Typically, investors and house flippers don’t care much about the little details of staging when they buy a house. They just want to take advantage of depressed property values to make a sweet profit. But if you are short selling your residence to someone who wants to actually live in your home and make it their own, it still pays to make everything look nice. This increases the perceived value of our home so it can be sold for a decent price. The better the price you can command for the house, the less likely the bank is to refuse a short sale offer or require you to help defray their loss on the mortgage.

Buyers looking for a new home to move into often make a decision based on how your home makes them feel. Of course, you’ll want to keep your costs for renovation as low as possible. Consider asking for painting supplies from your local freecycle group. Clean up, scrub, vacuum, declutter, repaint, add some potted plants, and generally make the home look livable and welcoming. Besides making your home easier to sell, this is a nice way to make peace with a difficult situation and “say goodbye” to a home you love.