Staging a Rental, is it Worth it?

Should I Stage my Rental Property?

Here are six tips for staging your rental property in the most effective way possible:

1) Select the Best Furnishings

Select furnishings that accommodate the types of tenants in your area. For instance, if you have a home in the suburbs where families and children live, you’ll want to fill your home with large sofas, dining tables, and a creative entertainment center for gaming and movie-watching. In other words, choose furnishings that accommodate or reflect the interests and needs of the ideal tenants in your area. 



2) Create a Purpose for Each Room

Don’t leave any of your bedrooms or storage rooms empty. Each room inside your home should be staged for a particular purpose, such as a bedroom, hobby room, storage area, home office, etc.

Again, think about the potential tenants you’re trying to appeal to in your area. Then stage your rooms to reflect how those tenants would probably use these rooms. This helps prospective tenants imagine themselves renting the home and using the rooms as you have staged them. 

3) Show Off the Attractive Features of Your Rental

Staging is about drawing attention to the best aspects and most attractive features of your home, such as a fireplace, swimming pool, built-in bookshelves, island kitchen counter, king-sized bed, furniture, etc.

Set up vibrant LED lighting to showcase these special features of your home. The lighting should make them stand out from the other standard features surrounding them. That way, the potential tenants will focus more on the best features rather than the standard features.

Another way to accomplish this goal is to remove all the clutter and loose objects from your rooms so only the best features remain. Then all your potential tenants will see are the things that will make them want to rent your home.



4) Clean Your Home

No one wants to walk into a smelly or dirty home. One of the best ways to stage your property is to clean it from top to bottom. After that, spray air freshener in every room to produce a pleasant and clean scent throughout the home. It will give prospective tenants a positive feeling when they first step inside your home and smell a delightful aroma in the air.

In addition to your home smelling clean, it also needs to look clean. So examine the appearance of your walls and ceilings to look for signs of dirt, fingerprints, and other unattractive elements. Try cleaning your walls and ceilings to remove these filthy elements from them. But if you cannot clean them off, consider repainting your walls and ceilings with a fresh coat of new paint. And if you see any holes or cracks in the walls, fill them in before you paint them.

If you still haven’t already picked up and hidden all the loose objects from your rooms, here is one more reason to do it. The fewer personal objects in the rooms, the better. Provide as much open space in your rooms as possible while keeping the special features mentioned before. 



5) Do a Walkthrough

Imagine yourself as a prospective tenant by walking through your home and thinking about how you would feel if you were looking to rent the home. Does it look clean and tidy? Do the door knobs, light switches, kitchen fixtures, and faucets function correctly? 

Don’t be afraid to be overly critical and objective when assessing your rental home. Because as hard as you’ll be on yourself, the potential tenants will be harder on you. So you need to ensure that your rental home is clean and attractive, along with functional appliances and fixtures. 

6) Exterior Renovations

The exterior of your rental home is equally as important to stage as the interior. Remove all loose weeds, sticks, twigs, branches, trash, and other debris elements from your lawn. Now mow your lawn and trim your hedges to make the landscaping look clean-cut and well-maintained. It’ll create a fantastic first impression when potential tenants pull up to the curb for the first time.

You could also spice up the outside by adding more exterior lighting fixtures on the house and seasonal flowers in the yard. And if your home has an exterior structure like a balcony or patio, add some patio furniture or other outdoor accessories to create a relaxing environment. 

Good Luck!

Now you can see the many benefits of staging your rental home for all prospective tenants. Staging is the best way to get started if you care about attracting better-quality tenants with suitable references and a history of paying on time.