Home Staging is preparing your Home for sale in a tough market. 

Doggone it Cari, I can't get short and succinct enough. I guess that is why they say a picture is worth a thousand words. :) But here is my not so small  nor  so pithy answer:

HOME STAGING IS provided by an elite group of marketing specialists. This group focuses on using all the visual and behind the scenes marketing techniques necessary to prepare each individual property in a manner which will heighten the perceived value.

It will be interesting to see what others add. I too, would like to have the terminology down to just a few seconds in order to actually grab someones attention. Then maybe we will gain the opportunity to give them "the whole story." Fun post.  

Home Staging is: visually and cosmetically prepairing your home to package and market your "product" (your home) to as many potential buyers as possible. Home Staging is: A smart investment.

Okay, I'm going to be the "teacher" here...

Elise, great line but you are still missing the what and the why - and staging is for every market (don't forget higher offers in a seller's market!

Yvonne, yours is beautifully written, but much, much too long! (smile)

Connie, I like yours too but will the "layman" understand your verbiage?

C'mon everyone else!!!! Play along!!!!! This is for everyone to use (if they choose) when they are done!

The art of preparing your home to sell faster and for top dollar!

This is a tough one!  I first read the post and didn't reply because I was stumped.  Amy -- yours is a great one for explaining 'why' and has a bit of the 'what'.

I gave myself the same challenge of 'memorizing' a 30-second elevator speech for what a professional organizer does.  I end up giving ideas of what I do to help people understand since most want concrete examples.  Otherwise, it ends up sounding like marketing soundbytes:  "I help people live a more peaceful life", "I get people's lives in order". You know what I mean???

I'll keep thinking for a staging sentence though....

Patty

Okay, here is mine, it still needs work so feel free to critique it!

Home Staging improves the overall presentation of your home for sale to appeal to a broad range of buyers.

I think it lack something, but I don't want it too long. I like Amy's too, but it is a hard sell in this market when listings aren't selling for more money.

My usual is; I help homeowners prepare to put their property on the market. Not a very hard sell, but it explains it.

When some one ask what do you do I tell them I have a staging business.  Then I get the blank stare, that says ok can we change the subject cause I have no idea what you just said. So I say, you know where you go into peoples homes and help them get the house ready to sell. It can including fixing, updating and decorating.  it's like getting a house ready for a job interview!    Then they shake there heads with a comment like oh how fun, it usually sets off a question like are houses selling these days, or the markets pretty bad etc etc which allows for more info and why staging is important!  I like the simple language rather than the great marketing terms, that sound impressive but doesn't get the interested responses.

Becky

OK here I go.

Home Staging is the process of preparing the interior and exterior of a home to create buyer's immediate interest in the property to get it sold faster and for the most money.

What it is... the process of preparing the interior & exterior of a home

What we do... create buyer's immediate interest in the property

Why we do it... so it sells faster for the most money

"I am a Certified Real Estate Stager. My careful work serves as a catalyst to cause buyers to "fall in love" and pay top-dollar for the properties I stage."

I don't explain staging, until they ask, which is always what happens after my intro line.

"Staging is the antithesis of interior decorating. I remove the decorating imprint of the seller to make room for the buyer to picture thier own lives unfolding in every room of the house.

I never describe the process. The mystery of what a stager does or can do is revealed when you pay my consulting fee!  

Tranforming a "HOUSE for sale" into a "HOME for sale" through strategic placement of home furnishings and creating maximum curb appeal.

Cari, I love the answers you are getting here!

 I sometimes will explain it as "Presenting the home at it's best." ...But we all know there is more that goes into it than that, like engaging the buyer, hooking their emotions, having visitors "fall in love with it" in the first 10 seconds. etc!

Staging? O.K. - you wanted to hear from someone outside your circle.  That is a brand new term to me. To be honest, I thought that is what every realtor should be doing -- giving advice and tips to the homeowner on how to make the home more appealing to sell.  Granted, this sounds like ayou are a little more involved with the process, but ---it does sound a bit like a new catch-phrase someone came up with to charge a little more money. Hey, I am in marketing so I support your efforts.

Home staging is the process of dressing your home for success to ensure a top dollar sale regardless of the market's constant fluctuations. It's improving upon a product to increase the demand!

Aloha Cari

Staging sells homes quickly by thoughtfully organizing a property to appeal to the broadest buyer base, economically and efficiently.

Staging is....The art of creatively decorating your home in a way that is visually appealing to a broad variety of buyers.

(answer written without looking at other comments.)

Wow those are great!

I think it is important to figure out what you are going to say and stick with it so it rolls off of the tounge easy.

I went to a networking event recently where the model of the event was similar to speed dating. You were given an assigned list of table numbers, there were four people to a table and you each had three or so minutes to introduce yourself, explain your business and hand out your card and materials. After everyone had their turn or the 12 minutes were up, a bell went off and you switched tables. Then you had a whole new set of people to meet and introduce yourself to.

It is a lot of fun and it is nice because you get to talk to and meet almost everyone there. I was able to succinctly and effectively explain staging (In my opinion).

My goal for this blog was to promt you to think about what you say to people in these situations and hopefully by reading others "definitions" maybe you (or I) could come up with something that sounded perfect.

I hope others will contribute...

Do you think we have a cookie winner yet?

And the Prestigious COOKIE AWARD goes to <insert drum roll here>

AMY PROUTY!!!! For her succinct answer that included the word top dollar. 

Congratulations to Amy and everyone that entered the contest.  You are all winners in my book.

Here's mine: 

Q:  What is home staging?
A:  You know how when you are going to sell your car you would take it to the car wash and remove the fuzzy dice from the rear view to make an extra fifty bucks?  Well it is exactly like that, except with your house. 

Home staging is the "science" of preparing a home for sale to increase profit ( maintain equity) in the shortest amount of time. How is that? ;)