The U.S. rental market is enjoying a dynamic and profitable upswing, with median rents rising to over $2,000. Those numbers don’t guarantee a profitable tenancy, though. Maintenance costs and mortgage rates are skyrocketing, so maximizing your return on investment is not always easy. The higher you can push your rent, the more easily you’ll fare. Staging techniques can add as much as 23% to your asking price. Try these tips to enhance your rental staging.

Know Your Community

You can’t perform an effective staging unless you know who you’re decorating for. The best stagers understand that each room should reflect its community. If your neighborhood is young and trendy, don’t waste basement space or an outdoor deck. Turn them into entertainment spaces. If your community is dominated by ambitious singles, transform junk rooms into warm and inviting guest rooms or offices. Is your community family-oriented? Then add deck chairs to your swimming pool and find a comfy purpose for every window seat and alcove.

Optimize Your Lighting

Some staging tips advise a bright white palette, but warm, neutral hues and understated decor elements are more effective. Your property should feel like a home, and that requires soothing lighting and comforting palettes. If you can highlight your property’s personality while drawing attention from its drawbacks, it will occupy a permanent place in your viewers’ minds. Maybe your property has sweeping views. Perhaps it has an exceptional outdoor living space or a trendy fire pool. Use a combination of ambient and focus lighting to draw attention to these features. Maximize natural lighting by choosing translucent window treatments and strategically placed mirrors that highlight exquisite vistas.

Keep It Simple

Apartment staging must achieve two opposite effects simultaneously: giving renters an aesthetic they can personalize while showing them how the property will look when fully furnished.

Generic spaces give potential tenants the creative power to imagine their perfect home, but a vacant, echoing space won’t evoke positive feelings. For this reason, the best stagers choose sparse, timeless, neutral decor, leaving just enough emptiness for potential renters to imagine the space with their own finishing touches. Remove family photographs, religious decor, or toys so that your living space is depersonalized enough for potential tenants to imagine as their own.

Appeal to Renters’ Sense of Smell

Staging is about more than mere aesthetics. It should create an environment that feels like home. Properties that smell pleasant fetch higher rental amounts. Unpleasant odors have the opposite effect, forcing renters to rush through their viewings while highlighting larger problems like mold and rot. Of course, the first step to a fresh-smelling home is a thorough cleaning, but many stagers use freshly baked cookies and scented candles to entice potential tenants.

Enhance Your Property’s Curb Appeal

First impressions are lasting impressions, so don’t forget your curb appeal. Repaint the doors, give the driveway a thorough power wash, and recoat the doors. This is the perfect time to perform minor repairs on gutters and mailboxes. Most importantly, refresh your landscaping with potted plants and groomed lawn. These tiny details will create lasting memories. Similarly, make sure the photographs you use for rental marketing are thoughtfully framed, well-lit, and vibrant.

Why Choose Tidewater Companies for Rental Property Management?

Staged homes generally spend 73% less time on the market despite their pocket-friendly price. In fact, only 4% of buyers say that staging has no impact on their decisions. At Tidewater Companies, we understand that every square foot of your home has the potential to convince an uncertain renter. We’ve been staging rentals since our launch in 1989, so we’ve earned an impressive list of certifications and licenses to back our exceptional workmanship. Our maintenance and home staging consultants will help you make the most of your investment.

Improve your asking price and shorten your vacancy time by contacting Tidewater Companies today.