Tips for Staging Your Home to Help You Sell
Staging a Home for Sale
We can’t stress enough the importance of presenting your home in the best possible way. There are so many things that can be done to encourage a positive impression. A well thought out plan will be well worth your efforts. It’s important to take stock of what you have and prioritize while taking into account your time frame, your goals and your resources. Listed below are suggestions.
- Simplify rooms and remove as much unnecessary furniture and items as possible.
- Remove collections and all clutter, all the paper and the “stuff”. Take almost everything off of the counter tops. Empty closets.
- Think of highlighting the features of the house rather than the features of the things in the house. Remember you plan to move. Pack it up and either get rid of it or store it. It will make your future move easier.
- Make sure to have all the rooms set up. If you have an office or loft you have been using to store things, get rid of the clutter and set up as a simple office or bedroom space.
- In the bathrooms remove all the towels except fresh hand towels and all toothbrushes and toiletries from both the sinks and the shower. Make it sparkling clean. Use fresh flowers and decorative soap on the counter instead.
- Paint, paint paint! It’s one of the most inexpensive things you can do with the highest impact. Choose high appeal colors.
- Attend to all the little fixes. Do all the outlets have covers? Are there holes in the walls from paintings that have been moved? Are there nicks in the wall? A broken tile? You don’t want to give the impression that the home has not been maintained.
- Consider refinishing the wood floors and possibly removing some of the carpets.
- Open up the windows. Clean the glass and remove or pull up all the shades. Let the light in.
- Add lighting and turn it all on. Add more lighting than you think you need. Change to higher wattage bulbs. Make sure you have the same bulbs for the recessed lighting in each room.
- The front yard should look it’s best. It will often determine whether or not the potential buyes will go inside. Many buyers will look at the photos and drive by and then decide whether to make an appointment.
156-R Eastern Avenue Essex, MA
Spacious Colonial with apartment in Essex, MA
Sold December 2014 for $$465,000. See homes currently on the market in Essex, MA. This home is set well off the road on a 1.35 acre lot. The main part of the home is spacious, open, bright and polished.
The first floor has a large eat-in kitchen with a tile floor, dining room and comfortable living room. The office located off the living room has double pocket doors that can be closed off for privacy. There are hardwood floors in the kitchen, dining room and office. The attached two car garage is heated.
The second floor has three bedrooms and two full baths. The ensuite master bedroom has a walk-in closet and large tile bath with a separate tub and shower. The glass door in the room leads to a balcony with room for seating over looking the yard.
The private yard is large enough to accommodate the spacious deck and pool. There are multiple seating areas and room for garden space as well.
Entry into the house is through a large foyer with a separate sitting room. There is also a door into the apartment, but the apartment also has a separate private front entry. This enables the apartment to be very separate or become more part of the house for a guest suite or for extended family. The way the apartment is set up allows for many options. (more…)
- Published in Past Property Listings
45 Park Street Danvers, MA – Unit 3
Townhouse Condominium Near Danvers Square
Sold for $255,000 in October 2014. See homes currently on the market in Danvers, MA. Fabulous Park Street location. This townhouse style unit is located on the second and third floors and has private front and back entrances. Built in 1890 and converted to four condominiums in 1986. The unit has two bedrooms, one full and one half bath, two bedrooms, five rooms plus the second floor heated porch. There are beautiful hardwood floors and high ceilings.
The spacious kitchen has tile floors and granite counters. Upon entering the home is a striking glass entry to an enclosed porch with hardwood floors, many windows and a ceiling fan, that is now heated.There are two parking spaces and laundry in the unit.
Close to the center of town, restaurants, shopping, the North Beverly commuter rail station and Route 128.
See the video and listing details for 45 Park Street Danvers, MA – Unit 3.
Contact John & Cindy Farrell to see this home. 978-468-9576 (more…)
- Published in Past Property Listings
67 Rust Street Hamilton, MA
Sold October 2014 for $400,000.
Situated on a side street in the desirable downtown area of Hamilton, this home has been consistently updated and cared for including renovation of the kitchen and two bathrooms. There are seven rooms total, including three bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen with pristine white cabinets, granite counters and striking hardwood floors. The first floor features an open style with dining and living rooms flowing into each other, leading to an office nook and sitting area with a Harman pellet stove, adding pleasing warmth and ambiance. The first level tile floored bathroom was expanded to add storage and bring the laundry up to the first floor, resulting in a smart use of space.
The home’s heating system was converted to gas in 2008, the roof redone roughly five years ago and most recently this summer vivant solar panels were added.
A fabulous screened porch, with ceiling fan and wood siding, extends the living space to the outside and overlooks the fenced yard encompassing established perennial gardens and a storage shed. This home feels like a year round getaway!
Great location allowing for easy access to the commuter rail system, the Hamilton Wenham Regional Library, and in-town shops and businesses. Situated in the neighborhood between Patton and Pingree Parks. (more…)
- Published in Past Property Listings
11 Pearson Street Beverly, MA
Single level living in a North Beverly neighborhood in Beverly, Massachusetts. Set on .18 acres close to Beverly Golf and Tennis. Mature plantings surround this L shaped home that sits on a corner lot, allowing for some privacy and giving it a beautiful setting.
The home was built in 1954 and has been maintained and improved. A half bath was added, and there are now seven rooms, three bedrooms, one full and one half bath. More recently a sun room was added off the kitchen, with tile floors and sliders that lead to a brick patio and the back yard. The two car garage is attached and opens to the sun room. (more…)
- Published in Past Property Listings
124 Dennison Street Gloucester, MA
Past property listing.
Drive past Goose Cove and up tree lined Dennison Street, when you get to the top of the street, the landscape opens up and there sits this fabulous older home edged by a stone wall with other fabulous looking homes surrounding it. The original part of this home is circa 1728 with a circa 1920 stone house that is connected through a breezeway.
The original part of the home is believed to have once been a tavern in a compound on a road that led to Dogtown, where many people in Gloucester settled beginning in 1693. The home has nine rooms, four bedrooms, one of which is located on the first floor, and four bathrooms. The house has beautiful pine floors, exposed hand hewn beams and some hardware that was forged in a nearby foundry in the 1920’s. The stone house has a room with a wood burning fireplace on the first floor and on the second floor, a kitchen sitting area and full bath. Off of the living room in the main house is a screened porch with a brick floor. (more…)
- Published in Past Property Listings