Realtor.com asked buyers in their Active Spring Home Shoppers Report to rank their top three most important spaces when shopping for homes on the real estate market. Can you guess which room predominantly topped their list?
Turns out, 80% of the respondents regard the kitchen in their top 3 lists, followed by master bedroom (49%), and living room (42%). For those surveyed 55+, the garage, instead of the living room, was in their top 3 list.
80% = Kitchen in top 3 list
49% = Master Bedroom in top 3 list
42% = Living Room in top 3 list
This insight is for you, sellers! Now that you know the most important spaces to buyers, you can focus on making these rooms in your home stand out for all the right reasons.
Focusing your Home Sale
When you are getting ready to sell your home, focus on putting in time and effort where the buyers will notice it most – the kitchen, master bedroom and living room. The easiest way to draw attention to these spaces of yours is with staging.
Your Staging Strategy
How to stage your kitchen:
- Clean! It’s not a must to spring for a professional cleaning, but it can’t hurt. Everything should be absolutely sparkling. And of course, odor free.
- Organize your cupboards. Whether you have glass front cabinets or not, potential buyers will be looking inside your cabinets. If your drawers and cupboards are crowded, that gives them the impression that you don’t have enough space.
- Clear the counters. Warning, a staged kitchen is not a functional kitchen. Even though you use your toaster and coffee maker every day, they should be put away, along with all other clutter, when you stage your kitchen.
- Little luxury touches. It’s the little things that drive home the value, and complete the look of your kitchen. Fresh fruit and flowers, new tea towels, and/or a stack of nice cookbooks are all great finishing touches.
How to stage your master bedroom:
- When in doubt, take it out. Remove distracting, unnecessary furniture from your bedroom to make your space appear bigger and set the stage for a relaxing and comfortable space.
- Keep to a coordinating, neutral color palate. Nothing says luxury like clean, neutral tones. Dress your bed in sheets, a duvet and pillows that coordinate with the wall color. You don’t need bright colors to up the style factor, just different textures.
- Repaint. Painting is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to stage your home. Keep to your light, neutral color palate and you can’t go wrong! A new coat of paint can cover a multitude of sins in your home…
How to stage your living room:
- Pull furniture away from the walls. Furnish your space by floating furniture away from walls. Reposition sofas and chairs into cozy conversational groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in a room is obvious.
- Focus on the floors. If you have carpets, get them steam cleaned. If you have hardwood, get them polished. If your floors are in need of an upgrade, consider investing in one.
- Declutter. No matter what room you are in, the key to staging is taking away anything and everything that is unnecessary. This makes any space appear bigger, cleaner, and more inviting to potential buyers. Remove tables, pictures, magazines, remotes, etc.
Remodeling Options
If your home sale is a year or two down the road and you’re interested in adding value, a well chosen remodeling project will do you a world of good to help you get top dollar for your home.
According to the 2017 Cost vs. Value report for the Pacific, Los Angeles area, the best remodeling job to recoup costs is a midrange, minor kitchen remodel. With an estimated job cost of $23,695, you can expect a resale value of $22,711 for a 95.8% cost recoup.
For more help strategizing your home sale, work with a First Team agent. There’s nothing more valuable to you as a home seller than an experienced real estate professional who knows your neighborhood market.
