In a perfect world, selling your house is a piece of cake. All you’d have to do is put a “For Sale” sign out front and the offers would come rolling in. Unfortunately it’s nowhere close to being that simple, especially for the folks that are putting their homes up for sale during the winter! It can be difficult to make a good first impression when your house is cold, dreary, and riddled with winter clothes, salt, and slush. But don’t let winter deter you: sellers sometimes have less competition when selling before the spring weather comes out!
While we can’t do anything about the weather, we have five easy tips for staging your home in the winter that help to create a buyer-friendly environment.
1. Your house should be comfortably warm
There are many fights that have started because the temperature in the house is too cold or too hot. You might only keep your thermostat set at a particular temperature, but when you’re selling your house during the winter, you need to make sure that it’s in a comfortable range – ideally between 68° F to 72° F. This is a great temperature range because it’s neither too hot nor too cold, which buyers can appreciate.
Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash
2. Embrace the season and use wintry decor
Spring and summer tend to be the best times of year to show off your house because it’s warm, sunny, and vibrant outside. You can open the windows and let the fresh air waft throughout the house.
In the winter? Not so much. You can turn your house into a welcoming space by incorporating wintry decor throughout the house. For example, use throw pillows and blankets in warm-toned fabrics to create a cozy seating area. If you have a fireplace, have a bundle of wood stacked neatly nearby.
3. Use a different approach for boosting curb appeal
Although your flower beds and grass are covered in snow and the trees have no leaves on them, you still have to keep curb appeal in mind. So while you can’t rely on the vibrant colors and neatly trimmed lawn to wow buyers, you can still make a good impression with a few simple touches. For one, if there’s snow, make sure the walkways and steps are cleared and salted. You can use potted evergreens or a wreath to add some color to the front stoop. Of course these are just a few simple ideas – your real estate agent can give you more ideas, or you can use a service like Stagerie to get a full staging consultation.
4. Shine light on the best parts of your home
During the winter you have to make the most of what daylight we get. When you have people coming over to see your house, you need to make sure they can see all the best parts of your home! You can do that by opening the windows (when there’s snow on the ground, the brightness seems to intensify!), but you can do other things as well. Instead of the regular bulbs, switch to brighter LED bulbs and if you have a fireplace, you can light a fire. Not only will a fire show off the fireplace and create ambient lighting, it can be a great way for buyers to learn more about the house as they warm themselves.
5. Create a station for winter gear
When you’re selling your house, you need to make sure it’s clean and tidy, right? Of course! But during the winter, all of that effort could be for naught if buyers come by with snow gear. To avoid a mess, make sure to have an extra mat or two for their shoes and have a coat rack (or hooks) to hang their wet coats.
Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay
Proper staging can get your house sold
Your house may have all of the features buyers want but they can’t see themselves living there for any number of reasons. Proper staging can change that by highlighting the best features of your home without turning buyers off. If you’re trying to sell your house during the winter, don’t be afraid to ask your real estate agent for staging advice! If your home is occupied, Stagerie is always there to help you use as much of your own furniture and décor as possible to stage, too!
Happy Home Selling!
Note: This post was provided by HomeLight.
