Staging matters.

The difference between making the right first impression and not can mean tens of thousands of difference.

So if you decide not to hire a professional home stager, do these basic tricks to exponentially improve your first impression

1. Beautify Curb Appeal. If you choose to not have professional landscaping done, mow your lawn (or hire the neighbors kid to do it), add mulch, trim trees, kill weeds, clear your front sidewalk, give your trees/bushes a haircut, and add some flowers!

2. Purge your interior. If you choose not to hire a professional house cleaner, you better get your windex & squeegee equipped. The goal here is open space. You need to clear the clutter as much as possible and make it feel as anti-claustrophobic as you can. Your clutter will depart from your living area and arrive in the corner of your garage. Hint* keep the dishes cleaned, and grind a lemon in your garbage disposal, and clear away everything from your kitchen counters. Then set out a bowl of lemons on the counter.

3. Once you’ve de-cluttered your house, it’s time to clean. This includes windows, carpets, floors, appliances, countertops and .. well virtually everything a buyer will see so… I mean everything.

4. Personal items must come down. I know this will be a bit emotionally difficult yet, we must make the illusion that this is now their home. This means photos of members of your family & friends, refrigerator magnets, and other personal items.

5. Fresh coat of paint – if your paint has faded or it looks like willy wonkas factory color wise, invest a fresh coat of paint with neutral colors. Do NOT paint every wall a different color.

6. Unveil everything! Light light light. Open all your blinds and clean the windows to invite as much sun into the house as possible. Concurrently, anytime a showing is happening, keep the lights on! People get turned off by dark homes.

7. Lastly, MAKE IT SMELL LIKE THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER – some people bake cookies, others put out candles or put electronic air fresheners in at least 3 different areas of the home. Smell is huge and it affects the way people feel when leaving your home to make their offer.

If you plan putting your house on the market, CONTACT US and we will give you the FULL version for staging your home in a checklist format. So connect with us, schedule a few days out of your busy life and play our video following it step by step.

Your friend Peter at ODIGO Realty