Avoid These 10 Home Staging Mistakes When Selling Your Home

Stop using the garage as a dump zone

Hayward likes to quote the Jerry Seinfeld line that nothing ever comes back into the house from the garage. So take action on the things that you’ve thought about getting rid of but, instead, just moved to the garage years ago, she says. ​

​“I think a clean garage will tell you a lot about how the home has been maintained.” ​​

Forgo the family photos

​​It might seem cold, but most experts recommend removing family photos when you stage your home in order to create a neutral space. "We don’t want to profile religiously, politically or personally,” Folk says. “If you’ve got a cute gallery wall, maybe just take the photo out and replace it with some cool nature print or do some little abstract design. We’ve used silly things like wallpaper samples in frames.” ​ ​

Don’t be cheap with the thermostat

​​Be sure would-be homebuyers are comfortable. If the temperature is low and buyers are shivering, it sucks all the enjoyment out of showings and is really challenging, says Winzenried. “We’re in Wisconsin, it’s 5 degrees out right now, and so you walk into home and it’s 55 degrees in the home, it’s not a welcoming environment.”

​Avoid letting bathrooms get icky

​​In bathrooms, less is more, says Kiki Quiles, a real estate agent with Century 21 North East in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She and other experts advise a really deep clean, then swapping out a dark shower curtain for a light one, switching out dated light fixtures, putting out fresh linens, removing rugs and being aware that homebuyers will go through your cabinets. Be sure to remove or lock up any medications. ​​“And my biggest pet peeve is seeing agents that take photos of bathrooms with a toilet seat up,” Quiles says.

​​Hide signs of Fido and Fluffy

​​You love your pets but buyers might not. Put away beds, bowls, toys, litter boxes and everything else a pet can leave behind, says Winzenried. ​​“There’s been times where I’ve been walking in the yard and you step in something,” he says.

​Again, he advises thinking like a buyer. “Maybe they don’t want dog toys sitting on the couch, a chewed-up bone in the corner. Let’s get rid of that stuff.” ​

Don’t flunk the sniff test

​​Hayward compares home shopping to speed dating, and smell is often a buyer’s first impression. “You come in and decide within 30 seconds, ‘Is this home going to work for me?’ ’’ she says. “And if there’s a really strong smell in it, it may be a deal-breaker for some people.” ​​Ask a friend to tell you truthfully how your home smells, but be wary of going overboard with air fresheners. “Anytime you’ve got the Glade plug-ins or whatever in every single room, people start wondering what you’re trying to hide,” Folk says.

​Avoid misleading potential buyers

​​One trend of the past few years, particularly for vacant homes, is virtual staging, which involves adding digital furniture and accessories to photos of vacant rooms. If your agent suggests virtual staging, make sure they disclose in the online listing that the look is created digitally, Folk and other experts say. ​​Otherwise, would-be buyers may be disappointed when they walk into a house that doesn’t actually have furniture. ​​“You also run into that bait-and-switch feeling where you see [the house] online and it looks beautiful, but in person it feels like this big empty shell,” says Folk. “If you’re going to use [virtual staging], at least have those same virtual pictures blown up big and bold in the spaces for people to refer to when they walk through the home.” ​​