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Anybody got some creative ones? I've googled like crazy, I know we have to keep everything sparkling clean, declutter, neutral decor, depersonalize, etc. Anybody have any outside-the-box house staging tips? We got an offer two weeks after we listed and it fell through thanks to a dumb easy repair and skittish buyers (my tip - pay for a home inspection BEFORE you list). Anybody got any knockout tips to sell a house?

Check out the HGTV website. They may have some good tips.

Good luck selling your house.

Not sure if this is a knockout tip, but we painted our front door and it made a huge difference. Same color (it matched the shutters), but it made it so much less dull and freshened it up beautifully.

..baking smells...apples/cookies

..and you can have hot apple cider and cookies available during an openhouse.

..great smelling kitchens are a no-brainer..

..lots of lights on and a fire going in the fireplace..if you have one(seasonally optional)

..animal presence (litterboxes and doo-doo in the backyard) should be addressed

..toilets,sinks and faucets should be 'gleeming'.. and lids down.. and new rolls of the high priced bum wad shows that extra touch!!

..fresh vacuum marks on carpets look good!

..kitchen counter tops cleared for maximum visual space.

..grounds and gardens manicured..

..have eaves troughs cleared.

..do simple fix-ups, touch-ups, clean-ups..

..make as much 'space' by organizing basements and garages.. get rid of stuff, have a garage sale to simplify.

..remove cars, boats trailers etc. from the property while it is being shown.

..always helps to have a knockout looking real estate agent working for you!

good luck!!

smy

Good tips, thank you! Our realtor scheduled an open house for us this weekend, so I will be reading through your list, SMY. AN, my H painted the front door last week. SD - I will check them out!

Our realtor is busting ass - I think we just have bad luck. We got an offer 2 weeks after we listed and due to the timing of when they wanted to close and the home inspection, we have lost a good month that we could have been showing the house. Our realtor had tons of people in to see the house during those two weeks. He has sold two houses in our neighborhood, quickly - we just have shit luck. We decluttered a LOT but I think I'm going to put some more stuff in storage before our open house. All our framed pics, winter coats, sweaters. Make another goodwill run or two.

Anybody want to babysit my cat this Sunday?

Clean your closets! Not many personal pictures. Clutter off of every surface.

We looked at a house one time that had a stuffed animal on every stair. We took one look and said, no thanks. I KNOW that is short sighted, but you want your buyer to picture themselves in your house, not admiring your stuff. Or being afraid to open a closet, we figured if they had stuff on every stair, we were not opening a closet or cupboard!

[This message edited by Pentup at 4:22 PM, April 23rd (Tuesday)]

My gf is a stager, so she has great tips. One of her best is to stage your closets. She wrap tie a ribbon around blankets in the linen closet so it looks brand new. I would clean about half of everything out of your closets if you can stand it.

Scrub all trim, or repaint it.

Take all appliances off your kitchen counters.

Beds should be made perfectly.

No kid toys out of the bedroom, unless in a specific play room.

Minimal personal photos or any other stuff on the walls. Paint if needed. Move out any extra furniture. You want your rooms to look big and empty. When I sold my marital home after D-day, I packed up all kinds of stuff, designated one room as the packing room to store it all in, and the rest of the house looked huge when I was done. Sold the house in the first week. A lot of dumb luck involved, but the realtor loved it.

Jana-

I am a stager. If you'd like, I can PM you some pictures of some of the homes I've done, they've all sold furnished.

Depersonalize as much as possible. People need to be able to picture their stuff in your home.

Carpet tracks (vacuum tips), smells fresh (not overpowering but fresh), etc.

PM me for more.

Swizzle

A friend of mine sold her "mini mansion" some years back. Realtor told her "paint the front door RED". My friend thought she was nuts, but did it anyway. Sold the first showing. Who knows if it was the door, or not????

Can you afford to rent a storage locker. You can store outside of the house Christmas decorations, shovels, tools, extra toys, photos, velvet Elvis pictures LOL. Buy new bedding (you can always enjoy it in the new home). If you have a cat, get a covered litter box. If you have a dog, clean up the "logs" in the yard.

Rather than fill the office with desk/hutch/chairs, bookcases etc....just pick a few main pieces and store the rest off-site.

Hose off the front porch a few hours before it's shown so it's not even a little dusty.

CLEAN windows.

If the lawn is spotty, fix the thin areas.

I may have repeated others suggestions...sorry if I have duplicates.

Candles-Yankee have a lasting smell

Remove family pictures you want them to see their home not yours

Fresh flowers in a vase

If there is time bake banana bread or cookies

Remove sponges and dish rack

If you can remove any pets

Clean off countertops including kitchen and bathroom

Closets are relatively neat and beds made

Good luck!

I've sold two houses without a realtor and both sold on the first open house. Some of that was luck but I did everything the experts say to do. It worked.

I know that when I go through an open house and if there are personal items in the bathroom, it just turns me off. One house I looked at had a bottle of shampoo in the master bathroom that had a label on it that said "dad's shampoo". The bathroom wasn't very clean, either. It just grossed me out!

Thank you guys so much! We have thrown away, donated, or stored a huge amount of stuff, but I think we need to do more. I'm making that my goal for the week.

Swizzle, I PM'd you! Thank you!

Fresh flowers in a couple of rooms is always nice and definitely a pleasant but not strong odor. A bright throw or pillows in the living room can also be a really nice cheap splash of colour.

Well, my H went out and bought a big flowerpot for the front porch last night, and did touch-up painting all over the house. I have a big plastic container of sweaters and coats in my car now to put in storage, and another bag for goodwill. When I left the house this morning he was using the deck broom in the garage. We have a showing today at 10:30 and an open house this Sunday. We're going to step it up big-time for the open house! (maybe we'll get an offer BEFORE then - thinking positive! )

..GOOD LUCK>>> sending mucho mojo and positive vibes for the quick sale of your home..

smy

After you depersonalize your house, take digital pictures of each room from every angle, and then look at the pictures. You will be amazed at what your eyes drift over in 3D because you're so used to seeing it, but jumps right out at you in the 2D flatness of the picture.

In our first house we did this and I immediately saw the family activity board - a white board with a cork board section, where we pinned up all kinds of important papers and tickets and crap, and then forgot about, and eventually covered up with more papers and tickets. In the pictures you see a gleaming kitchen with this fringe of paper sticking out of the wall at eye height, looking like a clutter pile stuck to the wall. Which I guess it was. But we couldn't see it until we took the pictures.

We also noticed in the pictures that the view through our sliding kitchen doors included the blue recycling bin sitting just off our deck. We had looked right past it, so used to seeing it. We moved it to the shed, and then added flower pots with vegetable seedlings and stuff so when you entered the kitchen and looked out at the yard, you only saw nature and no plastic or clothes lines or grungy welcome mat or even the garden hose, which while necessary just looked cluttery in the images.

That is a really good idea circe - it is incredible what you see in pictures that you overlook IRL!

Another showing at 6:30 tonight! Come on offer!

Sending house-sale mojo your way!