This guest post is by Anne Bourne of StagingWorks (http://www.stagingworkstoronto.ca)
You inherited your grandmother’s dining room suite over a decade ago. It’s big, it’s heavy and it doesn’t fit in your lovely, but small dining room. It is taking up the entire room and you want to sell that room, along with the rest of your house. It needs to go. This is the type of thing that I see in many home staging consultations. People have very large pieces of furniture that really don’t fit in the property that they are trying to sell. When selling a home, you are essentially selling lifestyle, in addition to the space. If that space is seen as small or “tight”, buyers will move on.
Kitchens are one of the main “buying centers” of the home and need to be seen as clean and spacious. Cupboards that are bursting with old Tupperware, pots and pans convey to a potential buyer that there is simply not enough storage space for the average family. Much of it will need to be packed up and stored, to show off the storage space that the seller actually does have. The same goes for kitchen counter tops. These should be clean and clutter-free.
Basements are often the “dumping ground” in many properties. Old Christmas decorations, broken toys and furniture can often be found taking up valuable real estate in the basement. This material needs to be donated, stored or thrown out. If a basement is nicely finished, it really should show as another space where the family can relax, work out, play pool, or whatever else they enjoy doing. Even if the basement is unfinished, it should look neat and organized, so that potential buyers can imagine what they can do with the space.
These are just some examples of items that I often strongly suggest sellers remove from their home, during the process of preparing it for sale. For many people, the notion of having to de-clutter their home by themselves is overwhelming. Hiring professional movers to relocate large items of furniture, or help you pack and sort through your belongings is often money well spent. It’s a solution that has been a lifesaver for many of my clients because their busy lifestyle just doesn’t afford them the time to tackle such a daunting task. Professional movers, like Rent a Son, are perfect to help with preparing that house to be what I like to call “market ready”. They even have storage for Grandma’s dining room set, if this is what you need until you move into your new home. Depending on the size of the project, they can come and give an estimate of how much time will be required, how many boxes you will need and the cost. It’s a one-stop shop and it helps my clients get their home listed quickly and efficiently, without wasting their valuable time packing and moving large items.
StagingWorks was voted the GTA’s top home stager by Toronto Life. Visit our blog at http://www.stagingworkstoronto.ca/home-staging-toronto-blog/ or contact us at [email protected].