When preparing your home for sale, think about why you fell in love with your home in the first place. Did the entryway feel particularly welcoming? Do you love the sunlight that filters through the first floor in the morning? Enhancing and highlighting these details can help evoke the same feeling for prospective buyers.

You may love your bright yellow wall or horse art collection, but not everyone will. Before showing your home, you want to make an effort to tone down your personalization and create something of a blank canvas so buyers can envision themselves in the home.

Time to finally clear the clutter. You may not think of personal items as clutter, but to the prospective buyer, they're just more to take in. All personal items should be stored. Excess furniture can make a room feel cluttered as well, so it's a good idea to store, sell, or give away surplus or bulky furniture. Bookcases should be thinned out and closets cleared to appear empty. Any religious memorabilia or political ideologies should also be absent from your home as to not offend a prospective buyer who may not share your same beliefs. Once your home is staged, it may not feel personal, but it will do a greater job of showing off the space to buyers.

Another important element is the lighting. Bright, well-lit homes seem more spacious and upbeat. During the day, all the curtains and drapes should be open. If the view is unappealing, you can simply purchase sheer window coverings that let light through, but mask the view. Another way to brighten up your home is to turn on all the lamps, even during the day. And don't forget the hallways!

You don't want to remove all of the personality from your home, but you do want to showcase the space. You may want to rearrange furniture to fit the flow of the rooms, pull furniture away from the walls, or create cozy nooks to invoke a certain feeling. Staging is especially important if the home is not occupied because an empty home has a difficult time communicating its potential to prospective buyers. In fact, studies show staged homes sell faster (and for a higher price tag) than empty homes.

• Go through your home room-by-room and make changes.
• Store any unnecessary objects and personal items (off-site if possible).
• Group furniture together to make rooms feel more spacious.
• Clean up closets, cabinets, and other built-ins to make spaces look larger and more organized.
• Paint bold walls with more neutral colors to appeal to a larger audience.
• Good lighting makes rooms appear larger.
• Enhance your home's assets and minimize drawbacks.
• Look for opportunities to reorganize spaces into usable rooms (i.e., convert storage space into an exercise studio).
• Make a special effort in bedrooms and bathrooms with nice linens; this makes rooms feel more intimate, polished, and appealing to potential buyers.
• Stage your dining room for a dinner party with table linens, dishes, silverware, and other table décor (i.e., candle sticks, flowers, etc.).
• Replace old curtains, cushions, and area rugs (you can find inexpensive replacements at discount stores and thrift shops).
• Clear counters of clutter; fridge magnets, drinking glasses, toothbrush holders, and anything else that can be distracting.
• Remember, when staging a home, less is more!

Contact our real estate professional for more information on how to make your home market-ready.