You’ve staged every room inside your home, spruced up outside and gave your home curb appeal. Now it’s time to get your garage to help you sell your home!
As a Certified HomeStaging Professional, as well as a Licensed Realtor®, I help people stage their homes inside and out. But we need to surprise our buyers with the unexpected; A Staged Garage.
When we were buying our home, my dear sweet husband was happy with what made me happy as far as home style, size, and so on. After looking for many months, we finally pulled up in front of the home we ultimately bought. Suddenly, his face lit up, he sat up straight and I swear I heard Angels singing. The house has a barn. And a garage. I loved the house and he loved the barn. We put an offer in immediately!
A garage can be – and should be – an extension of the home. It’s a place where your car lives. Maybe an extra fridge. Tools. And, yes, “stuff”. So, let’s entice buyers by showing them a garage that is organized, clean, well-appointed, and shows off its most important features. Additional storage is always welcome in homes and if your garage provides even more with closet organizers, shelving, and storage bins that can stash away seasonal items or tools, buyers will view your garage as they should: An extension of your home.
Use walls and ceilings for storage. Consider building a loft-type storage area into the garage. Just a few feet of clearance to the ceiling and this type of storage area can hold many large bins of decorations, summer or winter supplies, and other things not often used. Now the garage looks larger because there are fewer boxes on the floor. Take it to the next step and section off part of wall, add more shelves for more bins and hide them with curtains for a decorator touch.
Next, finish your walls and ceilings. Most garages are not finished, but if you put up wall board you can really complete the look of the garage being a room. Peg boards make a great touch for your everyday tools. Get the holders for tall items like brooms, shovels, bikes and so on. Finished sells better. Add insulation before the wall board. That can save on your heating and cooling bills and that savings can be pointed out to the prospective buyer. Keep large items in areas that look like they really belong there. Besides your car, you should have a ‘parking spot’ for your mower or snow blower.
An important upgrade is lighting. Lights are not expensive and make a huge difference in increasing the appeal of the garage. Instead of a few bare bulbs with pull strings, consider strips of lights so there are no dark corners. Dimly lit garages look foreboding. Adding a few six or eight-foot fluorescent light strips will light up the room and make your garage inviting.
We looked up, we looked over, and now we look down. What does the floor look like? Old, cracked concrete floors will scream out every spill that didn’t come up and every oil drip every car has ever had. You can coat your floor with an epoxy resin-based paint. Better yet, there are specially made rubber mats and tiles that fit together like puzzle pieces. Future spills can be wiped up or the tiles can be replaced. The mats and tiles help reduce tracked in mud and dirt. They also can help with insulation and noise reduction. For staging reasons, mats or tiles are much more welcoming than old concrete floors.
Make sure that any windows in the garage are clean and working properly. Make sure your garage door and opener are working quietly and efficiently. If your garage door is old and worn out, give it a coat of paint.
Finally, add a coat of fresh paint to the walls and ceilings. A nice, light, neutral tone will create a serene overall theme. By all means, go ahead and add a picture or two. Perhaps add some bright colored accents. Just don’t clutter the place up.
For a home seller, the garage should be spacious, organized, warm and inviting just like any other room of the house. We strive to make our homes “neutral” so that a buyer can picture their things in every room. We also want them to imagine storing their own stuff in the garage!
To view some fine garages for sale along with their homes, please visit my website at http://www.NormaSellsNJHomes.com
I’m just a click or a call away.