we've been through hundreds of houses
with buyers now and here's what happens
when a buyer goes into a house that is
staged they linger they look around they
start to talk about Oh we'd put our
couch there I'd hang my TV on that wall
here's what happens when we go with
buyers in a house that isn't staged
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well I am done from the minimal mom and
we enjoy sharing about her family's
minimalist lifestyle basically highly
simplified but Tom and I also sell
residential real estate so there's been
quite a few questions that have come up
about real estate and so we can actually
help you buy or sell a house anywhere in
the United States there's more details
about that down below basically we can
pair you with a trusted local agent and
then we work with you and that local
agent to create like a three person team
so far the response has been really
great and it seems to be working well so
if you don't already have a trusted
realtor in your life it can be a good
option if you know somebody already
that's great use them and we don't
always get to all the questions that
come through on that form and so we do
want to do some videos here to help you
out because we know buying and selling
houses can be stressful we see it every
day we often joke that there should be a
support group because it's just it's
really tense there's a lot of moving
parts there's a lot of people and
there's a lot at it on to our already
full and busy lives and so we want to
help you basically I want to tell you
what I would tell a close friend or
family member if they were selling their
house because our hope is that the
process can go very smoothly and so
let's talk about how important staging
is it's huge research now shows that you
can earn up to 10% more on the sale of
your house if it is staged so first
let's just talk about what we mean by
staged and then I'll share three of our
top staging tips with you to make sure
your house is totally ready to go and
that most importantly you're going to
get the most money possible for it
so basically when we talk about staging
we're talking about highly decluttering
but having each room have a singular
purpose making the space field current
and big and bright and spacious
so the first step we're staging you have
to declutter and depersonalize
but to the max when we talk with the
seller before I even go in their house I
say I'm going to tell you this before I
even see your house because I don't want
you to take it personally it's what we
tell everybody you need to take out
fifty to seventy-five percent of the
stuff out of your house you can put it
in boxes in the garage you can order a
pod and have it come brought to your
house load it up and then they'll take
it off-site and store it somewhere else
yes this cost money we understand that
selling your house unfortunately costs
money but like I said if you know you're
going to make up 10
in the end renting a pod is totally
worth it all you want to have all of the
surfaces clean all of your counters
cleared off you want the fridge cleared
off here's why this is so important is
because we've been through hundreds of
houses with buyers now and here's what
happens when a buyer goes into a house
that is staged they linger they look
around they start to talk about Oh we'd
put our couch there I'd hang my TV on
that wall
oh maybe we change the paint color to
this oh look at the view out the window
they notice the architectural details of
the house and all the things we want
them to notice here's what happens when
we go with buyers in a house that isn't
staged so maybe the sellers still have
family pictures up maybe they have you
know the kids of sports schedules on the
fridge what happens is buyers walk in
and they feel like they're intruding
they feel like they're in somebody's
house and they get distracted they get
distracted by the wedding pictures and
the pictures of the kids and the
grandkids and the trophies and oh I
wonder if my son's in the same t-ball do
we know that's family and they're
thinking about the family that currently
lives there and not about where they put
their couch and so what happens we go
into a house that isn't staged is they
get distracted by this other stuff they
want to get in and out quickly because
again they feel like they're intruding
or trespassing on somebody else's house
and they don't take in the important
things and so we leave when we say oh
what did you like about that house what
stood out about it or at the end of the
day when we're you know we're okay we
saw five houses today which one stood
out this house it could have had
beautiful granite countertops and
hardwood floors and a main floor master
everything they were looking for but it
didn't register with them because they
were thinking about if their kid was on
the same t-ball team or not or oh I
wonder if it's made too hard for them to
move it looked like they had a lot of
stuff you know we'd really like to get
in in four weeks it may be that I'd be
too hard from maybe we should go to this
house where we felt no personal
connection to the current sellers we're
not worried about putting them out they
look like they've already pretty much
moved out and they could accommodate our
quick close or I already know where I'm
going to put my couch this house felt
moving ready to us this house didn't
register with us and so that is why
staging is so important
we want people to come into your house
we want them to linger we want them to
imagine where they're gonna put their
dresser so tip number two is to make
sure all of your closets and your
cupboards are no more than half full so
yes buyers are gonna look in everything
they are gonna open the washing machine
they're looking every cupboard every
closet every cabinet they want to know
is all my stuff benefit in here does
this have a good amount of storage
what is everybody worried about storage
so by emptying out your cupboards in
your closets too half full
it feels very spacious it feels like
there's more than enough room to
accommodate all of their stuff it
doesn't matter if the reason you're
moving is because there's not enough
storage right that doesn't matter what
matters is that when they open the
cupboards and the drawers in the closets
they feel that it's spacious and if
they're overflowing they say this house
has a storage problem it doesn't matter
that you just have too much stuff in
there so again is this a lot of work yes
it is a lot of work but you're gonna do
it at one point right eventually you
have to clean out those closets whether
you do it on the front end or when
you're ready to move and so why not do
it on the front end and get the most
money possible for your house and then
the last step once you've highlighted
clutter you have your countertops fully
cleared off the fridge is cleared off
the closets are only half full is to add
in some current pieces so linens are
huge bathroom towels get some fake
greens you know go to Marshalls go to TJ
Maxx grab stuff that looks current so
focus on linens first like throw pillows
towels and hand towels and curtains just
adding some current pieces of those can
make your house feel newer even if it's
older and outdated if you put in current
linens it can feel much newer now here's
what I did in our last house I went I
bought a bunch of throw pillows and some
new curtains I put them up we got our
house under contract I took them back
down
and I took them back to the store the
kids were not allowed to touch them
after a showing they went back in the
plastic bags in the closet so I was
returning them in the same condition
within the return period make sure you
know that but if you need to you know
buy stuff and return it borrow it from a
friend it's so important and it's worth
the hassle of doing it okay lastly that
question often comes up so should my
realtor provide this serve
you know personally Tom and I we provide
the service and we bring our own staging
stuff so we tell people we have towels
linens throw pillows
you might recognize my tablecloth and
our canisters in this kitchen because we
have like all of our stuff out right now
just because it's the spring and so I'm
like you know if I need to bring stuff
from my house over I can live without my
favorite tablecloth and those canisters
off the top shelf of my kitchen because
once somebody hires us we're not a team
with them and we are all working towards
the same goal and that is to get them
the highest price possible for their
house and so I hope a realtor that you
hire would offer this service they might
not go as far as bringing stuff over for
you but they might and so definitely ask
them about this because it is so
important they might charge you like a
hundred dollars it's worth it just to
have someone come through with fresh
eyes and give you ideas most stagers
will work with your existing items if
you want to go to the next level and
actually hire a staging company that
brings an outside stuff it usually is
worth it but your Realtor will be able
to advise you with that if you don't
think your Realtor is giving you
suggestions really freely remember that
we work on Commission and we don't like
to offend people and so not every
realtor feels comfortable really voicing
their opinion and telling you yeah you
need to get that extra furniture out
here you need to get this stuff out of
here so ask them say we know staging is
important we're willing to do whatever
it takes to get top dollar for our house
so we've taken it as far as we think is
good will you please tell us what else
we could do give them permission ask
them for input and then you might get
more helpful information out of them I'd
love to know what other real estate
related questions you have please leave
those down below and we'll try to tackle
those in an upcoming video coming up on
Thursday we're gonna continue talking
about decluttering we've been talking a
lot about to go to lately check out
pictures I'll share with you my approach
I think is a little bit different than
some others and how I tackle it so that
I don't get overwhelmed by them because
let's face it we all have a lot of
pictures like on our phone now that we
have to deal with so I will definitely
share with that with you we'd love it if
you subscribe you want to learn more
about simple living and just be inspired
to a more simple lifestyle and then you
might want to subscribe and hang around
with us a little bit more so we really
enjoy sharing
about a thumbs up is the best compliment
that you can give us and I will look
forward to visiting with you again
really soon