I'm a professional home stager in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I assist people in preparing their house for sale. New Hampshire isn't exactly the hub of home staging, but I believe, it's just a matter of time before home staging becomes the real estate standard. Until then, sellers who understand the benefits of home staging have a significant competitive edge over those who don't.
Although I don't consider myself a miracle worker, I have been called one. While there have been a few Realtors who declared the results of my work "nothing short of a miracle", I didn't get the name as a result of someone being overly impressed with my transformation skills.
The name comes from my ability to get husbands to do things that their wives have not been able to convince them to do. (Removing, repairing, replacing and moving things.)
You know that look a man gets when his wife asks him to move the sofa to a different wall or how he rolls his eyes when he's told the porch needs to be painted?
For the most part, my position as a home stager has been perceived as one of authority to husbands and my to-do list is taken far more seriously than the wive's list.
It's a power that, I must admit, I rather enjoy! It's grateful wives that have called me a miracle worker.
One glitch...my super powers don't work at home...my own husband is immune.
I'm no miracle worker and there is nothing miraculous about staging. It's a pretty simple concept...prepare it, present it, increase it's perceived value.
The best thing I've ever been called as a home stager was "widow maker".
A very nice man named Bob gave me that title. Bob, a client who after a two hour staging consultation in which we moved most of his furniture, believed he was surely going to die, leaving his wife a widow.
Bob survived and his house sold, and his little pet name for me remains my favorite.
Some houses need more attention than others, but the hard work won't kill you and the end result could be less time on the market and more money in your pocket.
Whether you choose to do it yourself, bring in a professional home stager for reinforcement and guidance, or have a stager prepare your house for sale, the bottom line is that preparation is key in today's market.
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