' home needs an extensive makeover or a few tweaks to help buyers see the property as their new home, contact Revive to find out how we can streamline pre-sale prep with reliable contractors and efficient service.

To view the original article, visit the Revive blog.