5 Tips to Stage a Home on a Budget – A Guest Post from Zillow

The Mrs. and I are obsessed with real estate. We have owned rental properties and have successfully flipped 4 homes. One of my favorite real estate tools is Zillow. I love to research a neighborhood by walking around with the Zillow app open. I can quickly figure out price trends and determine if the area warrants further consideration.

When it comes to selling a home, one of the most common mistakes is not staging it right. I recently saw a 900 square foot home in our area that was listed for almost $300,000. I was surprised because this price seemed much too high for the street. However, the home went under contract in less than a week and eventually sold for only $1,000 less than asking price.

One of the reasons that the home sold so successfully was because the sellers had done an incredible job staging it. A staging job done right makes it easy for potential buyers to see themselves in the home. Some people lack the imagination to see the potential in an empty space or one with dated decor. On the other hand, a beautifully staged home builds the picture for them.

Today’s guest post* is from Tali Wee of Zillow who will tell you how to stage your home on a budget.

5 Tips to Stage a Home on a Budget

By Tali Wee of Zillow

The ultimate goal of staging homes is to attract the widest audience of home shoppers who make competitive offers for sellers to yield the highest possible resale values. Logically, all home sellers desire the greatest returns on their investments, but strong emotional attachments to their properties sometimes cloud their ability to stage their homes effectively.

Viewing homes objectively is challenging, because everyone has their own experiences of “home,” including how it should look, smell and feel. To avoid narrowing the pool of prospective buyers, home sellers should follow these five cost-effective, foolproof staging tips.

1. Enhance Curb Appeal ($25 – $110)

Homebuyers begin setting their impressions of properties as soon as they pull up at open houses. That initial impression influences every opinion the shopper has from that point forward. Therefore, the exterior appeal of a home is paramount. If frugal sellers spend any money on upgrades, it should be on curb appeal.

Before an open house, spend time sprucing up the home’s exterior. Assuming the home is in good condition, sellers should mow and edge the lawn and tend to the garden. Add a cubic yard of dark soil ($10) to the garden bed and plant some white, blooming flowers or rich evergreens ($35), depending on the season. Pay particular attention to the porch; include a container of potted plants ($50), a rocking chair with throw pillow, a charming mailbox or at least an inviting welcome mat ($15). Ask a friend to take an unbiased look and make suggestions.

2. Completely Depersonalize ($60 – $170)

Potential buyers want to visualize their lives happening in homes they tour. The best way to facilitate that homey appeal is to remove any distracting elements reminding them that someone else lives in the space. Pack up family photos, trophies and dramatic artwork.

Eliminate any details that allude to the lifestyles of the current owners such as specialized books, medical equipment and pet accessories. Paint the walls white ($60 – $150) and only decorate using artwork and accents with global appeal, such as maps ($10) and fresh flower bouquets ($10).

3. Simplify for Mass Appeal ($0 – $100)

Along with depersonalization, sellers must declutter. Avoid any distracting elements for house hunters by stripping interiors down to their fundamental design features. If current residents use the bonus room for exercise, crafts, storage and office space, reallocate the room for a single purpose. Transform the space into a home office with a desk, chair, lamp and bookshelf.

Pack up everything else and ship off to storage ($100 per month). Clear off kitchen countertops, minimize overloaded bookshelves and cabinets, and reduce the total amount of furniture and detail. Cluttered spaces tell buyers that storage is limited and residents in the home are cramped.

4. Clean, and then Clean Again ($0 – $18)

Home shoppers peak in closets, look behind stairwells and check out garages. Buyers are on the market to make the largest purchase of their lifetimes, so no space is off limits during an open house. Deep clean homes before marketing them and then clean again before each open house ($10 for cleaning supplies). Avoid repellent odors by opening windows to circulate fresh air. Charcoal briquettes ($5) absorb musty smells and baking soda ($3) clears foul odors from carpets and cabinets. Remove these deodorizers before opening homes to shoppers so they view homes as positively as possible, justifying the increased offers and the steep costs of future mortgages.

5. Create Inviting Ambiance ($0 – $61)

A warm scent can help transform shoppers’ impressions. Subtly refresh the home’s scent by lighting a delicately-fragranced candle ($10), grinding lemon wedges ($1) in the garbage disposal or sweeping the space with Febreze ($5). Be careful not to overload homes with too strong of scents or conflicting aromas.

Open the blinds and draw back the curtains. Let as much natural light into the home as possible. Turn on the overhead lights and purchase ($20) or borrow floor lamps to liven every space with ample illumination.

Stage each space with an inviting arrangement. Float sofas away from the wall to make the room appear more spacious and position furniture in a conversational collection. Add a live, indoor plant ($15) to an empty corner and a bowl of fresh fruit ($10) in the kitchen. Home sellers can attract large audiences of homebuyers without paying for high-priced upgrades or hiring expensive design experts to stage their homes. Apply basic staging for less than $100 or all of these recommendations for approximately $460. A bit of decluttering, emotional separation from items that feel like home and some inexpensive mood setting is more likely to inspire mass-appeal and valuable returns.

Thank you Tali for the nice post! Readers, if you’re looking to buy, sell or rent a property (or perhaps you just want to know what the neighbors paid for their home), I highly suggest you check out Zillow and its suite of mobile apps.

*Full disclosure: No money changes hands for guest posts on this blog. I accept guest posts only from products and people that truly I believe in.