Preparing your house to sell? Follow these easy staging tips suitable for any budget.

Is your home ready to show? Implement the following checklist to make your home stand out and shine for prospective buyers and maximize your bottom line.

Maximize Your Curb Appeal

1. Move all garbage cans, recycling bins, gardening tools/supplies, shovels, etc.. from the front yard and arrange neatly in garage or shed.
2. Make sure lawn is neatly mowed, weeds are pulled from planting beds, dead or dying plants are removed. Mulch where needed.
3. Sweep all sidewalks, walkways, and steps that lead to the front door.
4. Touch up paint where needed around front door, windows, and garage doors. Dirty, peeling paint will give potential buyers the impression that your home is not maintained well.
5. Replace worn, stained doormats with a fresh new welcome mat.
6. If you have been living with a stubborn lock that needs to be jiggled just so, replace it! Buyers are forming their first impressions at the front door.

Give Potential Buyers the Best View of the Interior

1. Remove all clutter. Remember less is best. Limit decorative objects. Clear, clutter-free surfaces will provide less distractions so that buyers can truly see what they are buying...a home, not your personal belongings. Also, the more of your own personal stamp you remove, the more likely the buyer can visualize themselves and their belongings in the space. Your moving anyway...pack it up!
2. Rearrange or remove extra furniture from the room to highlight the space in a room.
3. Remove or pack away any valuable or breakables.
4. Remove all personal photos - you want the prospective buyer to visualize themselves living in the space and not concentrate on your family. We are all curious and love pictures. You don't want prospective buyers remembering your beautiful wedding pictures, but forgetting about the gorgeous crown molding iand custom built-ins in the house!
5. Clean, organized closets look larger. You don't want prospective buyers forming the impression that there isn't enough storage space in the home.
6. Make sure all lightbulbs are working. A brighter home feels warmer, more inviting and shows the space best.

7. Fix all doors that may stick or not close correctly, remember - each minor inconvenience you live with each day - a buyer is subtracting dollars off the offer price!

8. Clean, Clean, Clean! From the baseboards to the ceiling. Clean windows, floors, baseboards, carpets, sinks, tubs, floors. I can't stress this enough...CLEAN!

9. Make sure each room is attractive and has a FUNCTIONAL use! I can help with this!

SMART STAGING = HIGHER FOR YOU!