5 Home Staging Mistakes You Don't Even Know You're Making

When a potential buyer visits your home, you want them to be impressed from the moment they arrive at the curb.

Staging your home for open houses is an important step in the selling process because you want buyers to imagine what their life would be like if they lived there. Working with an experienced real estate agent is a great way to learn what it takes to successfully stage a home. Today, we're going to take a look at five things you definitely don't want to do when staging your home.

1. Expecting Hidden Messes to Remain Hidden
   If you're like most homeowners, you may have some hidden dirt or grime in corners of your home that don't get much traffic. It's important to make sure that every corner of your house is squeaky clean, even if it means moving large furniture or clearing out everything in a closet to reach the floor. Potential buyers will look at every corner of your home to gauge how well you've taken care of places people don't normally see.
   
   
2. What's That Smell?
   Cleaning up the spaces that people can see is a great start when selling a house, but you'll also want to make sure that they don't smell anything unpleasant when they walk through the door. If you've got pet odors or any other smell that might be unpleasant for buyers, now is the time to track down the source and take care of the problem.
   
   
3. Personal Items in Plain View
   Throughout the list, you'll notice a consistent theme of allowing buyers to imagine their lives in your home, and that's no accident. In fact, it's one of the key steps in attracting a buyer when you're selling your home. Leaving personal items around the house (like photos and personal mementos) may make it more difficult for those buyers to imagine what their life would be like in the home. Be sure to pack up personal items before visitors arrive, and remember that you'll be able to display them again in your new home.
   
   
4. Clutter, Clutter Everywhere
   Removing personal items is a way to provide a blank slate for anyone who visits your open house, but personal items aren't the only thing you'll need to take care of before your guests arrive. A disorganized, cluttered home is definitely not what buyers want to see, so it's crucial to clear out any clutter before your open house. Just as with removing personal items, you can treat clearing clutter as an opportunity to start packing and getting a head start on moving into your new home.
   
   
5. Forgetting the Front Yard
   Or the backyard, for that matter! Curb appeal is selling a house, so make sure that your yard is clean, your landscaping is well taken care of, and the entrance to your home is looking its absolute best. If you have outdoor space in your backyard, make sure that's looking great too.

By avoiding the most common mistakes for staging an open house, you'll be ready to present your home to potential buyers in its best possible light. The big key is keeping your home clean and clutter-free so that every buyer who visits can imagine their own life there.

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