Preparing your Home for Sale

Home Staging

What is it? Why is it necessary? When to call the ‘cavalry’?

Home Staging is the act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money. … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_staging

Staging is more than preparing the house for sale. Staging comes after the cleaning, de-cluttering, painting, and after the Homeowner has made any repairs; it’s all about dressing the house for sale.

In short, it’s taking a look at a home from the Buyer’s point of view and making adjustments or changes that will emphasize a home’s best features while de-emphasizing the negative ones. Staging makes a house look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loving and, best of all; it makes home buyers want to buy it.

Why Home Staging is necessary…

Excerpt from Apr 24, 2010 Mike Valles article

In any market – Home Staging provides the competitive edge

Generally the typical buyer usually will have multiple houses to choose from, and in the final analysis they want to find the ideal home and still try to save money in the process. Home staging makes the home as compelling as it can be to that buyer and provides a competitive edge over the myriad of other sellers who don’t engage in Home Staging.

Home Staging helps to create a Home’s best first impression both in photography and ‘in person”

Over 85% of the time Buyers search for homes on the Internet before they ever physically walk through a home.

That means they ‘weed’ out many houses based on how they appear in photos. Home staging helps present a house at its best even in photography. It allows a potential Buyer to see the features of a home and to imagine it as their own. A buyer is more interested in how a particular property for sale can become their home. The ultimate objective of the home staging process is to stage (to prepare and present) the property in such a manner that a prospective purchaser will be able to “see it” as their own home – a powerful selling point.

Statistics Demonstrate that Homes that are Staged Sell Faster and Closer to the Asking Price

Recently substantial amounts of research and analysis have been undertaken in regard to home staging. These studies have routinely revealed that home staging aids in the goal of a faster home sale. It has also shows that Buyers are willing to pay more for a home that looks like it is worth the asking price.

When do you need to call the ‘cavalry’?

Some people have a knack for decorating. They keep up with the trends and when you walk in their home it always looks like a model home. For everyone else there are times when a little help from a third party is necessary. Follow this checklist to determine if you need help staging your home:

• Under pressure to get the home on the market (i.e., relocating, financial situation, missing the prime selling season)
• Too emotionally attached to your home, its décor or both to look at it objectively
• Home on the market for a long time with no interested Buyers
• Unsure about current home trends like color, accessories, and layout
• Need guidance regarding where to focus efforts and funds in order to make the most impact in preparing your home
• Unsure how to present an unusual feature of the home
• Need help convincing family members to prepare and maintain the home throughout the marketing period

You get just one chance to make a first impression