What IS Home Staging?

By definition, Home Staging involves preparing your home to sell by accentuating its advantages and eliminating or reducing the perceived negatives. The results are often a quicker sale for more money than expected. The marketing aspects of staging include all the work done to persuade a buyer to make an offer, including promotional activities, listing materials and how the home is presented.

Staging is about determining what you can do to place your property at the top of the show and sell list. The major difference when designing to sell is not to focus on your own particular taste but rather on the target market that will be attracted to your home. Remember that buyers usually choose the home with the most space and amenities within their given budget. It is human nature to pick the biggest and best for your money. Space is a matter of perception, so the main goal is to make your home feel open and inviting.

Cleaning up clutter and packing up personal items is necessary to achieve that crucial selling advantage. Essentially, buyers need to picture themselves living in your home. A neat, tidy and nicely arranged home without the reminder of daily maintenance is the best way to project the image of pride of ownership. Buyers want value and style, so it is important to tastefully accessorize to achieve mass appeal.

Make necessary repairs prior to showing your home to the buying public. When a purchaser sees even one thing that needs to be fixed, a red flag goes off in their head. They are given the impression that the home is not well maintained, and actually start to look for other issues. With every imperfection (and let’s face it, no home is completely without them) they mentally reduce their offer. By making those necessary repairs first, they have nothing to base a low offer on. Additionally, the repairs will eventually get addressed during the inspection phase which would result in the buyers asking for monetary compensation to have them taken care of, so be proactive and keep your equity in your pocket. Fix ‘em now!

First impressions are everything in real estate. Staging should be your first step in the home selling process. Make sure your home is in top condition before showings commence, and then Prepare Yourself for all of the benefits of staging your home!