Home Staging

Does Your Home Attract Potential Buyers?
By Melanie Serra 

In today’s home sales market some homeowners and realtors have found an edge-“Home Staging.” This “decorate to sell” service is also known in the industry as “Real Estate Staging.”  The goal is to make your home more esthetically appealing so that it sells quickly and for the best possible price!

The process begins at curbside to make the necessary adjustments in playing up the homes strengths.  Next the interior is transformed so that the home shows it’s absolute best.  The process may be as simple as packing away personal items to rearranging the furniture and repositioning accessories.  It could be as involved as repainting, carpeting or landscaping depending on the condition of the home.

It’s a fact that potential homebuyers make a decision within the first three seconds of entering your home.  Staging capitalizes on the emotional impact of that first impression by appealing more directly to the senses.  This is achieved first by establishing the proper flow and balance of the rooms.  Then decorative touches and inviting scents are added to create additional warmth to lure the buyer in.

Many homeowners feel it should be part of the agent’s responsibility to position their home favorably for resale.  Some agents take classes on staging and prepping the home and are often savvy in gauging what a home needs to show well. However, more and more agents are recommending professional home stagers for the job. Here are a the reasons why:

• Time  - real estate agents need to invest their time efficiently and effectively in securing appointments with potential buyers to view listings. Their focus should be spent on marketing the property so that it sells as quickly as possible.
    
• Relationship with owner - an agent can be put in the difficult position of conveying constructive information to the homeowner and often fears offending the client and losing the listing.  A professional home stager remains neutral and understands how to highlight the homes features while down playing it’s lesser attributes.  
  
• Lack of expertise - the home may need major improvements that go beyond the expertise of the real estate agent.  Home stagers are trained in interior decorating and have experience in prepping the home for sale.  They will also recommend and supervise other home improvement services if needed. 

Real estate agents are professionals hired to sell your home.  Stagers are professionals hired to show- case your home.  So it makes perfect sense for real estate agents to work closely with professional stagers to effectively market a property.  

Homes that are professionally staged sell quicker, attract multiple bidders, and generate a higher selling price.  If you are in the market to sell your home it may be worth the investment to have it staged to “wow” potential buyers on their next walk through.

Home Staging