Staging your Home for Sale – Clean your Carpets

08 Mar Staging your Home for Sale – Clean your Carpets

Top Tips for Staging your Home

In today’s real estate market, staging your home for sale has become a necessity. The Real Estate Staging Association has found that properly-staged homes sell in an average of 21 days, which is 90 times faster than homes that are not staged.

You know staging your home properly is important but you don’t want to spend a boatload of money doing it. What should your focus be?

Professional stagers might disagree about how much furniture and how many personal belongings you should leave out. Some counsel a stripped-down, minimalist look, while others say a lightly lived-in one is more appealing. But there are certain do’s and don’ts that they all agree are key to presenting your home at its best. Read on for the top suggestions they use to get homes ready to sell.

Do’s

1. Declutter and downsize. Let potential buyers imagine their own furniture and belongings in your home, and make your house restful to look at with clean, open spaces.

2. Get it sparkling. For the best results, hire professional cleaners. Have a cleaning team scrub everything, including areas you usually skip like the baseboards, windows, and appliances.

It’s especially important to hire professionals for carpet and upholstery cleaning. Attempting to do it yourself will only make the problems worse. Steam machines don’t let rugs dry properly and leave damp, smelly areas on the padding and subfloor.

3. Get rid of bad odors. According to surveys done by Realtor magazine, bad odors are one of the top three reasons a home doesn’t sell. The others are messiness and old, outdated fixtures.

Are your carpets or furniture hiding smells that you’ve become used to? One way to know is to have a trusted person, who doesn’t live in your house, walk in and tell you what they smell.

5. Clean out closets and storage cabinets. Storage space is a priority for buyers, so clean out closets and arrange cabinets and pantries neatly to show off the available space. If necessary, pack your excess stuff in your basement or in storage.

6. Complete small, low-cost repairs. Small repairs like filling holes, nailing down loose baseboards, updating old fixtures and touching up with paint are quick, inexpensive fixes that will help your home look better.

Don’ts

1. Don’t bake bread or cookies to create a homey smell. Today’s stagers say this custom has become contrived. Instead, try candles with home-baked scents like blueberry pie and cinnamon roll.

2. Don’t feel the need to buy new furniture or appliances. If your furniture is shabby or mismatched, start with a good cleaning, then cover up with inexpensive throws or slipcovers.

3. Don’t spend money on major repairs or upgrades. Why spend big money replacing your floors, appliances, and cabinets when you’re not going to be living there? Save that money for upgrades to your new home.

Here to Help

If your home could use a makeover before you sell it, call on Carpet Keepers. We are the only professional carpet and upholstery cleaner that:

• uses the pure, nontoxic PureScience method;
• permanently removes stains and odors, including pet odors;
• rids your home of allergens, bacteria and dust mites;
• leaves your carpets, rugs and upholstered furniture looking and smelling like new.

At Carpet Keepers, we don’t just cover up bad odors. We get rid of them, leaving your house sparkling clean and odor-free. Whether you’re selling your house or not, you and your family deserve a home that’s fresh, clean and healthy. Call Carpet Keepers and get your house ready to sell.