Guidance on staging/ preparing home for sale

[HelenHywater]

I'm planning to put my house on the market after the bank holiday - the estate agent is coming to take photos on 26th August. Is there any guidance anywhere that I can use to stage my house? I will book a window cleaner and a deep clean of the house but really need other tips to ensure the house sells as quick as possible at as high a price as possible.

Do you have a garden? Kerb appeal is important. As well as making it look easy to maintain both front and back.

Decluttering is the biggest thing to do. People will think the rooms are much smaller than they are if there is too much stuff. Put away family photos.

Loads of threads on here about it, but I'm not sure how much use they are -- Mn has a weird bee in its bonnet about decluttering and total irrelevances like whether the lid of the loo is up or down, and seems to confuse taking decent EA photos with some housekeeping competition. I've sold a lot of houses, and to me, the key thing in terms of how much trouble you need to go to 'stage' a house for sale is how difficult the sale is likely to be, and what kind of person you are likely to be trying to sell to. Is the market difficult/slow? Are you in a hurry? Is the house quirky, or in a challenging area? Do you need a particular price?

So my house is in both a challenging area and I'd like a quick sale, breaking the ceiling price for the area. But it's a good house and there's a huge shortage of large houses in this area.

The EA said I should aim to remove 50% of the "stuff" in each room (and my house isn't particularly cluttered).

I'd basically like to do everything I can to get the best price - for previous sales, I haven't bothered.

Removing 50% of stuff sounds a lot. Are you happy to post pictures so people can advise appropriately?
I do not agree with @LongDrink. In a sellers market it might not matter but things are slow now and buyers are fussy.

Declutter, remove personal photos and items. Yes to windows cleaned. Wipe over all paintwork around doors and skirtings. Mow the lawn if you have one, go around edges and proon back any plants that are overgrown. Shine up anything chrome like taps and light switches. Make sure curtains are fully open so as much light in house as possible. I like a waft of a fresh vanilla scent but I know some like fresh coffee. If you have any pets ask a friend to have them whilst viewings occur. I went to view a house once and they had a snake in a tank in the corner of the bedroom. I screamed and ran out.

Stand in the doorway of each room and take a photo. Stand in the window of each room and take a photo. What are the best points of each room? Are they highlighted! What in each room is best glossed over? Are they glossed over?

Move the furniture again to find a new focal point for the main rooms. Photograph again.

A bit of greenery in the kitchen, living room, perhaps the bathroom.

Put your flipping toilet lids down or you will get my goat!

Depending on the price of house and urgency of selling it I would consider a home staging person to help. We did (very difficult to sell high value house we weren’t sure we would be able to sell at all) and we got £100k more than we would have done if we hadn’t (neighbour’s house similar to ours still hasn’t sold and went on the market before ours and have dropped price several times since). Don’t do the photos until you are sure you are ready. First impressions count.

Clean and Tidy, is my advice. If you are selling a family home, then evidence of your own family is not a bad thing, it can help people envisage themselves there.

What is 'challenging' about the area?

If you’re in a challenging area and you want sell quickly and break the ceiling price, I think you may find it difficult.

Remember the outside when you’re cleaning. Grubby front doors and window sills are off putting.

Nothing hugely, it's just right on the edge of a much nicer (and more expensive) area. So people who can't afford a large family house in that area will need to come to mine! (like I did in fact). It's a little enclave that not many people know about. I really like it, I just want to downsize.

I just read that you shouldn't have the television as a focal point in a room.

@Thaawtsom how much did your stager cost and where did you find them?

I think it's important to show people how they can live in a house, so if there's too much stuff they will be more focused on your bits and bobs than imagining themselves in the room.
Clean, not too personal, and have the rooms tell a story. No empty rooms, no off putting colours or knick knacks. Use soft furnishings and plants to make it feel homely.
Clean and tidy is important.
Look at other people's houses on Rightmove and see what presents well and what doesn't, then try looking at your rooms with the same eye.
Make sure your EA uses a proper photographer.

I went around every room and made a note of every single thing that needed repairing or touching up (we even repainted one of the bedrooms and replaced the blinds) and we got a handyman in to do all the jobs. We then moved 20 boxes of stuff into storage to make the house look as decluttered as possible. We then thoroughly cleaned and made sure the gardens looked as good as possible. We had 2 offers within 2 weeks at £10k above the asking price, so it was definitely worth doing.

She charged £35 an hour and I found her by doing a google search for "home stager / home staging" LOL. I didn't know it was a thing until one of the estate agents who came round (and who valued the house at £150k less than we sold it for) suggested it as an option if we wanted to "gamble" to see if we could get the price up. It took us 4 weeks to get the house ready (tidied up the garden as well): she made recommendations both large and small and then we set a budget and decided what to do. She also came to dress the house just before the photographers arrived. The biggest expense was hiring a storage unit and a clearance company and removals people to get all the excess furniture and crap out of our house (which she sourced and organised on my behalf). I think she charged me £250 for the original report and plan, and then per hour on anything I asked her to do above that to help me implement (because full time demanding job blah blah was useful to have someone to outsource to).

Decluttering has two benefits.

From the prospective buyer's POV, it makes the house look lighter, airier, etc. They can look past your stuff and see the bones of the house.

From your POV, it's stage 1 of removals. Rather than pay to cart junk to your new house, prune your belongings. This especially applies since you are downsizing.

You can give this a go, and it totally makes sense to make the house presentable, but what you're asking for is a really tough ask in a challenging market, and there are bigger forces at play (the economy, jobs, interest rates) out of your control which will matter much more than staging your house to within an inch of its life.

You are basically trying to make your house look like its best self, and attractive to your target buyer. That might mean a few more up to date touches if say you are at the end of family stage and looking to appeal to buyers 15 years younger.
Depends on your style but it should be tidy and clean, not have anything weird like a room painted black or shooting trophies, decluttered enough to look spacious and look like its been cared for.

Take some photos yourself as it helps you see a room more objectively. What stands out or let's it down eg dangling wires, bins, a messy bookcase? Have a look at your competition or the slightly nicer houses on Rightmove - which ones look attractive as opposed to a bit tired?

Also it helps to have a plant or flowers and a touch of colour in every room.

Yes not every buyer is that shallow or unimaginative, but you might be dealing with one and need to reel them in.

I don't think I need a stager. AI appears to be able to help and I've downloaded a free kindle book.

I have a painter & decorator coming over tomorrow hopefully. Have ordered my boxes from Amazon. I'm quite looking forward to weeding out all the superfluous crap.

It's the simple things that make the most difference, imo.

Clean, clean and clean again - skirtings, light switches, door paintwork especially near the handles, loo seats down, clean inside radiators (often have years of grey grot lurking inside the grill), yellowed pendant lights - use Cif or replace with new.

No mould anywhere, ie bathroom grout / silicone round the bath / shower cubicle and conservatories (the silicone around the windows etc.)

Make the beds look immaculate and beautifully dressed, as if you were trying to pass a hotel inspector's exam (no rumpled duvets, pillows plumped etc).

Spot clean carpets if any obvious stains, or cover with a new rug if you can find one to fit the space. A new rug can transform a space and there are some lovely inexpensive ones online.

Kitchen worktops free of clutter and everything immaculately clean including the hob and oven - get a professional oven cleaner if needed (helps it smell fresh instead of lingering grease smell).
And tidy inside cupboards too - make them look organised, especially under the sink (I always look there, checking pipework for evidence of leaks etc).

Tidy and organise cupboard under stairs / coat and shoe storage cupboards, adding a movement sensor light if needed - it suggests there's plenty of storage space if everything looks orderly.

Get your painter / decorator to fill in any gaps with caulk - that makes a huge difference to the overall finish.

Thank you @CalamityK8 that's really helpful. I have a professional cleaner coming the day before the photographer - they will do the oven, fridge and food cupboard I think (unless I get to the fridge and food cupboard first). I've contacted a window cleaner too and they can do the inside and out.

I have found a storage company that will come up and pick up loads of boxes of clutter before that (I don't drive). I read in the free book I downloaded yesterday that the "rule of 3" is a good one - only 3 things max on any horizontal surface, like mantlepieces, kitchen sides and bedside tables (the book says that this includes the floor). I think this will be the biggest challenge - de-cluttering the house.

I need to get a new rug for my room as its bare floorboards. And I need to clean soft furnishings and the sitting room rug as I have dogs and think I've become nose-blind to their smell.

My neighbour will do my garden and the front of the house to increase kerb appeal.

I have found a decorator but he hasn't turned up yet. I can't afford to redecorate the whole house I don't think, so will talk to him about what can be done.

I didn't know about caulk, so that's a really good tip. And I wouldn't have thought people would look in the cupboard under the sink!

I think I will actually want to live in my house when all of this is done!

It also shows you’re serious about moving and realistic - or rather, a more cluttered house makes me think someone is just taking a punt and not completely committed. I paid my friend’s gap-year son to neaten the garden just before photos - three hours’ work (small garden!) and it looked so neat and crisp. The photographer my agent sent came at 11 or 12 in summer - they explained the sun would be high so best for lighting. I was impressed with this.

Sorry crossed posts re garden! And that reminds me - we had hall, stairs and landings woodwork repainted (white eggshell) plus front door as I felt not only would it show a neat and fresh entrance, it’s a big job in a high-traffic area that could’ve been off putting.