My husband has been telling me for weeks that I should get into blogging, so here goes nothing...
Lately I've been visiting open houses to see what's going on in the market and in home staging. I've visited a bunch of beautiful properties in Redwood City, Palo Alto and Mountain View, and met just as many wonderful, friendly realtors who were very receptive to the idea of home staging.
I recently sold my own home in Oakland, and considered staging a necessary investment. Therefore, I've been surprised to see how few homes in the area are staged! Of the homes I've visited, only about a quarter were staged. The homes that were staged varied in degrees of staging - one had only the front room staged, while a couple others were completely staged. No matter how little or how much staging had been done, the homes that were staged definitely made a lasting impression on me, while the ones that were vacant all sort of blended together. As for most of the homes where the owners' possessions were still in place, well... let's just say I definitely remember the dirty plates stacked in the kitchen sink.
As all realtors and home stagers know, the first impression of a property is crucial. That's why home staging is so vital. If there's one thing I'd like to tell all realtors and home sellers, it's that home stagers can do as much or as little staging as an owner's budget dictates.
For a minimal drop in the bucket of a home's selling price, a professional stager can present a homeowner with a staging plan they can implement themselves, using all their own stuff. For a little more, the homeowners can have the stager come in and do all the work for them - also using all of the homeowners' possessions. This is a great option for people living in their home while it's on the market - they get to keep all their stuff and have the house look great for showing.
It's understandable that sellers may feel financially stretched when they've placed their vacant property on the market and have already purchased and moved into a new place to live. If the sellers aren't willing to invest in full home staging, their realtor should really encourage staging just the entry rooms or main floor. This way, potential buyers experience the "wow!" moment of walking into a beautiful home for sale, rather than an echoing, empty house. By the time the potential buyers make it to the empty areas of the property, with any luck the sale is already a done deal.
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