SELLING YOUR HOUSE – THEN AND NOW.

I.              The Stager

The last time we sold our house and moved on was forty years ago. Things have certainly changed since then.  To motivate potential buyers you must stage your house. This is how I did it 

THEN. Before a showing 

• I ran the vacuum cleaner over visibly dirty spots and my palm over visibly dusty surfaces. 
• I rinsed the dirty dishes and didn’t just leave them on the rack. I put them back into the cabinet! 
• I yelled at the kids for tracking mud into the hallway. 
• I yelled at my husband for napping on the couch with the pages of the newspaper spread over his chest. 
• I yelled at everyone: “Pick your clothes up from the floor." 
• I prayed for many showings, not only to get the house sold, but because this was the only time it looked decent.

NOW.  A professional stager walks through your house.

• She requests you to remove (a) all doilies (b) half of the knickknacks (c) any paintings with nudes or religious figures which might offend people of another persuasion. 
• She will also ask you to remove area rugs and show as much floor space as possible or at least reposition them so that they will guide the visitor’s eye toward a desirable object. 
• She will randomly remove at least one piece of furniture from each room, either to improve the layout or to assert her authority.
• She will counsel you to place an urn with hot pink flowers at the front door (Why do urns remind me of funeral homes?)

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE? Never mind the price and location of your house. People will make you an offer because of the way you have arranged your furniture or because they can’t resist hot pink.

Stay tuned for the next instalment as the For Sale sign goes up.