Are you someone who has been trying to sell your home for quite some time but without any luck? The economy is making it difficult to sell not only houses, but other things as well. If your house has been on the market for several months or even longer, why not consider getting a Home Staging consult?
It's been proven that a staged home sells alot quicker than a home that has not been staged and it usually sells for the asking price as well. What does this mean to you? It means that your home which has been for sale for months, gets staged and then sells a month later. It means your home, which you've lowered the asking price once, twice or more now sells for what your original asking price was.
A Home Staging consult will usually run you about $150 and the stager will also give you a report on his or her findings and suggestion on what should be done in order to make the home appeal to more buyers. Sometimes all it takes is some decluttering or painting and other times it may take quite a bit more. You can then decide if the changes are something you want to tackle yourself or if it's something you would rather the stager do.
There is not a set way that stagers charge for their services, some charge by the hour, some by the room and some charge a fixed amount. As for myself, I usually charge a percentage of the list price of the home. That percentage can vary depending on how extreme the changes need to be. For example, my usual fee would be 1.5 to 2% of the list price unless I am staging a vacant home, in which case furniture for an entire house would have to be rented for atleast a month so the percentage would be around 3 to 3.5% of the list price. In either senario, I, as well as other stagers typically require 1/2 the fee upfront with the other half due once the job is done or when the home sells.
The key is to make your home, neutral so that it appeals to the majority of buyers, that means no wild colors or prints, and no family portraits or pictures. You want the buyers to be able to picture themselves living there and that's hard to do if there are pictures of Grandma Bessie or Uncle Willy everywhere. Remember, removing your personal items is only temporary and once you're in your new home you will be able to put all your family pictures back out.
I can't stress enough how important it is for the buyer to be able to visualize themselves living there, therefore your house must be presented as a warm and inviting home that they cant wait to call their own.
Should you decide you'd like to try the home staging route, I am a Certified Home Stager in the Grayson County, Texas area and am willing to travel to Mckinney, TX or even Plano, TX. You can find me at stagedwellstaging.com, I would love the opportunity to help you sell your home and remember, "A home StagedWell is quick to sell."
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