Home-Staging Checklist for Real Estate Agents before hosting an Open House

You’re putting a home on the market. What do you do to make your property sell fast? How do you
attract potential buyers for your home? How do you stand out? This is where staging your home comes into play especially if you are hosting an open house.
What is staging a home? Staging refers to the process of preparing a property for sale
on the open market. Staging is used to highlight a home’s greatest features, wow potential
buyers, and sell it as soon as possible for the highest feasible price.

Here are some steps that you must take to ensure your home is staged nicely:

1. Declutter.
Clean, or replace the appliances in the home so they look new and modern.

2.Depersonalize.
Remove any personal items that belong to the current owners such as picture
frames, drawings, etc. Potential home buyers need to be able to visualize themselves in
the home space. Removing personal items allows them to do so.

3.Escalate Curb Appeal.
Little changes can maximise a potential customer’s appeal. Some of these are – Power wash the windows and open areas of the house, Check and double-check the front door, the doorbell, the welcome mat, and other visible appliances.

4.Appeal to the Senses.
Bake a fresh batch of cookies, turn on all of the lights, turn the TVs and radios
off. Relocate pets on the day of the open house, etc.

5.Whip the Yard into Shape.
Hire a gardener a few days before the open house to trim the hedges, mow the
lawn, and clean up any areas that may seem messy.

6.Show off the Home’s Best Features.
Open the curtains or blinds to allow natural light to settle into the home, remove
rugs to reveal its beautiful hardwood floors, make sure the fireplaces are in
working condition, etc.

7.Prepare a Slideshow of Beautiful/Calming Pictures along with Soft Music to Play
on the TV.
When potential buyers enter a home, it is always important that they feel safe
and calm within the property. This allows them to visualize themselves living in
the home.

8.Replace items.
Replacing items within the home, especially within bedrooms, can allow potential
buyers to truly visualize themselves living there. From using gender-neutral
colors and themes to exchanging a random set of hangers for a simple and
elegant set can make all of the difference.

9.De-grime.
One of the most important things you need to do when selling a home is to
excessively clean areas that would normally be quite messy or possibly dirty.
From the bathroom, especially the shower and bathtub, to the kitchen, this step is
an extremely important one.

10.Start Preparing for the Open House.
Whether you’re preparing for a physical open house or a virtual one, you have to
make sure that everything is in check. Put flyers in local newspapers and real
estate websites such as Housal, put up a “for sale” sign in front of the house,
prepare important documents such as homeowner’s association rules, inspection
reports, and the like.