Everyone’s thoughts turn to outdoor activities when summer approaches, and it’s no different with home buyers. Maybe we should say that’s especially the case with home buyers. And that’s why optimal outdoor staging is so important if you want to list your home this summer. Buyers will spend much more time looking at the outside of your home both in-person and online: you have to make sure you have both curb appeal and web appeal. So let’s take a look at 6 tips to stage your outdoor space when selling your house in Sarasota this summer.
1. Declutter and Tidy Up
As always, even when your emphasis is to stage your outdoor space, you need to see to first things first. And that means getting rid of all the distracting clutter and tidying up as much as possible.
“Just like indoors,” according to industry pros, “your outside spaces should be as neat as possible. This means removing your children’s toys, bikes and scooters, as well as your gardening and lawn care tools. If you have a shed, clear it out and get rid of anything you won’t need in your new place.”
2. Paint and Wash Where Needed
After decluttering and tidying up, your next step to stage your outdoor space is to touch up paint and power wash where needed. You don’t have to go all out (usually) and repaint the whole exterior of your house. Just give it a facelift in the most strategic places.
“Check out your fence, your deck, your patio, and even your garage. You can add a touch of color by painting a portion of your fence or adding a blue ceiling to your porch. Painting your garage walls is a fast way to give a facelift to that section of your house. Check to see if your deck and patio need a power wash or refinishing. Touch up the trim around your home, too.”
3. Optimize Outdoor Lighting
Also, you should keep in mind that not all potential buyers will be able to view your home during daylight hours. So an important, but often overlooked, step to stage your outdoor space when selling your house in Sarasota this summer involves maximizing outdoor lighting. Here’s what the pros advise . . .
“Make sure your home looks great for buyers who are shopping during the evening hours, too. Inexpensive solar lights can add a romantic look to your backyard or line your front walk. Make sure your front door light looks good and is always on at night.”
4. Don’t Forget Outdoor Furniture and Accessories
You want potential buyers to be able to envision themselves actively enjoying your outdoor space. So you need to do everything you can to make your yard, porch, patio, and deck seem like an extension of indoor living and dining areas. And this can be accomplished with the right outdoor furniture and accessories.
You could, for example, arrange suitable outdoor furniture in both lounge and dining settings on your patio, using an outdoor sofa or sectional as the center of the setting and adding an outdoor coffee table and side tables. You could also deploy strategically placed rugs and planters to add accents and make the outdoor space more room-like.
Your Sarasota agents can provide valuable suggestions on how to stage your outdoor space to achieve the desired effect. Just call 941-202-6957 to discover more.
5. Have a Fire Pit and Grill
Another thing you should probably do to stage your outdoor space when selling your house in Sarasota this summer is to make sure you have a fire pit and a grill. These can add more than you think to the buyer appeal of your outdoor space.
If you don’t have a built-in fire pit, you can purchase a metal one fairly reasonably. And then add some attractive logs and group some chairs around it to achieve a welcoming feel.
Having a nice grill on hand is another good staging touch. It will do even more to encourage potential buyers to imagine themselves using and enjoying the outdoor space. And don’t neglect to add an element of realism by including tongs and oven mitts on the grill.
6. Work on Landscaping . . . Especially Flowers
And, of course, you need to work on landscaping in order to stage your outdoor space when selling your house in Sarasota this summer. Certainly, you should mow and weed and trim trees and shrubs, but there’s one other essential aspect of landscaping you absolutely can’t neglect. And that is to plant flowers.
Planting flowers is said to be a foolproof way to improve the appearance of any outdoor space. Just remember that the look you’re trying to achieve is lush and vibrant, not out of overgrown and crowded. And a great bonus here is that it costs very little: mostly you’ll have just a little time and sweat invested.
Consult a Sarasota Agent to Stage Your Outdoor Space
These are our most important outdoor staging tips, but, really, there’s a lot more you can do to increase your chances of a quick sale at a better price. Your Sarasota agent can assist you in achieving the absolute best look. So if you’re ready to stage your outdoor space to sell your house inSarasota this summer, contact us today at 941-202-6957.