The process of selling your home can be a daunting experience but there are different things that you can do in order to get a great offer in hand. Staging your home, both on the interior and exterior, is an important part of selling your home and lifestyle to a prospective buyer. Many homeowners know how to stage the indoor portions of their home but may be at a loss on how to stage the outside areas. Consider these simple tips for staging your outdoor space in order to get the best offer for your home.

Welcoming Decorations
We know that some homeowners aren’t big on decorations but they can make a world of difference when trying to sell your home. Consider hanging a festive door hanging on the front door or adding a new welcome mat to spruce up this very important part of your home. These little additions will be noted by buyers, and prospective realtors, and will help to justify your asking price. Other options would include adding some bright flowers to the space around your front door in order to show potential buyers that you care for your home.

Living Space
Many potential buyers value the areas of your home that offer enough space for outdoor living. Having a tailored space where people can enjoy the outdoors is becoming a popular trend with new home buyers. Make sure that your home has some sort of outdoor living space available. This could be as large as a full patio with comfortable seating options or as small as a café table and chairs in an area of the garden.

Make the area of your yard cozy by adding a few new pillows to the chairs as well as an outdoor throw. If your in an area with a high rate of mosquitoes you may also want to consider adding elements to repel pesky insects. Even the surrounding nature can affect how the space feels. Creating an outdoor living space that looks and feels inviting is important to those previewing your home.

Landscaping
Most of the outdoor space of a home will have something to do with landscaping. Making sure you care for the lawn and plants surrounding your home requires a extra time on the weekend, but really cleans up the appearance. Make sure to keep the lawn trimmed throughout the selling process as well as pulling any weeds that may pop up. Consider trimming the plants that are already part of your landscaping and add new native plants that can fill in any awkward gaps in the garden. Other areas of the landscaping to stage include planting a row of new flowers along a walkway in order to set your home apart from others.

Entertainment
Prospective buyers want to see how you use your outdoor space. Many homeowners grill out in their backyard while having friends and neighbors over. Make sure that the entertainment areas of your outdoor space make sense to someone who has never been there before. Cleaning up the grill and setting up the tools nicely will help sell the idea of using the space for outdoor entertainment. Other areas of the yard could include yard games like bocce ball or a bean bag toss. If your home has a pool or playground, make sure that those areas are in pristine condition for a showing even if the weather has been too cold for use.

Tackle Little Details
Staging your outdoor space is all about the details. You may be surprised at what kinds of things that prospective buyers look for and see when they first walk up to your home. Make sure that you have all of those little things fixed, like the burnt-out lightbulb on the porch or a tear in a window screen, to present the best version of your home to buyers. A quick power washing of your exterior is also a great idea that can be done pretty quickly before a showing. Make sure to sweep the gravel from the walkway and clean all the cobwebs to stage your home well.

There are plenty of ways to stage your home in order to get a great offer. Make sure to add welcoming details to the front entryway as well as tackle those little details that need to be fixed. Staging your outdoor space also includes keeping up on the lawn maintenance and adding new plants to round out your landscaping. Creating an outdoor living area where buyers can relax as well as entertain are also important tips for staging your outdoor space in order to sell your home quickly.

Guest Author: Cat Murphy is a gardening and landscaping writer, and outdoor extraordinaire. She enjoys cooking for family and friends and going on long hikes anywhere and everywhere in nature.