Selling your home? Here are some tips to help you
sell yours for more than your next door neighbor's, and
faster! Most buyers will know within 15 SECONDS after
crossing the threshold if they want your home. But
first, you need to attract them inside!
11 home staging
steps to take to sell your home for top dollars:
1. Start at the
street. The buyer's first glimpse of your home must
entice them inside. Design Psychology goes further than
mere curb appeal. Here are some easy additions you can
make to help your home outshine the competition:
Add a couple of BIG plants, either in hanging baskets or
pots, to the porch, which will lead buyers' eyes to the
entrance.
The first color our eyes process is yellow, so place
yellow flowers near the front door. Plant white
flowering annuals, since they look clean and show up
better at night when many home shoppers look.
2. Get rid of brown or dead leaves and bare spots in the
yard. Add mulch to cover bare dirt near the house.
Bright flowers hold the eye and "fill" empty areas, but
you don't need to add plants to every space. Just make
sure that everything looks neat.
3. Paint your front door a happy color. Yellow-gold
(amber), red (blue-based), sage, apple, or forest green,
depending on the other colors of your home, will attract
the eye and create happy feelings. Buyers won't notice
the color psychology you take advantage of, but they'll
love the result.
4. Once buyers step inside the front door, they usually
make their minds up within 15 SECONDS, so first
impressions are vitally important. Focus your attention
on the first wall buyers will see, and then hang a
mirror on that wall large enough to reflect the buyer's
image. It will psychologically reinforce the buyer's
presence in the home when they see themselves in the
mirror, causing them to imagine living in your home.
5. Go beyond just clearing clutter, and remove
furnishings that don't add to the setting. Also clear
bathroom and kitchen countertops. Under-furnished homes
let the buyer's imagination fill rooms with their own
belongings. Once they visualize their favorite chair in
a particular spot, you have a sale.
6. Pack away your personal photographs, trophies,
diplomas, and small accessories and stack them neatly in
the garage or a separate storage space. That will also
protect you from having strangers view your personal
life.
7. If your home looks too bare, replace your personal
treasures with house plants or cuttings from the garden.
Be creative; you don't need to spend money.
- Use tree branches and fresh flowers to bring nature
indoors.
- Fill vases and glass jars with fresh cuttings and set
them in baskets.
- Add green house plants in winter, spring, and fall.
- During hot selling seasons, use green, silver and gray
foliage to help keep your home visually
cool.
8. Lighting affects your buyers' emotions and is a
crucial design element for happiness, so turn on the
lights when showing your home. Day-like light bulbs
enhance happiness. Amber and pink light bulbs warm,
while blue light cools.
9. Air the house out. You get used to odors, but buyers
shouldn't smell anything other than natural pleasing
scents like wood burning in the fireplace or fresh lemon
in the summer. Cut up a grapefruit and run sections
through the garbage disposal. It's both refreshing and
clean smelling.
10. Buyers like temperatures around 70 degrees in the
winter and 67 degrees in the summer, so turn up the
thermostat in the winter and turn it down in the summer.
11. Park your car out of the way and encourage buyers to
park in a space where their car won't block the view
from the inside.
Remember, you've only got 15 seconds to sell your home,
but by using Design Psychology techniques, you can
convert lookers into buyers and get top dollar for your
home.
Article Author - Jeanette Joy
Fisher
Professor Jeanette
Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars:
Using Design Psychology to Increase Real Estate Profits,
Home Staging For Top-Dollar Sales, and other books
teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For
more articles, tips, reports, and newsletters, visit:
http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/
Information about Design Psychology:
http://www.designpsych.com/
