The overall presentation of your home is one the most important factors when selling your house in the Chicago area. Having a home that is beautifully decorated will certainly attract more buyers and help you sell your house for top dollar.
Putting in the extra effort with incredible photography and a professionally staged space, will typically pay for itself and then some. Check out our latest post for some great staging and photo tips!
Real Estate Photography and Staging to Sell Your Home in Chicago
Before The Photos Are Taken and The House Is Shown…
Contact several professional stagers in your area to do an initial walk through of your house and have them give you an idea of how they would stage the house. By having several professionals walk through you will at least learn something valuable at every meeting and you’ll also be sure you are going to find the best person for the job. A staging professional will be able to create an interior design plan that will showcase the main selling features of the home and clearly define the use of each space within the home. This will help you buyers envision how they would actually use and live in the space. Once you are able to bring a buyer into the mindset of how they will begin to live in the space they will be much more likely to make an offer on your house.
As They Say, A Picture Says A Thousand Words…
The pictures used for your listing are going to form the first impression for a prospective buyer. These days most buyers will discover your property is for sale from an online listing and they will use the pictures to determine if it is worth their time to tour the property is person. Having great pictures is absolutely critical to converting potential online lurkers to prospective in person buyers so it is critical you get the pictures right.
Hiring a professional will easily pay for itself. Keep in mind, a photographer is NOT a stager. They are not there to clean up or position items throughout your home. They are there to capture the best photos of what “is”.
Get it “Magazine Pretty” With a Professional Stager
Professional staging is still largely seen as a “boutique” service, or something only used by people in big cities. But the fact is, staging has a HUGE impact on your ability to successfully sell your home.
People largely buy based on emotion. You will want to create a neutral environment, yet still, allow the viewer to feel as if they are in their own home. Some stagers will refurnish and decorate a whole house, however, it is much more common to focus on a couple main rooms.
Depending on what you already have, a stager can bring in many pieces or simply replace and repurpose items you already have to be more aesthetically pleasing. The ultimate goal of staging is to maximize the perceived value of the home.
Tip #1: Declutter
Don’t take any photos or show your house to any buyer until all of the clutter has been removed. Buyers do not want to see your personal possessions or photos while touring your house. It can make people feel intrusive and subconsciously make them want to leave. This isn’t how you want them to feel!
Tip #2: Say Goodbye To All Personal Items
Well for a little while anyway. Putting away things like photos, awards, bills as well as religious and political items will make people feel more comfortable. Your goal is to make people feel as if they could live there. They need to be able to easily imagine themselves in the space, and that can prove difficult when looking at a wall of your family photos. In addition, packing up unnecessary items and personal effects will help when the moving day arrives.
Tip #3: Don’t Neglect the Outside Areas
For both photography and viewing purposes, you will want to spend some time fixing up the outside of your home. Don’t leave your cars in the driveway, instead park them down the street.
This will allow the focus to be on your home in the photos and will make people feel like they are pulling into their own driveway as opposed to someone else’s. You should also put away all personal items and kid stuff. They say people decide if buying is a possibility in only a matter of seconds.
This is why it pays to clean up the front yard, plant a few flowers and refresh the front porch. The backyard should also be clear of clutter, with a warm and inviting feel. People should want to spend their time there!
Tip # 4: Keep it Tidy… Like Really Tidy
You never really know how other people live. Keeping food out on the counter, the lid up on the toilet, or having cables running across your walls can be huge eyesores to certain people viewing your home. Think about how you would expect a hotel or Air B&B to look upon arrival… and strive for that.