One important aspect of home staging is removing your family photos. Why? We’ll explore a few reasons why family photos can cause home buyers to pass on your property.
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You have probably heard about the importance of staging your home before you put it on the market. Today, I want to focus on one specific aspect of staging: removing your family photos.
Everybody sets up their homes to be attractive and comfortable to live in, but the way we live in a home and the way we sell a home are very different. Of course, you love your family and take pride in your family photos. However, in the eyes of a buyer, family photos are actually a territory marker.
Like cave paintings, family photos send a subtle message to people. To buyers, that message is, “If you don’t see yourself in these photos, then you don’t belong here.”
It’s very interesting to go through a home with buyers when family photos are out. At the beginning of the showing, everyone is excited and chatting in their normal voices. As we go through the house more and more, they start to bring their voices down and whisper. Why? They feel like they’re in someone else’s den.
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That is not what you want when you are trying to sell your home. You want potential buyers to feel welcome, but family photos make them feel “other.” That is the anthropological psychology behind family photos.Buyers need to be able to envision themselves in your home.
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So, box up your family photos before home showings. If you have photos that are hanging up and you think you still need a picture on the wall, here’s a quick tip: slide some kind of neutral magazine clipping or landscape between the glass and the family photo, and then you can leave the frame on the wall.
If you have any other questions about staging your home in order to sell for top dollar, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!
