How-To: Staging Your House to Sell

Home Blog How-To: Staging Your House to Sell

Posted On: December 9, 2021 by Peoples Bank of Kankakee County in: Mortgages

If you’re preparing to sell your home, you’re in the right place. We’re here to provide you with 8 helpful house staging tips so you can make the most of your space and grab the attention of prospective buyers.

1. Focus on the curb appeal.

Curb appeal is huge when it comes to first impressions. Some good and relatively cheap ways to make the outside of your home more attractive are to repaint the front door, lay fresh mulch, add more greenery, get a new welcome mat or make your porch presentable by adding some outdoor furniture.

2. Make sure your house smells its best.

You might not have considered the importance of how your house smells, but it can have an immediate effect on the way the buyers feel and think. Making sure your house is full of pleasant aromas gives a good first impression. This can be done by using a diffuser, candles, fragrant flowers, plug-in air fresheners and more.

3. Don’t overdo the furniture.

Get rid of clutter to make your rooms look bigger and more spacious. When potential buyers are walking around the house, they’ll want plenty of space to check it out without running into things, so avoid crowding the space. Next, rethink the placement of your furniture. All spaces are different so there isn’t a universal rule but be sure to place the furniture in a way that creates good traffic flow but still makes the room feel cozy.

4. Add some upgrades to your kitchen.

The kitchen is usually the make-or-break space for buyers, so if you’re going to update anything in your home, the kitchen is the best place to start. Clear clutter off the countertops, consider updating your backsplash, repaint the cabinets or replace the sink. All these things can make a big positive difference to the overall look of your kitchen.

5. Un-personalize your home.

Now’s a good time to remove those personal items like family photos, collectibles or your kid’s artwork. Replace them with generic decorations that will allow potential buyers to picture themselves in your home.

6. Lighten and brighten each room.

Now is a good time to improve the lighting in your home. You want your space to look welcoming, so don’t just depend on one lightbulb to light the entire room. Add accent lamps and replace the bulbs for a brighter, warmer feel.

7. Clean the bathroom, then clean it again.

The best way to turn potential buyers away is to have an unappealing bathroom. This means you should deep clean it, de-clutter the counterspace, display new towels, add a candle and some cute counter décor and you’re good to go.

If your next step is to apply for a home loan, our mortgage experts are here to help. Contact us to learn more and good luck staging and selling your home!

An overdraft occurs when you do not have enough money in your account to cover a transaction, but we pay it anyway. We can cover your overdrafts in two different ways:

We have standard overdraft practices that are available after your account has been open for 30 days and as long as you maintain your account in good standing.
We also offer an overdraft protection plan, Overdraft Protection Sweep, a link to a savings account. It may be less expensive than our standard overdraft practices. To learn more, ask us about this plan.

This notice explains our standard overdraft practices.

What are the standard overdraft practices that come with my account?

After your account has been open for 30 days and as long as you maintain your account in good standing, we do authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions:

Checks and other transactions made using your checking account number
Automatic bill payments

We do not authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions unless you ask us to (see below):

ATM transactions
Everyday debit card transactions

We pay overdrafts at our discretion, which means we do not guarantee that we will always authorize and pay any type of transaction.

If we do not authorize and pay an overdraft, your transaction will be declined.

What fees will I be charged if Peoples Bank of Kankakee County pays my overdraft?

Under our standard overdraft practices:

We will charge you a fee of up to $30 each time we pay an overdraft.
The maximum daily overdraft fee per presentment or item paid using the Overdraft Reserve Program is $150.00 per day.
No per item handling fee will be charged on de minimis overdrafts. De minimis overdraft for this policy means transactions that overdraw your account by $30 or less.
There is an overdraft fee of $5 per day that will be charged beginning the 4th consecutive business day your account is overdrawn.

Nonsufficient funds (NSF) fees - if an item drafted by you (such as a check) or a transaction you set up (such as a preauthorized transfer) is presented for payment in an amount that is more than the amount of money in your account and we decide not to pay the item or transaction, you agree that we can charge you an NSF fee for returning the payment. Be aware that such an item or payment may be presented multiple times by the merchant or other payee until it is paid, and that we do not monitor or control the number of times a transaction is presented for payment. You agree that we may charge you an NSF fee each time a payment is presented if the amount of money in your account is not sufficient to cover the payment, regardless of the number of times the payment is presented.

PAYMENT ORDER OF ITEMS - The law permits us to pay items drawn on your account in any order (for purposes of this section "items" means checks, orders and electronic transactions). To assist you in handling your account with us, we are providing you with the following information regarding how we process those items. When processing checks and orders drawn on your account our policy is to pay lower numbered checks and orders in numerical sequence, but electronic transactions are paid first in the order received. The order in which items are paid is important if there is not enough money in your account to pay all of the items that are presented. There is no policy that is favorable in every instance. If the smallest items are paid first, you may have fewer NSF or overdraft fees, but the largest, and perhaps more important items (such as rent or mortgage payments) might not be paid. However, if the largest items are paid first, your most important items might be paid but it may increase the overdraft or NSF fees if funds are not available to pay all of the items. We think our policy attains a reasonable balance between minimizing additional costs to you and paying your more important items. We encourage you to make careful records and practice good account management. This will help you to avoid creating items without sufficient funds and incurring the resulting fees.

What if I want Peoples Bank of Kankakee County to authorize and pay overdrafts on my ATM and everyday debit card transactions?

If you also want us to authorize and pay overdrafts on ATM and everyday debit card transactions after your account has been open for 30 days, you may opt in.

You have an ongoing right to change this consent at any time. If your overdraft privilege has been revoked for any reason, the opt-in or opt-out selection may not apply. Please contact your nearest office for more information.

Alternate ways to Opt In/Out or make changes:

By Phone. Our Customer Care Representatives can be reached at 815-936-7600.
By Mail. Peoples Bank of Kankakee County, 333 E. Court Street, Kankakee, IL 60901
In Person. Please visit your local office and ask a representative to help you decide which plan is best for you.