News 8 Feature with Lia Lando – WATCH THE VIDEO

You’ve heard it before; you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

When it comes to selling your home, professional home stager Leona Piro says first impressions are key! She spoke with News 8 about how to stage your home and increase your chances of getting an offer.

“This room has a beautiful view and I think that’s one of the biggest selling points of this home — to be able to see the outdoors in clear view,” Piro said.

She says a big mistake sellers make is too much clutter. Pointing out in one house:

“The first thing that we see ends up being this oversized vase and while it’s a nice decorating item it really doesn’t work for staging because we want the focus, as soon as we walk in the front door, to be on the outdoors,” Piro said.

The kitchen presentation is important too.

“You want to show as much of the counter space as possible and again the height on the cookbook is a little bit too high,” I would replace that with a bowl of fresh fruit.”

Before and after pictures of another house show how moving furniture and removing clutter opens up the room, emphasizing features like drawing attention to a fireplace.

She also recommends:

  • Making sure the house is spotless
  • Closets organized
  • Removing personal pictures and collections
  • Apply a fresh coat of neutral colored paint where needed
  • No pets during the showing

“A lot of people have allergies or just don’t like pets,” Piro said. “As soon as they know that there’s a pet in the house, they’re looking for evidence of scratches, of odors so it’s better to have the pets away.”

She also recommends removing busy area rugs.

“What you want to see throughout a home is that the rooms are large and spacious and whenever you change floor surfaces, visually it chops up a room, especially if it’s in high contrast.”

Finally, she recommends replacing dark and heavy furniture, removing heavy window treatments and making sure the windows are clean — all things you can do to hopefully increase your chances of getting an offer.

Watch the video HERE