How to Drive a Bidding War for Your Home With These 5 Home Staging Tips

A few weeks ago, we shared that the #1 thing you need to know when selling your home is your home valuation. (You can get a free home valuation for your HDB or condo with Homer AI, and even get a $5 NTUC voucher if you register via Singpass or refer anyone who will register the same way. Upon successful registration, your referee will also receive the voucher.)

Your home valuation is one of the best places to start when negotiating your target price. But the only way you’re going to have that conversation is by getting potential home buyers interested to look at your listing and view your home. So the question begs…

How can you attract tons of buyers to your listing and start a bidding war?

With so many listings posted on property platforms, it may seem difficult to stand out from the crowd.

But if there’s anything we’ve learned after launching our property listing platform in 2016, it’s that there are steps you can take to grab the attention of potential buyers. 

Mainly, home staging. 

What is home staging?

Home staging is the act of preparing your home for sale or for rent in the property market to make it look more appealing to the highest number of potential buyers or tenants, thereby selling the property more quickly and for a higher price. We talk more about why you should do home staging for your listing here. 

But contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually have to spend thousands of dollars for a home staging professional. You can do the job yourself for a fraction of the cost.

Here are 5 home staging tactics you can do to enhance your property listing and get the right buyer to arrange a viewing with you:

1. Declutter your home

Remember that less is more. Potential buyers should be able to observe the main structure and features of your home without getting distracted by your personal belongings. We recommend Marie Kondo-ing your home, like throwing away or donating (or at least keeping out of sight) the things that no longer ‘spark joy’.

2. Clean all surfaces & organise your furniture

First impressions are everything. As people say, cleanliness is next to godliness. Mop your floors, dust yourselves, sofa, and other surfaces to make your place before taking your home photos.

3. Take advantage of natural lighting

Your buyers want to imagine themselves standing, resting, and living in your property. Literally envisioning it to be their next home. They’ll need to see the walkways, the bedrooms, the dining area, and the kitchen. Fill it with as much natural light as possible, so take your photos in the morning, with all the windows open and curtains aside to let the light in. 

4. Accentuate the spaciousness of your unit

One way to do this is to remove any bulky furniture in your living room, if you have them. If you have too many tables or too many chairs (which you may be bound to do if you regularly host people over), you can consider selling them or putting them in storage. These types of furniture make your space look small. On the other hand, the room can also look weird if your furniture is too small. So, find a balance.

And make sure all your furniture is clean as well. If your sofa fabric is stained, do get them cleaned before a home viewing. 

5. Create a minimalist kitchen

A kitchen is often the heart of the home, but it shouldn’t look too lived-in when you’re trying to sell it. You can remove the clutter on your counters and dining table, and try displaying a bowl of lemons or limes. Pro tip: If you rub a cut lemon inside of the sink your kitchen will smell great for hours. 

Bonus Tip: A fresh coat of paint can do wonders to liven up your space. This goes for your walls as well as your floor. Using high-gloss paint will make your floors extra shiny, which definitely makes a difference in pictures and in viewings. Nothing’s worse than walking on what looks like dirty floors, even if they’re not really dirty and just look dull. But also, make sure to consider your furniture and other home decor so that the colours or patterns don’t clash.

These may sound simple and easy to do, but actually doing them—and doing them well—takes a lot of time and effort. It gets easier the more you do it, though, so keep at it!

If you manage to squeeze in a handful of extra interested buyers, it could mean one of them outbidding the other by a few thousand dollars. Well worth the day or two doing spring cleaning. 

Our Super Agents can help you figure out what exactly you need to do to beautify your home before taking photos for your listing.

Looking to sell your home at the best price?

Let us help you make the best decision for your biggest, most personal asset: your home.

73% of our HDBs are sold above recent transaction prices, and our Super Agents have transacted 11X more than the industry average. Drop us a message on WhatsApp today so we can get you more profits, more efficiently.

To get an idea of your potential selling price, you can also check how much your home is valued with Homer AI. You’ll also be able to find your estimated cash proceeds and affordability for your next home.

Featured Image Source: The Real Deal