Top 10 Staging Tips for your Calabasas Home

People buy on emotion...so in order to make room for a prospective buyer you need to allow them to emotionally connect with your Calabasas property and mentally "move in" so that they can envisage their family living in this space. Here are my Top 10 Staging Tips to make this happen:

1. De- Clutter. The first step is to get organized and de-clutter the house. Go room by room and pack away everything that is not needed into banker boxes. This will allow you to label them and stack them with ease in either the garage or in a storage unit.
2. De-Personalize. Nothing is more distracting to the buyer than your personal photos, diplomas or collections. We want the buyer to look at the home not at your personal life. Remove anything that can link you to a religion, sports team, college or political party. This is of paramount importance since we do not want to exclude or offend a potential buyer in any way.
3. Remove Heavy Drapery. Buyers are looking for "light and bright" so removing heavy drapery will let in a lot more light and update the overall look and feel of the space.
4. Remove any Taste Specific art or Furniture. The goal with staging your Calabasas house is to make it as appealing as possible to the largest audience as possible. So any items that are very specific or dated should be replaced with something more current and buyer friendly. 
5. Replace Carpet with Wood Flooring where possible. Most people in this area want wooden flooring, so consider ripping out old outdated carpeting and replacing it with wood flooring. This will immediately update the space and add value.
6. Paint the Walls a Neutral Color. One of the most cost effective ways to update the look of a house is to paint it. Giving a prospective buyer a neutral clean slate on which to build their new life will be one of the best investments you make.
7. Buy New Bedding. Invest in a few new fluffy pillows and new bedding. Nothing is more alluring than a  nice bed stacked with pillows. Think 5 star Hotel and go for white, cream or grey bedding in the secondary rooms and white bedding in the master.
8. Buy White Towels. Buy white towels for the bathrooms. This will give them a nice fresh look and always try and create a "spa-like" vibe in the master bathroom. Add some bath salts, candles and a plant and you can create a relaxing oasis that buyers will love.
9. Create an Outdoor Room. Invest in some outdoor furniture, an outdoor rug and coffee table and create an outdoor living area. Our Calabasas buyer demographic will expect to see livable areas and by creating this extra living area you are extending the square footage of the home and adding perceived value.
10. Tackle the Curb Appeal. Add some new plants to the existing flower beds, trim back trees or shrubs that are too big or blocking the view of the house, power wash the driveway and pathway and stairs leading up to the front door, consider purchasing mulch and wood chips for the flowerbeds to give it that finished manicured look.

By following these guidelines you will be making it possible for other people to look at your property and be able to make those "emotional connections" that normally result in those all important offers.