STAGE YOUR HOME, INCLUDING THE GARAGE, TO SELL

If you were going on an important job interview, you'd dress to impress. That's exactly what you want to do with your home, too–dress or, rather, stage to impress and sell!

Selling your home requires a keen eye to make it appeal to a wide audience. That means you need to take time to make sure that your home is dressed up and ready to be shown off.

I've written a lot about curb appeal and fixing up your home so that it's ready to be listed for sale, but sometimes the garage is overlooked.

It's sort of an after-thought but it really shouldn't be. These days the garage can be a pivotal point for buyers. Garages are doubling as gyms, added storage space, home offices, and hobby areas as well as a place to park cars.

I've seen some home listings where sellers simply use the garage to store all their stuff that they plan to take with them or get rid of. While that might be convenient for the current homeowners, it's not very enticing for potential new buyers. They want to see what the garage really looks like and how it might suit their needs. Hard to do when it's jammed with boxes!

If buyers can barely walk into the garage, they'll likely skip it entirely and may feel a bit cheated. Or they may try to maneuver around all your stuff and could knock a few things over or, worse, get injured. No one needs that to happen.

Consider packing your boxes and either storing them in a storage space or at a friend's. Getting as much stuff out of the house as possible is very important. Don't underestimate the power of a clean, tidy, spacious garage.

Square footage counts and many people have plans to use that extra garage space for things you might not have thought of. A good-looking garage will attract buyers.

Do what you can to improve your garage but start with the basics. If your garage door is in shoddy shape, replace the hardware. Nothing worse than a buyer taking a look at your garage just as a spring breaks on the automatic garage door!

Then take a look around and see what things you can get off the floor and into shelves or cabinets in your garage. The less you have on the floor, the more spacious the garage will feel. If the new buyers have big cars, ample space for cars as well as storage space for household items will be very important.

If you find that your garage door system isn't working and you're planning to replace it, think about installing the latest technology. Smart homes are very appealing because they help simplify ordinary tasks. Today, with the proper technology installed, garage doors can be controlled with compatible apps that link to Android and iOS mobile devices and allow homeowners to check their garage door, and even open or close it once they've left their home. Another good feature is a battery backup system that will keep your garage functioning even during a power shortage.

A garage may not be the star attraction like the kitchen or master bedroom and bathroom, but it definitely has its own appeal especially when it's staged to sell.

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