Staging A House To Sell

Staging A House Controls The Experience

Staging a house helps us control a buyer’s experience when viewing your home. Staging allows them to concentrate on the benefits of your home and ensures the highest return on investment. It is like a movie set; everything in the right place to create just the right feeling and ambiance.

Have you ever walked into a home for sale and gotten caught up in the owner’s photos and memorabilia: Pictures of the kids, trophies, the things we have in our homes to remind us of fond memories and our lives in general? Any one who has spent any time searching for a home to buy has experienced this. Sometimes it can be charming, sometimes it gives the viewer a sense of how the owner has lived in the home, but in all cases it stops the natural process of imagining ourselves living in the space. We are so busy wondering how the owner lived in the home we forget to think about how we will live in the space.

In order for a buyer to decide to go through all the difficulties of buying a particular home they must consider what their lives will be like once they move in. This is why staging a house is such a powerful part of the selling process. The house staging process allows us as the realtors to remove all the information about the sellers and create a blank canvas on which potential buyers can paint their future lives. If we can make the home shine, the connection buyers make with the home can be very strong; strong enough for them to fight to win the home. And by fighting I mean submitting a clean offer with a strong price.

On a more subtle level a vacant home which has been professionally staged intimates to potential buyers the owner’s ability to afford the property. Home staging costs money. Allowing a home to sit vacant costs money. Staging a house states to the buyer the seller is not desperate to sell. This in turn gives the listing agent a strong negotiating position, leads to stronger offers, and maximizes the return on investment.

Tips For Staging a house

Clear out all belongings – Sometimes the stager will ask for certain pieces of furniture to stay but in general everything goes. It makes more sense to move everything out the first time. This way moving costs are paid just once.

Remove any built-ins that take up space but don’t add to the value. The painters will patch and paint holes where needed.

Replace light fixtures that are in poor condition or are no longer working properly. Again, the painters will patch and paint.

Replace light switch covers if they look worn, or have been painted over in the past – Updating light switch plates is a low cost way to add “pop” to the look of the home.

Paint – There is no less expensive way to upgrade a home than a good paint job.

Staging – We have great referrals for well tested staging companies who have good furniture and are well priced.

We always get bids for any work to be done beforehand so you know exactly what the costs will be. I learned early on in my real estate career that nothing destroys trust more than surprises; We do everything in our power and experience to ensure No Surprises!

We Help Pay for Home Staging!

Mike and I believe staging a house is so important we help our clients pay for staging.

Let’s set up a time to meet and we can walk through the strategy that will work best for you. We know it is not always possible to vacate your home, and we have strategies for dealing with occupied homes whether they are owner occupied or even tenant occupied. The key is in the planning, and we are here to help you with every step.