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How Vacant Home Stagers Have Helped Changed the Definition of Staging

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture

As a home stager, I can attest to the value of de-cluttering and the impact it can have on a home. And yes, removing personal collectibles can help avoid buyer distractions. The definition of staging, or so it seemed, was almost always tied to occupied homes.

However, with the amount of homes on the market with many sitting vacant, professional home stagers are making incredible headway with respect to getting homes sold more quickly. Not only do we understand the importance of a great first-impression but we strive to make it one the buyers will remember.

To stand out a home must be made as attractive as possible. Builders have relied on this marketing strategy for years. Why? Because they understood the importance of having the buyer emotionally connect with the home. An eat-in kitchen set with simple dishes and a spring bouquet can help buyers envision themselves living in the home. If left vacant, it's much harder to evoke that same emotion.

The good news for home sellers is that home staging professionals have made it an affordable solution for almost any vacant home on the market.

To all home stagers everywhere - my hats go off to you for having helped so many!

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture

The home pictured above was professionally staged by Kathy Nielsen, Owner & Founder of Georgia Interior Solutions, LLC. Serving the Atlanta area - we make the process of preparing your home for the market easy and affordable.

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About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly. Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392. Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. For more tips on how to showcase your home, visit our AtlantaHomeStagerInfo blog.

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Posted by Kathy Nielsen Atlanta Georgia Home Stager on 05/06/2008 08:30 PM

Comments (29)

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Originally posted at: Atlanta Georgia Home Staging : How Vacant Home Stagers Have Helped Changed the Definition of Staging

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29 Comments on How Vacant Home Stagers Have Helped Changed the Definition of Staging

MAY

2008

Kathy I actually have a house that i think will look better when it is vacant.

John - I've worked with other agents who have said the same thing about some of their occupied listings. In fact, I've had some that I've worked with that have actually suggested to their client that they move out.

Kathy

Kathy ~ What you've said is true, and you are leading the brigade! Thank you for your amazing example for all of us.

I love staging because we all know they help sell the house! I've actually suggested staging for feedback and the agents sometimes get offended!

Kathy, You go GIRL! I couldn't have said it better myself and examples of your work only strengthen the fact that Staging makes all the difference. I don't think John has much of a clue what staging really is if he thinks it wouldn't work for his listing!! I'd love to see more pictures of the home you pictured at the end of your blog!!

Cheers, Emily

Kathy - I agree, and vacants are awesome to stage - I love the clean pallette!

MAY

2008

Inviting room, makes you want to sit and have lunch. Good post and accurate...home staging does make a huge difference in the appeal of the rooms to a buyer. It helps the imagination see the rooms and their uses and the little bit of home right along with it.

Maureen - how sweet of you to say. Thank you!

LaNita - Was the home occupied or vacant?

Emily - Thank you. I'm taking more pictures on Monday and will post more then.

Kathy

You are so correct! In our area, there are so many vacant homes on the market and staging is really making a difference. An agent we work with on a regular basis said something great to me recently: "Staging, done correctly, makes potential buyers linger and the longer they linger, the better chance of wanting to buy the home." I love your pictures!!

Julianna - I too love vacant home staging.

TerryLynn - I once staged a vacant home where the prospective buyers and their agent were literally sitting at the table having lunch.

Kathy

Great blog. I love your pictures. I think what you've said is so true. I staged a home the end of April that has been sitting vacant for over a year. The builder thinks he has a buyer now after 3 weeks staged. Thanks Kathy.

Chrissie Sutherland

Thanks Kathy for the great post!. Builders know that vacant homes need staged, that is why they have furnished their model homes. I too can attest to how effective it is to stage vacant homes. We work with a builder who was closing an older model home. We suggested instead of donating the interior merchandising that we use it to stage one of his standing inventory homes. He agreed and the home sold in 2 weeks. We then immediately moved everything to another of his inventory homes and it quickly got an offer. The same interior was moved several times until last I heard it was sold with the inventory home.

Great blog Kathy, and your work is stunning as usual. I love square dishes by the way, they always look fantastic on a table.

Definitely one of my favorite houses to date that you've done. Fabulous post! =)

Kathy,I agree with you and your blog. The benefits of staging a vacant property is immediate and productive. Most people are pleasantly surprised how affordable staging their vacant property is. And relieved when the staged property goes under contract while vacant it sat for 6 to 12 months.

One of the major distractions in our area........Many of the open floor plans loved for entertaining cause furniture placement concerns for many potential buyers. Vacant staging creates the emotional connection needed, prepares the first impression etc but also eliminates this major distraction.

As you can see by my response to this great blog, I too Love vacant staging! Thanks for sharing!

Great post Nancy! My husband and I were just talking about this yesterda-the power of emotions on purchasing decisions.

Just think of anything that involves emotion for a major purchase, planning a wedding, preparing a room for a new baby, the purchase of an engagement ring, a new home, a new car, they are all such emotional decisions. With the right sales person, or in this case staging, a home truly has a chance at selling and getting top dollar!

Kathy:

So true. Not only is it wonderful to have the empty palette of a vacant home to stage but it gives the staging professional the opportunity to "set the scene" in a unique way to make it memomrable from the plethora of inventory available.

Kathy;

Products being sold on the market are packaged in such a way that buyers react to them, thus connecting with them. Houses on the market are no different. Making an emotional connections is key into tapping into the sale. Love the photos. Great post.

Tracy - Thank you! I think your comment came in just as I was posting.

Chrissie - That's excellent news! I'm so happy for you.

Patti - Wow! Your success story speaks volumes! Thanks for sharing.

Kathy

Charlene - I too love using square dishes. I really tried to keep this setting simple and the colors were just perfect for this home.

Thanks Abster!

Leslie - The open floor plans can be difficult for the buyers, that's for sure. Thanks for your kind words.

Karla - I think you meant to say Kathy vs. Nancy (smile). I love your analogies you used on "emotions." I hope all is well with you as it's been ages since we've spoken.

Renee - Vacant home staging is my most favorite for the reason you mentioned! There's so much inventory at the moment that it's critically important to have the home stand out.

Thanks, Linda!

Kathy

Kathy - the funny thing is that I still run into agents who only think of Staging in terms of furnitiure rental. In other words, they don't often think of if for occupied homes.

Nice photos!

MAY

2008

Hey Kathy -- I really enjoyed the angle of this post. Great marketing piece for the value of staging!

AND, just lovely work my friend; I'd expect no less!

The issue I ran into more and more with vacants these days is "real flowers" vs. fake? Obviously, there's maintenance involved with real. Nothing worse than the smell of dead flowers, well not much, anyway!!

Are those beyootiful tulips real? how do you handle that issue?

Thanks, Tori Lynn.

Karen - I managed to get behind the table (a shot I don't normally take) to get an entirely different view. Thanks for your sweet words.

Juliet - Those beyootiful tulips are actually not real. I loved the arrangement so much that I purchased all they had (which if I recall correctly was three). And no, I couldn't possibly maintain real plants or flowers as some of the homes are quite a distance away.

Kathy

Kathy, Love the pictures. I have not done a vacant home yet! All of my jobs are owner occupied. Would love to get my hands on one.

Thanks, Kimnberely. Before you know it, you'll have a vacant home to stage and you'll be hooked.

Kathy

MAY

2008

Sorry I am so late to the party Kathy. As you know I love doing vacant homes. I think that stagers like you, who do such beautiful work, give stagers who do occupieds something to aspire to. And I'm with you on the real vs. fake flower issue. Real flowers, if not properly maintained, start to smell funky after a couple of days. In every home where the REA says they want real flowers, they have called me after the first week and asked me to replace all with silks. High quality silks look great and require no maintenance. You have to touch them to see if they are real or not. That's good enough for me.

Nice post Kathy N! Vacant staging is a different challenge than occupied staging and seems to be the majority of requests I receive in my area. Creating an emotional attachment is part of our job...and the neutral look that staging brings to the scene is priceless when well done! Though the cost is more for the owners, the return on the investment multiplies many times over! Regards-Kathleen G

MAY

2008

Thanks for sharing. I learn something every day!

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