Why You Should Remove Personal Photos In A Staged Home

Preparing your home for sale can be very overwhelming and emotionally very stressful. In most cases, you may have a strong attachment to your home considering you may have lived in the home for a very long time and you have created very special memories there. Your personal photos, items, and awards etc. are your pride and joy and very sentimental to you.

You may have felt offended if a home stager suggested that you remove personal items and photos. You may feel considering the fact that you still live in the home and that you are not ready to detach from a place where you shared your fondest memories.

Stripping your identity from your home is part of the process of getting your home staged and ready for sale. Keep in mind, your home stager or real estate agent is not trying to offend you with these suggestions but instead, is providing these suggestions to get your home sold as soon as possible.

Adopt The Mindset Transformation Process When Selling Your Home

It is very important as a homeowner that when you put your home up for sale that you have to now train your mind that your home is no longer “your home” but is now a “product” that you are now marketing and staging and preparing to be sold.

That’s right; this means your “home sweet home” is no longer the case. Here are a few tips to consider when depersonalizing your staged home for sale.

1. You need to first of all acknowledge that now that you are preparing your home for sale that it is no longer your home and it is time to look at your home as a house which is now a marketable product.
2. Once you acknowledge and accept the fact that you are now performing a business transaction with selling your home, it is now important to understand the selling process and the psychology behind selling your home.
3. Get on the same page with your real estate agent and home stager and agree that your overall goals together is to find the highest bidder and get your home sold fast and to not remind your buyers that you still live there.
4. Understand a potential buyer’s mindset when making a decision to purchase a home: When a buyer is looking for a home to buy, they want to be able to see themselves in the home. By seeing photos of you and your family, it may subconsciously block them from being able to see them in the home.
5. Understand that you and your stager’s goal are to stage your home to appeal to the masses so it is very important to keep everything as neutral as possible. This is when depersonalizing is so important. Depersonalizing creates a blank and neutral canvas where homeowners can come in and actually see themselves and their personal items and belongings without being distracted of seeing your personal photos etc.

(The end goal is to create an environment where the homeowner have their creative juices flowing getting excited about seeing themselves in it rather than leaving reminders that you still live in the house.)

1. Don’t take it personal, remember, selling your home is a business transaction. “It’s business and not personal” right? Set your mindset on this principle to eliminate feelings of frustration. Remember, once your home is on the market, it is no longer your home so the key principle to remember is to: “Detach, Detach, Detach!” J
2. Keep in mind, your home will be open to the general public so you may have a lot traffic coming in and out of your home. It is important for your security and identity to not be revealed so put away personal photos and belongings. Our recommendation: It is better to be safe than sorry.
3. Keep in mind on the bright side with family photos, they can create a warm effect and people can appreciate that they are buying from a loving family. If you still feel strongly about leaving your family photos out, than at least do it sparingly throughout the house. Keeping some personal items in some cases is encouraged to create that warm feeling to eliminate the ice cold effect. It is always best to discuss with your home stager your feelings towards keeping your personal photos for suggestions.