Staging for Success: Advice to Help Your Home Sell Faster
To sell your home quickly, you must stage it in a way that showcases its strengths and make spaces attractive to prospective buyers. In honor of Coldwell Banker Home Staging Week, we asked some of our top agents to share their staging best practices, tips and tricks. Here’s what they had to say!
We’ve all heard the adage that it is important to make a great first impression, and the same is true for your home when opening the doors to potential buyers.
While you may have decorated your home in a stylish and comfortable manner, prospective buyers may have a different eye for design. In order for your home to seem attractive to buyers, they must be able to see the space as a semi-blank canvas so they can mentally apply their own style and design to each room. Only then will they be able to picture themselves living there, making them more likely to want to make an offer.
We asked some of our Coldwell Banker-affiliated agents and brokers around the country to lend some staging tips and tricks, and most agreed on the following best practices:
Showcase your strengths:
“Staging is incredibly important because it helps showcase aspects of the home. For example, if a home has a newly installed granite countertop in the kitchen, one should simply put fresh flowers on the counter to highlight it.” – Danielle Moy, Broker Associate, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Orland Park, Illinois
“Staging is as much about ‘editing’ as it is about rearranging furniture. Editing means you can see the space in the best possible way, and not just the stuff within that space.” – Cara Ameer, Broker Associate, Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Cut the clutter and pay attention to detail:
“Less is more when it comes to staging. Declutter and pack away any items that aren’t necessary for daily living. It’s all in the details – scale back the amount of items on shelves and make sure all lamps have working light bulbs. Lighting is important to making a space seem more open and inviting” – Renae Voda, Sales Consultant, Coldwell Banker Barnes, Franklin, Tennessee
“Don’t forget to organize and declutter closets and cabinets – buyers will peek in there! You don’t want to give the impression that there isn’t enough storage space by keeping those areas packed with items.” – Angel Piontek, Realtor Associate, Coldwell Banker Edite, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Save some pennies:
“You don’t have to hire an expensive staging company to completely redesign your home! Move furniture, change shower curtains, hang clean towels and remove rugs to expose hardwood floors. Add new throw pillows to couches and beds to freshen up the area!” – Jessica Riffle Edwards, Previews Property Specialist, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, Wilmington, North Carolina
“A few cans of paint and fresh carpet are affordable upgrades that can make a home stand out without much of an investment.” – Chris McDonnell, Broker, Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties, Vail, Colorado
Athena Snow
Senior Manager, Public Relations & Giving for Coldwell Banker. Grew up in Sarasota and attended college at Western Carolina University. Athena wanted to wake up in that city that doesn’t sleep so headed to Madison Avenue to start her marketing career. She has been with this awesome brand for more than 15 years and can be found generating buzz about CB in every way possible. Athena helps to grow the brand’s position as the most storied real estate company within the industry and has led many high-profile endeavors; she was at the forefront of the brand’s pioneering smart home campaign, raised $6 million in two years to build 130 Habitat for Humanity homes, and led the Homes for Dogs program in partnership with Adopt-a-Pet.com that resulted in tens-of-thousands of dogs finding their furever home. She currently leads the CB Supports St. Jude program, which encourages the Coldwell Banker network’s 96,000+ real estate agents to make donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for every real estate transaction they represent. In her spare time, you can find her either digging up a new area in her yard for another flower bed or planning her next travel adventure. She's the proud mom of three cats Jolene, Ziggy and Lucy.
