Are you planning to move this summer? Well, there may still be some hot markets where you can quickly sell your home. However, if you have to sell and buy your house at the same time, this could get quite tricky. Looking for homes and trying to sell yours may not fit the same timeline. But there are some things you can do to spruce up your house so that you can sell it quickly and purchase a new home. Here are some tips to follow this summer when staging your home to sell.
Focus on Outdoor Spaces
The outdoors is one of the most prominent focal points for any potential buyer. When buyers approach your home, they want everything about your outdoors to say “welcome.” Therefore, it is critical to focus on outdoor spaces and ensure they are inviting. The essential outdoor spaces are those that face the street since these are the ones that make up your curb appeal. So make sure they are in the best shape. Here are some other parts of your exterior that you should pay close attention to when staging your home.
Roof
The roof is easy for homeowners to overlook because they are so used to ignoring it as they pass in and out of their homes. However, a prospective buyer knows that the roof can create a lot of trouble, especially during an inspection. Make sure that your roof is clean and free of debris such as leaves, moss, and black algae. Additionally, make sure that your gutters are clean and in good shape.
Pathways
You’ll be surprised at the difference clean driveways make. You’ve probably been in your home so long that the dirt, grime, and oil on your driveways and sidewalks are commonplace. It’s possible that your driveways aren’t as dark as they appear, and soap and water may reveal their actual color. Getting a pressure washing company to clean your pathways will make a huge difference when staging your exteriors.
Decks
As with your sidewalks and pathways, decks can get very dirty over the years. They can also become filled with moss, mold, leaves, and dirt. Instead of allowing potential buyers to see your decks filled with this accumulated grime from outdoors, allow a pressure washing company to wash away the dirty film from it so they can see its true color.
Don’t Forget About Your Greenery
Your vegetation outdoors may not seem as critical as other updates, but this is the one investment that could yield upwards of 300 percent return on your investment. Of all the updates you can make, don’t forget about this one. You can keep it as simple as cutting your lawn and pruning your trees and bushes. Or transform the look of your landscape. Here are some other things to consider when sprucing up your greenery.
Mulch
Consider removing the old mulch you have on your lawn and replacing it with a fresh batch. This could be shredded bark or stone pebbles.
Add Some Pops of Color
If you don’t want guests only to see fields of green, consider adding some fresh plants. Choose striking colors for the summer season, such as oranges, pinks, and reds.
Fill in Missing Patches of Grass
Got fungus? This can make your lawn look terrible. If you have trouble with lawn disease or large patches of missing grass due to drainage issues, consider fixing these problems. If you don’t have a green thumb, it may be a good idea to hire a lawn care company to make your lawn look plush and green all over once again.
Bring Some Greenery Indoors
Another consideration is bringing the outdoors inside. No, you don’t have to pluck your beautiful plants from your outdoor garden. Instead, you can purchase a few low-maintenance indoor plants and place them throughout your home. Fresh green plants are a nice touch indoors during the summertime.
Declutter
Clutter can make your space look unkempt. It can also limit the space you need to make your rooms look functional. So when you are staging your house, make sure that you remove unnecessary clutter from your space.
Outdoors
When decluttering, start with items outside that may detract from your curb appeal, such as dog bowls, children’s toys, broken items, lawn mowers, and other items that should go in the garage or some other storage area.
Indoors
Indoor clutter includes things you don’t need to display in your space while showing your home to potential buyers. This includes enormous pieces of furniture that make the rooms feel smaller. It could also encompass personal effects, such as awards and family photos. You want prospective buyers to focus on buying your home, not trying to determine if you went to high school together ages ago.
Let There Be Light
Nothing can be more of a turn-off than a house that feels grim and dark when you enter it. Homes with small windows that barely let in enough natural sunlight can make a potential buyer feel claustrophobic. On the flip side, light can make a huge difference, mainly if there is lots of sunshine pouring in.
Inside Your Home
When staging your home, especially during the summer, try to remove some of the window dressing or keep blinds open during showings. This will allow potential buyers to see how much natural light enters. Letting in sunlight can be a massive plus for those who work from home because they don’t have to rely on artificial light most of the day to get work done. In rooms that are dark or have no windows, consider decorating with beautiful, bright lights to detract from how dark the room is.
Outside Your Home
Don’t forget about the light outside your home. While most people will visit your home during daylight hours, they will still be checking to see if light fixtures are working correctly. So make sure there are new bulbs in these fixtures and that the fixtures are up-to-date. Also, if you have a large deck with minimal lighting, consider incorporating solar lights in the backyard or even drape some string lights to brighten up the backyard until the showings are complete. Likewise, if your porch lights don’t give off enough light, consider adding solar lights up and down your driveways and walkways.
Incorporate Trends to Match The Season
One final thing you want to do to ensure that your staged house shows well is to incorporate pieces that show you are on-trend for the season. Keeping up with the latest decor tips in magazines or online publications shows you are in the know. This summer’s trends are bold pops of color, blurring the lines between indoors and outdoors, adding indoor plants, and including curvy furniture and decor. While you don’t have to incorporate all of them this summer’s trends, adding a few will help keep buyer interest, especially if you sell your home FSBO (for sale by owner).
