It can be a stressful time to try and sell your home in any market, however, we’re currently in an incredible unprecedented time. While the country and the world still try to adjust to a new normal, you may have decided to sell because of the opportunity to move out of the city. Or, perhaps, with a questionable financial future for many of us, the choice to sell could be an economical one. No matter the reason, trying to sell a property during a COVID-19 world may seem impossible, but there are some steps, suggestions, and strategies you can follow to boost the possibility of a sale while still remaining safe and healthy.
Highlight your home to maximize success during virtual viewings
One thing that is obviously different right now is the lack of in-person viewings available. For many, their first interaction with your property will be a virtual one. This makes it more important than ever to stage your home in order to create an emotional attachment to your property from the very beginning.
When viewers can’t physically walk through a house and picture themselves living there, the likelihood of that connection being created is lower. By staging your home with a camera in mind, that chance exceptionally rises.
Here are some tips:
Make sure the pictures you take to add to your listing are even better than you would take if times were different. They must be clear, bright, and attractive in order to catch the eye of prospective buyers scrolling through online ads.
Try to minimize shadows by adding lamps and/or schedule viewings during daytime hours when you can let natural light into the home.
Is there a holiday in the near future coming up? Add a few classy decorations to inspire interested buyers.
Even if the home is vacant, if you’re adding staging furniture, don’t put family pictures on the walls. The way we live is different from the way we sell. We want to enhance the feeling of “home” to potential buyers and if there are photos or if the home looks too “lived in” it may have the opposite effect.
Home staging becomes even more essential when walkthroughs aren’t as frequent. The competition is now fiercer than ever. Having empty, dark rooms to show can lose a person’s interest within minutes when there are dozens of other listings online.
When we’re all a little extra worried about cleanliness, it’s important to declutter your home prior to staging.
If your property is occupied, it’s likely that it may be a little cluttered. Before inviting our staging team to evaluate your home, you can take essential steps to ensure your house is prepared for our visit and ready to begin the staging process.
Pack and store away everything that isn’t essential for you to live in your home until it’s sold.
Go through every cupboard, drawer, and shelf and pack up and clean everything that’s cluttered or messy.
Bookshelves are often overlooked but when organized effectively can become an eye-catching part of a room. Try lining them up by colour and see the difference it makes to the aesthetic.
Often, we can use many decor items you already have to display them in new and attractive ways during staging. To keep us from searching your home when we visit, you can bring out and sanitize all vases, throw pillows, mirrors, plants, conversation pieces (perhaps an interesting clock) and other decor items and have them ready to view.
Don’t worry, all furniture and display items we bring into your home will be properly cleaned and sanitized.
Be ready for in-person viewings ahead of time.
When interested buyers ask to view your property in person, thankfully, during this time you can probably expect them to already be highly interested. They want to minimize their contact with other people and find a home quickly as well.
Here are some suggestions to practice to ensure each visit goes smoothly:
Have only the main buyers walk through the home. If the kids, grandparents, and cousins show up as well, ask them to wait outside while the viewing is in progress.
Schedule only one viewing at a time and keep at least an hour between each one to allow yourself time to disinfect and prepare.
Be sure to confirm that your agent will pre-screen prospective buyers prior to arrival for signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Your agent can take a look at them as well and notice if they may be flushed, showing signs of a fever, coughing, etc.
Have viewers take off their shoes or even wear disposable slippers as they walk through your property.
Have disposable masks and sanitizer ready at the entrance and make it mandatory to use them before entering. Put another bottle of sanitizer in the bathroom or near doors that viewers may open to peek inside. Take note and when they leave, walk around and spray/sanitize all surfaces that were touched.
Leave all lights on and doors open prior to having viewers in the home. This will minimize the chances of them being touched. You can also ask your agent to make sure they ask all viewers to take heed in touching things unless absolutely necessary.
It’s going to be a strange process, selling a home during COVID-19, but you will realize that the process is quite the same. A staging company is recommended regardless of the crazy times we’re in, but especially now, making sure your home is as attractive as possible with as little contact as possible is important. We can make any home look welcoming and ready to be introduced to its new owners, so you can move on with your life.
Interested in learning more about how BelleStaging can stage your home and increase the likelihood of a great offer? Reach out to speak to a member of our team today.