Selling a home? Check your feelings at the door.

Home sellers often get offended at comments that are made regarding their home.  It's only natural.  

Home owners work hard to make their house a home, they may love every inch of it from the fabulous décor to wall color, why would they think anyone else would think different?  Because we're human, each unique in what we like and dislike and not everyone will feel the same. 

No doubt about it, home selling is a very emotional process for all parties involved.

Once you embark on the journey to sell your home one of the best tips I can offer as a professional home stager is to start to emotionally detach from your home and start allowing yourself to mentally picture a new owner moving in.  No hard feelings needed here, after all the entire objective is to sell the property and move on to your next home right? 

How can you do that? 

Take a good look around your home and ask yourself, "is what I see helping or hurting prospective buyers as they look at what my home has to offer them?" 

From the most exquisite of style to the very basic, quite possibly what you own and adorn your home with may in fact be distracting potential buyers from seeing what they need to see - the house itself and what it has to offer. 

Consider this. 

If you have exquisite taste and your home looks like a museum of modern art, will the prospective buyers feel intimidated by your style and not even consider your home due to the fact that they don't have similar furnishings and décor or your obvious style and taste? 

Do you house collections of things from around the world travel; keep furniture pieces that have been handed down for generations (and look like it) or have a college dorm look still going on in your home after all these years?  

What do you think a prospective buyer is thinking as they look around at your home?

Can they see what you're really selling? 

And what exactly are you selling? 

•        The fact that you have great taste?
•        Your prized collections and vacation trophies?
•        Your childhood bedroom set?
•        The idea that you never got around to purchasing quality furniture for this home? 

Can you see where this may become a problem for a prospective home buyer?  

If buyers can't see the home and what it has to offer like; 

•        Large open rooms
•        Inviting entertaining areas
•        Great granite countertops
•        Lovely outdoor view
•        Beautiful crown molding
•        Ample storage space 

You can't sell it.

Home staging is a marketing tool that helps you achieve the buyer ready appeal your home needs to sell. 

Home staging is not about decorating with your style and taste in mind but creating a look that is more universally appealing and allowing a buyer to mentally move in to your  home without the visual "clutter" or distractions that our furniture, possessions and collections may cause.   

Distractions are not helpful when selling your home, especially that human beings are so visual by design.  

Would you rather a buyer remember your style and décor or the home where they can put their stamp on? 

A mantra I like to share with my clients as they prepare their home for sale is to "sell what stays".  

Think objectively about your home when selling and by all means check your feelings at the door.  After all, you'll be bringing that style with you to your next home - and isn't that what the objective is after all to sell this home and move on to the next?

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For professional home staging services and expert advice on preparing a home for sale, North Texas Realtors, Investors and Sellers, Home Star Staging is here for you!   

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