Don’t forget to stage your garage!

Making a house on the market shine is all about attention to detail. If you’re going the extra mile to ensure your home is a stand-out, you’ll probably go beyond the regular touch-ups that refresh curb appeal. You might even decide to stage your home, especially if you’re not living in it while it is on the market.

There is one “room” you don’t want to forget when you stage, and that is your garage!

Staging a garage may sound excessive, but it’s an essential and frequently-used entryway to a home. While many prospective buyers may expect a dark, cluttered, unfinished concrete box, you can surprise and delight them by following these simple garage staging tips:

1. Clear out the clutter: Don’t use your garage as a storage facility while selling your home. Yes, it might mean renting storage space, but that can be a good idea anyway when you’re staging a home to impress. Weed through the junk, have your garage sale, and then store all your packed boxes, extra furniture, seasonal items, holiday decorations, unnecessary belongings, and other typical garage clutter in a storage facility.
2. Enhance the floors: Cracked, stained, or otherwise shoddy looking concrete flooring can be a visual turn-off. If you’re not planning on sealing, priming, and painting the floor, at least get a suitable cleaning chemical or power washer to brighten up the flooring. For oil stains, pour paint thinner on the stain, and then apply an absorbent material such as cat litter, baking soda, cornmeal, or sawdust over the wet spot. Let the mixture sit overnight, and sweep it up in the morning with a heavy push broom with sturdy bristles.
3. Organize what remains: A workshop area with hook boards for small tools can be appealing, especially if the area looks tidy and functional.
4. Add Wall and Ceiling Storage: Create more storage space on walls or hanging from the ceiling transforms a garage. Provided your garage isn’t low-ceilinged or particularly tight, shelving and hanging racks can show your buyers how much room they’ll have to keep extra tools, seasonal decorations, or sports equipment handy. An alternative to hanging bicycles from the ceiling, mount them on the wall using this stylish Monkey Bars 4-Bike Storage Rack ($80).
5. Check garage safety: Make sure to store all flammable products and poisonous chemicals out of reach of children and pets. Plus, if you don’t already have one in your garage, install a smoke detector.
6. Tune-up the lighting: A quality hanging fluorescent fixture plugged into outlets, or updated fixture outlets can change your garage from a dungeon into a clean, inviting place. Besides, don’t you want to highlight all that hard work you’ve done?
7. Polish it with fresh paint: A fresh coat of paint will complete the space and make it look brand new. If the garage walls have stains that the pressure-washing couldn’t get rid of, paint it, and seal them. Transform them from worn and drab to bright and clean.
8. Check the garage door: In addition to a garage door functioning correctly, give it a good clean. The garage door is one of the first things buyers will see when they drive up; it is a great idea to make it look beautiful and polished.

Want to make your house stand-out in the Prescott area real estate market? I’m happy to share all the tips and tricks I have to give your home an edge. Let’s connect: 928.830.6976