When selling your Vero Beach home, you've probably heard that staging is a good idea. Decluttering, cleaning and depersonalizing a space – what the real estate industry calls staging – is nothing new. But has anyone ever mentioned staging your refrigerator?
With many buyers purchasing the appliances you have in your home, the state of your refrigerator can be a real concern. Buyers tend to look everywhere; behind every door, and inside every cabinet and every drawer. They inspect your washer and dryer, your dishwasher and oven, and, of course, your fridge.
So just the same way you organize your closets and wipe down your washing machine for an open house, you might consider staging your refrigerator for the scrutiny of its potential new owners.
3 Steps to Staging Your Refrigerator
Step 1: Declutter.
Get rid of the magnets and notes you probably have stuck all over your fridge. Remove everything from your fridge door. Go through the contents and throw out any items that are not fresh, or essential. That jar of old jam lurking on the bottom shelf you thought you threw out last year? That might be a good item to get rid of. Same goes for that bottle of old salad dressing that looks like it might be growing mold. Toss it.
Step 2: Clean.
Empty your fridge completely and remove all the drawers. Then clean the interior from back to front and top to bottom. Defrost, if necessary. Clean out the freezer too. Yes, buyers will look there too. Remember how clean and spotless your refrigerator was when you first bought it? Get it looking like that again.
Step 3: Stock It
You need to stock your fridge with items that look great and appeal to your potential buyer. Some of the best foods you can add when staging your refrigerator are: watermelon chunks, fresh squeezed orange juice, glass bottles of milk and a bottle of champagne or fine wine.
During the process of staging your refrigerator remember that color pop counts, so you should be looking for colorful fruits, vegetables or gourmet mustard because, these pops of color will add life to the inside of one of the most important parts of your home.
If your home is near a farmer's market or a premium grocery store, you might leave items in their original containers to play up that proximity. Whatever you do, arrange it all nicely: Group similar items together, and use bins if you need to.
Yes, you'll have to buy a few new items. And no, you shouldn't eat and drink everything after your first open house or showing unless all of it is perishable.
You may never know whether staging your refrigerator did the trick to get the sale, but you'll enjoy the taste of these items during your last few meals in your newly sold home.
For more information on Vero Beach home selling tips, see our section on Vero Beach Home Selling Tips to your right under Vero Beach Real Estate Categories.
