Top 25 Staging Tips to Get a Home Ready to List for Sale

There are many, many staging tips on the web but in this list below, we try to give you the most effective and inexpensive ways to get a home ready to put on the market. 

Realtors and their buyers are more likely to be interested in a home from the get-go if it is staged - this will allow the listing to sell quicker and for a higher price, maybe even getting several bids. Stage the home first so that it looks appealing to a wide variety of potential buyers, then take professional pictures to post online and print marketing materials. (You can keep a before-and-after for your own records.) 

Here are the top 25 staging tips to get a home ready to sell. This list can be useful to sellers as well as agents.

1. Start at the curb in front of the house and walk through to the back of the house as you would during a showing. Write down anything that needs attention. Also, have a friend perform a walk-through and add her/his ideas to your list.
2. Prune bushes and trees. Remove any dead or low lying tree limbs. Also, invest in a few flats of flowers that will last the entire growing season and add color to the front garden.
3. Replace darker curtains with sheers that let in more sun so potential buyers can see the home in the best light.
4. Shampoo and deodorize the carpets or refinish wood floors. Do not use incense.
5. Wipe down and paint walls if they look worn or are an unusual color. Choose a neutral color if you repaint - something like eggshell white, linen white, or muslin.
6. Declutter, Declutter, Declutter! Remove all knick knacks, souvenirs, personal photos, mail piles, etc. Place all money, jewelry and other valuables in a secure, out of sight location.
7. Rearrange and remove furniture throughout the house to make rooms appear larger.
8. "Rule of 3"  - no more than three items on top of anything...coffee table, dressers, kitchen counters, and the like. 
9. Consider removing the bulk of your clothes from closets and pack them away in storage. You will need to do this soon anyway.   Anything that you can take out of the house that is not totally necessary, remove.....
10. Clean all rooms from top to bottom, and ensure everything is dust free.
11. Keep pets and pet food dishes and litter box outside or in the garage. 
12. Bleach any mold or mildew you find outside and inside the house. 
13. The bathrooms and kitchen can be brightened up by adding a few new hand towels and a soap dispenser. Keep toilet lids down and bathrooms should be unusually clean and fresh.
14. Remove any fixtures that you do not want to include with the sale. 
15. Clean all kitchen appliances especially the oven. Leaky faucets, jammed drawers, and broken light switches are a few repairs you can make.
16. Keep beds made.
17. Wash all windows and make them sparkle and keep the blinds open when showing. 
18. Take off any screens if they are not alarmed and give maximum exposure to the view outside.
19. Use warm, incandescent bulbs inside for a natural feel instead of the high efficiency ones that are bluish.
20. Ensure each room has a set function. If you have a bedroom that you are using for storage (like I am) just box everything up and keep it in the garage or storage facility.
21. Put in a bed, nightstand, lamp, and some paintings on the walls along with lovely linens to make it appear as a guest room. Four bedroom homes sell better than three, three better than two.
22. Rent some furniture if necessary. We keep a supply in storage for our sellers to use if they need anything during the time we have the property on the market.
23. Keep the lawn cut short and buy mulch to put around the plants and trees.
24. Clean the siding, bricks, gutters, doorways, decks, by renting or borrowing a power washer. Clean the swimming pool, spa or hot tub.
25. Make your home look like a hotel suite or guest cottage where someone can move right in.  This is exactly what you want to have happen.