You wouldn’t think Portland needed staging help in this HOT market, but staging does help the seller meet their expectations regarding offers coming in at listing price or higher and is a timely manner. I get asked all the time about staging, and to be honest about it, I often start with basics that you would not think would need mention. Here is my list, and also a professional list compiled from the experience of other professionals and my own experience.

1. De-Clutter: This is a no brainer. How can a buyer see themselves in your home if your stuff is all over the place AND in all the closets? Clean out the closets. Put only necessary things that you use every day in shallow decorative boxes (like under the sink and on the hat shelf in the closet). ALL other stuff goes into storage boxes.

2. Clean Clean Clean!  Every window,  window guide and sill and shelf should be clean and sparkly. No dust bunnies, no dog smells, no cinnamon- apple- candle smells.  Clean the drains and the soap scum places. Clean the toilets (and by the way, keep the toilet paper stocked; buyers sometimes want to use the toilet). Wipe off the base boards.

Now, you have listed the house for sale and its time to welcome potential buyers: Now what?

3. Check out the competition. Let’s go take a look at what buyers will be seeing when your house is on the tour. Check out the condition of other properties, cool features that will be compared to your home, how move in ready is your home compared to these others, what staging tactics are being used in other homes.

4. Create a staging plan to use during the marketing time.  What will you do to quickly make your home appealing during buyer tours? Put on all the lights, run a quick dust rag over the surfaces, all dishes in the washer or away, take out the garbage and empty the waste baskets, clean the litter box (and keep it cleaned up).  Take some photos of your home when it is fully staged so you can refer to them to make it look good for buyers.

5. Follow the advice of a good professional.  Data shows that homes prepared by professional stagers sell for more money.

6. Eliminate excess and pre pack personal items. Personal items include family photographs (maybe leave just one really good one)

7. Clear off the counter spaces. Tables and counters need to be free of anything except a decorative item.

8.  Pay attention to the details:  I get asked all the time if a client should repaint the interior or buy new drapes or remodel the kitchen. These things can be expensive, and will emphasize deferred repairs or maintenance.  Instead, invest your money and time in some of these items:

• Clean or paint the baseboards and trim.
• Ensure locks, doors and drawers are working property and easily.
• Paint or replace outdoor accents like house numbers or mailboxes
• label all light switches to the buyer doesn’t have to hunt for the switch that turns on some lights.
• Tighten loose hinges

9. Did I say Clean Clean Clean? Well, CLEAN till your home glistens! Invite an outsider to offer up an opinion about what you may have overlooked.

10. Take some photographs of your house and see what it looks like from that point of view.

Be brutally honest with yourself. Go back into your house and walk through it as if you are a buyer. What sticks out? What is distracting? Ask me or a friend to go through your home with some sticky notes to put on everything that needs to be removed before showing the home….and get that stuff out of there!!