Many Waterloo Region homeowners are under the impression that moving furniture in and out of the house and painting a few walls is all that is needed when staging a home for sale.
But now, more than ever, it's crucial to spend time and effort staging a home's outdoor areas too. Outdoor spaces have always been more important to buyers than many homesellers realized, but the no so long ago pandemic lockdowns made having great outdoor living space - not just a square of lawn - a higher priority for many more homebuyers.
For lots of us our backyards, decks and patios were sanity savers during those lockdowns and people are not likely to forget that fact soon.
The good news is that it's comparatively easy to transform any outside space—even a dull, neglected backyard—into a tranquil setting that entices buyers and piques their interest in a home even before they get through the front door.
Keep in mind that staging an outdoor space around a Waterloo Region home for sale is a very different task than renovating it. There are hundreds of expensive ways to upgrade your home's exterior, like pouring concrete, building a pergola or deck , and adding in full garden beds.
However, here we want to keep things focused on staging, not redoing. Keep reading to learn how you can stage the exterior of your Waterloo Region home to appeal to more homebuyers and perhaps increase the perceived value of it in their minds, helping your home sell faster and maybe even for more money.
Waterloo Region Home Exterior Staging Basics
Before you do anything else, you need to start your exterior home staging project with a clean, fresh canvas. Even the perfect outdoor decor scheme won't help you sell a home for the most money if the space is visibly dirty, covered in weeds, and full of the current owner's personal items.
Declutter
This is an important step in all home staging. Any worn or damaged outdoor furniture, decor, or kids outdoor toys should be removed to make the space appealing to new buyers.
Remove personal items: Even if you love garden gnomes or your flashy metal flamingos, prospective homebuyers might not. Later in the process you will usually need to add some outdoor ornamentation, but that should be neutral in nature to appeal to a wide audience, and a collection of fairies and frog statues - however cute they look to you - probably won't.
Clean up landscaping: Make sure to remove all weeds and trim shrubbery to give your exterior an immediate facelift. If you have a lawn, even if you can't get it baseball diamond perfect, it should be neat, trim and as green as possible. You can check the article we wrote here for some specific expert tips.
Clean all surfaces: You can use a pressure washer to remove dirt and freshen up your deck, patio, fences, siding, and windows in just a few hours. Just be careful not to use TOO MUCH pressure, as doing so can do more harm than good.
Make repairs: While you don't need to do major construction or landscaping projects, making repairs to structures like fences, patios, or raised planting beds will make a big difference for prospective buyers. Seeing a neglected outdoor space that will obviously need work is one way to make buyers feel uneasy about a property before they ever see the inside.
Add Exterior Lighting
In a large recent study of what buyers want in terms of outdoor home amenities in 2024, great exterior lighting was tied for the number 1 most important feature. Many homeowners don't put as much value into this as they should when staging to sell.
This does not mean that you have to spend a fortune on electricians and wiring. Solar lighting is becoming more affordable and sophisticated all the time, and can even often be used to affordably illuminate areas of your outdoor spaces that hardwired fixtures never could.
When potential buyers view your home in person or online, they should be able to imagine themselves living in the space. All the space, including the space outside. By following the steps above, you can make your home's exterior shine.
Front Entrance Staging
You should be aware that however large or small your home's front entrance is, it will significantly affect the home's curb appeal and the general appeal it will have to buyers. There are a few sure-fire ways to stage and decorate a front entrance and guarantee that you're enhancing the charm of the house.
Include Seating, Even If It's Limited
Seating is essential to creating a cosy atmosphere at the entrance to your home home, whether you have space for additional chairs, rocking chairs, an outside couch, or even just a small folding chair
Seating can be very basic, but if you have the space, think about adding a porch swing. Porch swings are a great way to increase curb appeal and have seen a big increase in popularity recently.
Include Potted Plants
Potted plants are simple to buy, install, and transport, and they can instantly add colour and sophistication to even a small front entrance. Try to choose plants that are hardy and need little upkeep, so that they look good every time your real estate agent brings someone to see your home (or folks drive by scoping out the place before making an appointment to see it)
Paint Your Front Door
The psychological effects of various front door colours have been the subject of countless studies. It is indisputable that the front door's colour and design can significantly affect the house's curb appeal.
If your front door doesn't need a colour change, give it a quick pressure wash to make sure it still looks brand new.
Tips for General Yard Staging
According to 2024 staging statistics, searches for outdoor areas and backyard amenities have dramatically surged over the last two years. Having an outdoor living space is important now more than ever because homeowners are accustomed to spending a lot more time at home. Here are some staging suggestions to turn any yard into an attraction.
Add a Defined Seating Area
The easiest method to transform any outside space into a living area is to add seating, which can be done in any outdoor space. Consider establishing zones and specific seating places rather than merely placing chairs about the yard.
In this way, even a yard made up entirely of grass can become a potential outdoor living attraction for homebuyers to imagine themselves enjoying.
Adirondack style chairs are common in yards, but try adding a few unique types of seating, like a standing hammock or outdoor daybed. Standing hammocks don't require any technical installation, but feel like a step up from plastic chairs. They may call for a minor investment, but can still be taken with you to a new home, so it's an investment that could come with a good ROI.
Create a Dining Area
Buyers will love opening the door to your backyard and seeing an additional space to eat meals, host friends, or simply relax on weekends. There are an endless number of ways to create an outdoor dining area, but having seating and a dining table or coffee table is essential. Even a tiny postage stamp sized lawn can benefit from a small bistro table and a few chairs.
About Staging Patios and Decks
A home with a patio or deck will appeal to many homebuyers just by existing, but if they are left as clean (remember, cleaning and decluttering is crucial to all outdoor staging projects) but empty spaces they won't pique the interest and imagination of homebuyers in the way that they can if they are staged a little.
As is the case indoors, this staging should be as neutral as possible to appeal to as many home buyers as possible. But you may be able to make use of a lot of what you already have in the space to do so.
Almost every homebuyer loves the idea of cooking outside, so leaving your own (clean) grill outside is fine, and if your current outdoor dining table is clean and in good shape you should leave that out too.
If you don't have a grill - or it's not grilling season - leave at least an indication that outdoor cookery is possible - even if you just add a simple - and inexpensive - portable firepit, which again, you can take with you once your home is sold, and you are ready to move on to your new place.
In the end, staging the outdoor spaces around your Waterloo Region home for sale can actually be easier than staging interior rooms. By following the most important of these staging tips like cleaning and decluttering the space, adding style to your yard, porch, patio or deck is relatively simple, and very effective in helping your home sell as quickly and for as much as you hope it will.
Having the right local Waterloo Region real estate agent on your side will also help ensure your home sale goes as well as you are hoping for, and maybe even better. It will also help you find the perfect home if you are looking to buy a Waterloo Region home.
Team Pinto are one of the Waterloo Region's leading real estate teams and we are ready to help no matter what you are looking for in our exciting area. Contact us today, so we can discuss just how we can help you achieve your real estate objectives, whatever they might be.