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When you list your home for sale, you are setting it up to sell to a wide range of buyers. Chances are the person who buys your home is not going to be the same as you, and often they will belong to a completely different generation. For example, if you’re prepping to sell your starter home, you may find that it’s a retiree who is looking to downsize that finds it most appealing. Staging your home to sell well requires staging it to appeal to a variety of buyers, across different generations. These tips can help.
If your kitchen cabinets need an upgrade, for example, you aren’t going to sway every potential buyer with just a fresh coat of paint. Choosing luxury upgrades when they are within your budget will make the home appealing across generations.
Younger buyers and older buyers all appreciate modern convenience. Updated appliances, technology-friendly additions, smart thermostats, and energy-efficient upgrades are all the types of things buyers want, regardless of their age. These types of conveniences will also make your home more appealing to older buyers who are more choosy when they shop for a home.
Both young buyers, who may anticipate work-from-home options while their children are little, and older buyers, who no longer need a lot of bedrooms, appreciate the convenience of a home office. Take inventory of your home, and consider if there is a part of it that you could transform to be a home office.
If you’re going to give the house a fresh coat of paint, choose wisely. Millennials and other young buyers tend to move towards white and gray color schemes, while older buyers often opt for neutral tones. Choose a white and gray color palette, but keep it on the lighter end to capture a neutral vibe that will appeal to a broad range of folks.
While you don’t necessarily want to tackle a demo job, if you have spaces in your home that you can open up by moving your furniture placement, do it. It will make the space feel larger and invite people from any generation to feel more at home. It also creates images of fun family get-togethers, which both older buyers and younger ones appreciate.
Staging a home to appeal to multiple generations is not difficult, but it does require a little planning. By putting in the effort before you list, you will increase the chances of a fast, successful sale by opening the door to more potential buyers.
Kathy Borawski is a Northampton native who started in the Real Estate Industry in1985. She is a product of the Northampton public schools and a Northampton taxpayer, landlord, and co-founder of HARP, The Hampshire Association of Rental Properties, and a 3rd generation real estate broker, having learned the business from her father.