STAGING FOR EFFECT

When preparing for sale, think of your home as a movie or stage play set, arranged precisely for the intended purpose — to earn you more money on the sale of your home. Home staging is preparing, dressing up, and presenting the for-sale house to appear, especially attractive and extremely welcoming to any prospective buyer. A staging strategy is effective in any market, no matter the type of home properly being listed. It applies equally to single-family houses, apartments, townhouses, and condos.

Most home shoppers are looking for a home that will give them a fresh start. Perhaps they're just starting out and it's a fresh start from apartment living, or maybe they've outgrown their starter home and need more room for their expanding family.

On the other end of the spectrum, if the kids are grown and gone, a couple might be looking for a way to declutter their lives and downsize. There's also the situation in which a marriage is ending in divorce and the couple must face the reality of selling what is often the single largest asset of the union.

Agents and sellers appropriately staging the property for sale enhance the opportunity of selling the property for more money.

Home staging takes extra time and work, again, pointing to the necessity of the home seller to invest money and sweat equity in conjunction with a great partnership with a professional real estate agent, but the payoff is well worth the effort. Staging is one of the most effective marketing tools to sell homes for more money.

In today's competitive real estate market, selling your home requires hard work and dedication. If you're a motivated seller, you can bring your home to the marketing forefront. Creating an appealing, eye-catching home via strategic staging helps potential buyers envision themselves living in the home and is the best investment of your time and effort when selling a home.

A home-staging expenditure might range from one to 3% of the listing price of a home. On the other hand, it may result in selling the house for 5 to 1096 more. That would be a $6,000 investment on a $200,000 home sale, resulting perhaps in an increase of $20,000 in the sale price.

THE POWER OF STAGING

Coldwell Banker and the National Association of Realtors released these results of a survey:

Staged homes spent 50% less time on the market than homes that weren't staged.
Staged homes sold for more than 6% above asking price.
A staging investment of 1% to 3% of asking price generates an ROI of between 8% and 10%.
Homes staged prior to listing sold faster than homes staged after listing.

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START STAGING WITH WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE

Often, the trick with staging is to take out, rather than bring in. At base, home staging is about creating more space by clearing clutter, unnecessary objects, or furniture, giving the rooms a fresh, neutral color, and making necessary (and even cosmetic) repairs. Replacing carpets and floors is common.

To avoid investing in new furniture (some do this, or rent exquisite furniture) and avoid spending thousands of dollars on this project, your or your professional home stager's first step is 10 do as much as possible with everything you already have in your house.

The priciest items will probably come with making updates and repairs inside and outside your house. The least costly bits are maximizing your space by moving objects around and cleaning/clearing your house out Rearranging existing furniture, cleaning the house, as well as the rooftop, are some of the simple steps involved in this process.

An important part of staging is choosing new accessories and furniture to dress up your newfound space, creating a welcoming and warm environment. Your worn-out couch and easy chair imprinted with your television viewing hours are the best home-selling features.

Home staging allows prospective buyers to see all the possibilities your home can offer. They need to be able to imagine their own lives taking place in each part of the home. From a survey carried out, 90% of home buyers in the U.S. first search for houses on the Internet. So, when you're listing a house, the photos need 10 be captivating to the buyers — so much so that they can't wait to see the house in person!

Money spent on staging shouldn't be considered as waste, but as an investment or cost of doing business — and it will be recovered when the property is sold.

“ It will pay off in the long run, when the home’s perceived value is boosted.”

According to the Real Estate Staging Association, properties that are well-staged professionally and look more appealing spend about 75% less time on the market. They are most viewed by buyers as "well-maintained" and "must-see" houses, and are subsequently sold at a higher price.

If your spending is done appropriately by changing out some worn-out things and improving other facilities, you stand a better chance of selling your property quickly, and at a price that will earn you even more money than had you not made the expenditures in both lime and funds.

BASIC RULES FOR HOME STAGING

The most important aspect of staging your home lies in removing all distractions that may prevent the home shopper from imagining themselves living in each space of your house.

These basic concepts are involved in a well-staged-for-sale home. "Sparkling," "pristine," and "just like new" should describe the condition of your house. It shouldn't be 10 years since the outside of the second-floor windows were washed. Floors must look brand new. This is often achievable (and only feasible) by employing a cleaning crew's services. It’s even considered a good investment to have your cleaning team in weekly to inspect and freshen while your home is for sale. Your windows, chimneys, shutters, and other places should be professionally cleaned outside and inside the home.