The answer, of course, will vary depending on your market and how much work your home may need. To get an idea of what sort of things you should focus on in your own market, work with your agent, and, if possible, a professional stager. Your own eye can tell you a great deal. Take a drive around your neighborhood. Take note of the homes for sale. You’ll see awide difference in the outdoor maintenance and upkeep at homes with “for sale” signs. Siding will be new or freshened, walkways will be without cracks, and the landscaping will look professionally done. If house for sale looks dilatated or “lived in,” you can bet it will sit on the market longer and sell for a less- than-desirable price. While the expense of appropriately staging your home for sale is not a small sum, it’s one that many will be able to afford. However, where to focus and how much money to spend on a particular area are questions Staging the inside of a home can be very expensive if you are going for that finished, model-home look and need to build it from scratch. However, it can be quite inexpensive if you can think creatively. The key is to focus your time and energy on where it will be the most effective. The living room is one of the most effective areas to stage. It can cost as little as a $30 can of paint and a few fresh plants to give your room a whole new look. This is particularly important. How easily buyers can see themselves in the home’s main gathering space is sure to affect that ROI we discussed earlier. In addition, the fact that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes is a maxim that has been repeated, over and over. The NAR study shows that this cliché is actually true. Making these rooms more appealing need not be expensive. Nearly any surface can be painted, as long as you find the right kind of paint to stick to the surface that you’re trying to freshen up. Other improvements, like new towels and new hardware for the cabinets, are simple to do, and combined, shouldn’t cost more than $100. that should be answered. INTERNAL STAGING
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