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Searching for homes can be a daunting process for any buyer. Our clients will view many homes in one week, and the more difficult it is for them so “see” themselves in prospective homes, the more likely they are to pass them up.Leaving everything up to the imagination of the buyer when selling a home can be a big mistake. A major part of listing a home for sale is the staging process. The purpose of staging is to create a great first impression for buyers coming into your home. Simple, clean, and livable is the goal, and is what will create the emotional connection with the potential buyer and persuade them to offer.

When we list real estate in North Scottsdale, we take a walk through every room, closet, bathroom and outside area to make recommendations about how to get the maximum value out of the sale of the property. Our clients get a detailed checklist of the changes and updates needed. We take into consideration their time, how much they want to spend, and how we can best gain added value for their home. “In today’s market, a dollar spent (on home staging/remodeling) will usually get you $1.30 to anywhere up to $2.50 on your investment.” – Jeff Sibbach

Some homes will take more work than others to stage. We’ve come into clients’ homes that need simple tidying up and a good cleaning and call it a day. The house is listed immediately. These are homes that are newer or have been recently painted, the inside and outside are in good repair, recent updates in the kitchen and master bath have been made, knick-knacks and décor is kept to a stylish minimum, and the overall feel of the home is comfortable and livable. This environment allows potential buyers the room to feel themselves in the home and actually picture how their items and life might fit in, making an emotional connection.

Homes that need more work in order maximize value vary from older homes without a lot of updates, to the condition of the home outside or inside is in disrepair; the overall color scheme or flooring inside is mis-matched; rooms that are cluttered and do not flow nicely into the next; too many knick-knacks; too much furniture for the size of the space, and generally just too much stuff.

A home like this will not sell for maximum value because a buyer will not be able to see how they will fit in the space. They cannot picture their own furnishings in it, they cannot see how large or small the room is, and the color and clutter is distracting and chaotic. Instead of making an emotional connection with the home, they are so distracted by thoughts of the repairing, re-painting, and re-modeling of the space they would have to do, that they will leave without any thought of ever returning.

Often, recommendations such a updates and remodeling can seem overwhelming to our clients. That’s why we take care of these projects from start to finish. We babysit the process so we take the stress off the seller. If you want to get maximum value for your house, call the Sibbach Team we’re here to help.

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I just spoke with a client who is in the middle of touch ups, repairs, de-cluttering and a long list of “To Do’s” while we prepare his home for sale. While he and his wife both know this process is necessary in order to get maximum value for their home, living in a home staged for sale can be intimidating, especially when you have kids to consider.

From a buyers point of view, a home that is lived in has a whole different feel than a vacant home. Even if the vacant home is fully staged and furnished, the animate quality of the home is entirely different. While the vacant home will stay beautiful, it is stagnate while the lived-in home has movement.

This movement is natural, and to minimizing your stress during the time your home is on the market, the following ideas can help ease the strain on your family.

1. When it comes to bathrooms, if you have small children, delegate just one or two bathrooms for use. This way you’ll minimize the areas that need to be kept clean. Keep a storage bin under the cabinets with Clorox Wipes, Windex Wipes, and Toilet Bowl Cleaner. Also, keep a stack of your folded decorative towels nearby. When everyone’s washed in the morning, take the bin out and go over the surfaces, mirrors, and toilet. Throw used towels in laundry, and quickly hang the decorative towels over towel bar. For older children, teach them to take out the bin for a quick clean-up in their bathroom each morning.

2. The kitchen is always the busiest, and messiest room in the house. Do the same as in the bathrooms and keep a storage bin close at hand with cleaning wipes and dishwasher soap. It will also be helpful during this time to stock up on paper plates and cups. This will minimize the dishes that need to be cleaned. After dinner, and after breakfast is eaten, just throw paper items away, and do a quick counter and table wipe up. Leave appliances used daily out, just quickly wipe them down. Throw any dishes that need to be washed in the dishwasher.

3. For the living areas and outside, in the evenings pick up toys and stash them away. Give the kids a box to gather everything at once, and put away. With little kids make it a game and set the timer. (This works with the big kids too.)

4. For the beds, tuck the kids in at night in a tidy bed with the sheets and comforter made. Teach them (and yourself) to scoot in from the top like a sleeping bag. When they get up in the morning all it takes in a quick pull up of the comforter and pillows placed. (Once you try it, you may be keeping this idea for good!)

Don’t worry about clothes in the dryer, just make sure laundry is not out to be folded. And don’t agonize as your driving away that there might be a fingerprint on the sliding glass door, or a shower door left open. These are things that will not hinder the sale of your home. It’s the big “picture” of open, spacious, clean and livable that makes all the difference.

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When the Sibbach Team stagers meet with sellers, the first thing they often address is decluttering the house. Why? Because decluttering helps buyers focus on the house, not your stuff. Many buyers simply get distracted consciously or subconsciously by your stuff, instead of focusing on the house itself. If you remove your stuff, then you are allowing the buyers to see the space and imagine themselves living in it with their stuff.

When selling, you need to maximize the space you have in your house. Buyers need to see all of the space to see the full value of your house. They want to see the condition of the walls, floors, counters, etc. This can be hard if you have most of it covered with your artwork and family photos.

It’s understandable if decluttering and packing away your stuff makes you emotional. When you have called somewhere “home” for a long time it can be hard to move whether you want to or not. Yet, when you pack away or throw away items, you start see your house changing from less of your “home” to more of just a place you lived. Plus, decluttering before selling will help you be more prepared for the big move once you sell!

Where do you start? Kitchens are a big selling feature, so start by clearing off your kitchen countertops. There should be only a few things on your countertops when your house is listed for sale. Put away all countertop appliances, such as coffeemakers and toasters, in a closed cabinet. If you have décor above your kitchen cabinets, we also suggest packing that away. Keep only minimal decorative items on kitchen countertops, such as a pretty flower, apothecary jars filled with accents like beans or noodles or an open cookbook. Remember, home staging is different from regular decorating, a few simple accents will make the home feel warmer and more inviting, but shouldn’t distract buyers from focusing on the house itself.

Thin out your bookshelves. They help make the house feel more like a home, but it can be distracting to home buyers. We always suggest thinning out bookshelves as much as possible so the space looks more visually clean and open. A general rule is to try to keep 50-75% of each shelf empty for the best results.

In addition to actual decluttering, it’s important to do some visual decluttering-busy patterns and a variety of colors can be very distracting for home buyers. A top home staging tips is to neutralize the color palette. This not only allows buyers to see past your personal tastes, but it also helps them stay focused on the home’s features. Start by neutralizing the palette with beige or gray walls, neutral furniture, and only some colorful accents. Also, make sure the furniture is well-scaled for the room, you’ll want to remove large furniture pieces and stick to pieces that are visually lighter to make the space seem larger.

Don’t forget to clean out your closets. Many homeowners will “hide” more stuff in their closets while selling to declutter the rest of the home. The problem with this is home buyers will look inside your closets and storage is often important to buyers. If your closets are overflowing with stuff and not neatly organized, they will appear to be much smaller than they actually are. Instead of storing all your clutter in your closets, thin them out to the bare necessities and store the rest at a friend or family member’s home or in a storage unit until you sell the house. It will be worth it when buyers enticed about all the great storage space.