Home Staging is a simple concept; Home Staging is taking a home for sale and increasing its overall appeal. This is done by first preparing the home by reducing the appearance of clutter, neutralizing it's interior, cleaning, and making any necessary repairs or upgrades.
Secondly, a professional Home Stager will use furniture, artwork and accessories in the home and arrange them in a way that is appealing to a majority of people. Home Stagers use furnishings and props to highlight certain features of the home that they want to ensure buyers notice. These same furnishings can also be used to divert attention away from less desirable features of the home.
For example, let's say you have a partially upgraded kitchen, you replaced the cabinets, upgraded the countertops to granite and replaced the appliances - but the flooring was still dated linoleum. We would want to distract the buyer's attention away from the dated floor and focus their attention on those awesome countertops! This maneuver can be achieved by simple placement of accessories on top of the counters. By using an eye catching centerpiece or an attractive arrangement with a bottle of wine, some glasses and a breadboard, we have drawn the buyer's eye up off the floor and onto the counter top.
Staging doesn't have to be extreme or expensive. In the Before and After photos below we:
Edited the furniture - FREE
Painted the walls - $30.00 for paint
Ripped up the stained carpet - FREE
Refinished the hardwood floors - $200.00
Added pillows and accessories from other parts of the home - FREE
Before After
Common Myths Attached to Home Stagers
Some people think that Home Staging is only for expensive or high end homes. This is simply not true. All homes could benefit from staging. All sellers deserve the opportunity to utilize this service regardless of the price of their home.
A home that has been professionally staged will:
•· Appeal to more buyers
•· Outshine comparable homes on the market
•· Increase the perceived value of the home
•· Grab the buyer's attention with online photos
•· Increase the showing of the home by Realtors
•· Result in a faster sales time
A common myth attached to Home Stagers is that the Home Stager will come into your home, take out all your old furniture and replace it with new rental items. While this practice does happen, it doesn't have to. A Professional Home Stager should be able to use what you currently own to create an appealing aesthetic. The professional Home Stager may add some props such as candles or greenery to your décor to pull together the look and feel of a room.
Another myth is that hiring a home stager is expensive. Well, it does get expensive when you rent a whole house full of furniture, but if the stager can work with what you own, the cost can be kept to a minimum. The average stager will charge anywhere from $250.00 to $1000.00 for their services. This does not include the cost of rentals or misc. inventory.
How to Hire a Professional Stager
Your real estate agent should be able to refer a Professional Home Stager to you. If not, search the internet and try to meet with and interview at least three to learn more about their experience and fees. Ask to see their portfolio; you will be able to see immediately what kind of job they will do. Finally, ask for references. They may be a great stager, but may be difficult to work with or have poor business sense.
By hiring and utilizing the services of a professional home stager you will save more in both time and money than if you had not staged your home. The statistics show that these homes sell faster and for more money than if they had not been staged.
When to home Stage?
Here are some examples of when it is a good idea to hire a professional stager:
Before
Afters
Wallpaper removal - FREE, furniture and accessory editing - FREE, Painting $30.00, Replaced light fixtures kitchen and bath - $200.00, new dining table - $250.00, new bedding and window treatments$50.00, misc. accessories $30.00
Why Home Stage?
In any market, you want your home to look better than comparable homes. Staging does that.
You want buyers to drive up to the house and say wow! Staging does that.
You want buyers to feel "at home" when they enter your house. Staging does that.
You would rather your house sell fast than linger on the market. Staging does that.
Why Home Stage? Give your home every chance you can to make a great impression on buyers, use a Home Stager - you will be glad you did!
Cari Pilon is a professional home stager and a certified SMART Stager. Based out of Michigan, she can be reached at (810) 853-0053 or on the web at www.SMARTStagers.com
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Right on Cari! Love the transformations here. Your post really demonstrates teh benefits of home staging.