Who is your favorite driver? Staging your home to sell.

One of my earliest listings was a beautiful home in a great neighborhood.  It had 4 bedrooms, 2 and half baths, 2-car garage…about 2200 square feet.  It was evident the owners cared about their home: they went to a lot of expense to update the kitchen and the baths.  There was fresh paint throughout the home; mostly neutral colors that transitioned well from room to room.  Outside the lawn was very well manicured, the plants and bushes landscaped.

Properly staging your home is critical to a successful sale.  What is a successful sale?  Getting the price you want, in a decent timeframe, with as little fuss as possible.  Sellers are encouraged to de-clutter every room.  If temporary storage was necessary then so be it.  ot necessary in this home, there was no clutter and everything was in its place.  This home was going to be simple to stage: and this would result in it showing very well.  Great showings translate into great offers.  And great offers is good for everyone involved.

There was one sticking point, the garage.  The husband had carved out the garage as his “man-cave”.  He was a huge NASCAR fan.  When I say huge, I mean a diehard, fanatic fan.  He had his favorite drivers, but overall he lived and breathed the sport as a hobby. 

He was such a fan, he had a 1986 Mustang 5.0 GT that had the paint scheme of his all-time favorite driver.  Half of the garage was fashioned after a race team’s garage.  The floor, painted as a racetrack.  The car, parked on carpet squares.  Spotlights highlighted the paint scheme. 

The other side of the garage looked like a museum: covered in flags, autographed tires, and posters, life-size stand ups of drivers, an old-fashioned gas pump with NASCAR logos on it, and any other sort of memorabilia you could think of. 

For years, his wife had been trying to get him to take it down.  This was her excuse…he had to take it down so the house would show well.  Not everyone is a NASCAR fan and it would be difficult for some people to look past all the NASCAR stuff and see the true potential of the garage.

He didn’t like it but he did it.  He actually ended selling a lot of it because they were downsizing and only had a one-car garage where they moved.  Just enough room for his Mustang.

Having a hobby you are passionate about is great.  More people should have something to be passioante about.  However not everyone will have the same hobby or the same intensity. 

If you are staging your home in order to sell it, remember that you are not selling YOUR vision of the home.  You want the buyer to be able to see their future in the home.  Take away your stuff so people can see their stuff instead.