Stage Your Home

You may ask yourself, "Why would I need or want to Stage® my home with an Accredited Staging Professional™?" What is Staging all about and does it really work?

Staging is the process of preparing any home for sale, regardless of price or location. The most important point to remember when staging is that the way that you live in your home and the way that you sell it are two completely different things. Using a proven, professional set of guidelines your house is reviewed for compliance with preset standards, and any necessary modifications are made. And yes, it does make a huge difference in selling your home quicker and for top dollar. . Real estate agents have great confidence in showing your home to potential buyers because they know it is Staged and ready to be sold.

When you get ready to place your home on the market it becomes a product. Similar to a product on the shelf at your local store, the product has features and benefits as well as pluses and minuses, and competition. To compete with the competition in the marketplace you must be priced right and look better than the other products. Your home is no different, it is one of many homes for sale and you must present it, to the buyers, in the best possible light.

SO, you may be asking, what is involved? Do I have to redecorate my whole house just to sell it? The answer to that question is a resounding NO! In fact, staging is really quite the opposite. It is more about “undecorating” rather than decorating. It is about placement of your things and serious decluttering. It is  about depersonalizing all of your spaces so that a potential buyer can mentally “move right in.” And it is about serious clean--- Q-tip clean to be exact.

Just a few tips that I give my home sellers include the following:

Do the sniff test. If you have dogs, cats, hamsters, old carpeting, mildew problems, or if you love to smoke or cook foods with a pungent odor — and you can smell it, chances are that buyers will, too. Ventilate the home and invest in an air-cleaning and deodorizing machine or products to remove pet odors. Another option is a cleaning product with living enzymes that consume the odor-causing agents and remove the smell permanently.

Pack up early. Sellers should pack up several large pieces of furniture and as much of the clutter in each room as possible. Don’t just shift the stuff to another room or garage — rent a storage space and get it out of the house before showing. Remember, we are selling your property and not your “stuff.”

Stick with beige. Carpeting and paint shouldn’t look like a Crayola box — in loud shades of red, green, wild yellow, shocking blue, or black. If you have loud carpet or paint in your home, I recommend that you replace it with plain, “real estate” beige. Don’t assume that buyers will be able to look past the bad carpeting or crazy wall colors and just offer a credit off the purchase price. Most buyers will keep looking for a house with fresh carpeting and neutral paint.

Use the rule of three. Three items are pleasing to the eye. Artwork, figurines on a shelf, magazine stacks, pillows, afghans, or candles, arrange them in threes for a pleasing display as accents in any room.

These are just a few tips that I have to offer. There are many more that I use to have my listings stand out.   Your home is probably your largest investment and for that reason it is worth maximizing its potential.