Are you “Staged” for a Change? (Part 1)
As a Realtor® I see people move through many stages of emotions when it comes time to selling their home. It starts when a new journey has come into their lives. This change may mean a moving closer to their grandchildren, or perhaps a new career has challenged them to relocate. For some, they want something larger for their family and my personal favorite; to see a lifelong dream come true. For me personally, it means buying that log home in the mountains where my horses can roam and the view is endless.
Evergreen has played a big role in making those dreams come true for many of us. When I moved here years ago from the city, it was truly to fulfill a dream of being part of a small community and living the mountain lifestyle. Evergreen has been that and more for me. Now, my husband and I are embarking on expanding that dream as we prepare to put our house on the market and find something that will allow us to include our adopted rescue horses. I can’t wait for my new home here, yet I feel ambivalence in letting go of my home I love here now. Some of you may be feeling the same resistance to change.
Here are some emotions that I find myself and my clients experience as they prepare to sell their house. Stage one is the excitement of the new journey ahead, the new house, job, etc... Shortly after, Stage two sets in; the reality of letting go of the past. For some of us that comes easy, for others it begins a process of shifting our brain from “this is my home that I love” to “this is an investment I can sell.”
It’s hard to think of packing up memories of happy times; sharing meals and watching our children grow. As with every new journey, there is a resistance to change. In my business, it’s a literal one. When I meet with sellers, and they share stories of their home, I can quickly determine how easy or difficult it will be for them to sell. Stage three is the shift of “home to investment.” Once I put specific numbers on paper they begin to see the benefits of their investment. Hopefully, those numbers are positive and the change takes place. They are ready to sell.
Stage four happens once the numbers are in place, now it’s time to go over the house to determine its condition and presentation. A walk through will quickly determine the strengths and weaknesses of your house and its place in the market. The next question is the big one-What will attract a buyer to your home and what will it take to get them to commit? I like to call this “The Dating Game.” Like dating, you look for the interest and commitment from the other party. In order for that to happen, we have to look at key steps that set the stage for a seller’s house to begin to look like a buyer’s new home. I believe it starts with Home Staging.
Wikipedia defines Home Staging as: the act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property’s appeal by transforming it into a welcoming, attractive product that anyone might want. I love this definition. It makes me want to make my sellers stand up put their right hand in the air and repeat this three times!
U.S. research (based on surveys of real-estate agents) states that home staging can reduce a listing’s time on the market by one-third to one-half, and could fetch as much as 10-15% more than an empty house or a house not properly staged. Real Estate agents like great looking homes they are proud to represent and because they know they are easier to sell.
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