6 Embarrassing Home Staging Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Home’s Value
1. Not Creating a Virtual Tour of Your Newly Staged Listing
The only thing worse than having your friends lie about how much they like your home staging is not showing off your hard work online. These days, that means virtual tours. The only problem is that they can be very expensive.
2. Staging With Furniture That Is Too Large for the Space
Be sure to match the size of your furnishings to the scale of your home. A small love seat with tiny end tables will look awkward in a spacious great room with a vaulted ceiling. Likewise, a massive four-poster bed can overwhelm a basement bedroom with a low ceiling. Pay attention to the number, as well as the size, of furniture pieces in a room. Having too many items will visually reduce floor space, and too few will make the room look sparse and uninviting.
3. Neglected Repairs
If you’ve been living in the house for years, you may no longer notice little problems—but buyers will spot them right away. A door that squeaks, a broken doorbell, or a little crack in the window will all send up red flags to potential buyers, no matter how nicely you’ve arranged the furniture. Walk through your home and try to view it as though you’re seeing it for the first time. That way, you can spot the little problems you’ve let go over the years—and fix them.
4. Showing Off Your Family
One of the biggest mistakes sellers can make is to line the walls and deck the mantel with family photos and trophies. A psychological factor is at work here: When buyers see a home filled with personal items, they can’t envision the home as their own. So, the cardinal rule of home staging is to remove your family from the equation. Put away those photos and mementos—you can bring them all back out when you move into your new home.
5. Over-Personalized Elements
We get it—it’s your home and you decorated it to suit your own taste. That’s fine, but know that when you renovate your home in a quirky or exotic style, you run the risk of turning off buyers down the road. You may love your shiny orange kitchen cupboards, but most buyers prefer more traditional cabinets. That doesn’t mean you need to invest in expensive remodeling projects just to sell your home. Before you remodel, however, you should consider how long you plan to stay in your house. If you think you might want to sell in the next few years, choose a design that will appeal to a wide range of people.
6. Phony Props
When you’re staging a home you’ve already moved out of, it’s tempting to trot out fake fruit and makeshift furnishings. Avoid the temptation! A bowl of plastic apples on the kitchen island or an inflatable mattress on the bedroom floor are never good substitutes for the real thing. While home stagers will tell you that it’s vital that your home look “lived-in,” fake accessories just give buyers an uneasy feeling. So, if your furniture is long gone, borrow some from a friend, or rent from a furniture store or staging company that specializes in preparing homes for showings.