By Stacey Gibson
"The way you live in your home and the way we market and sell your house are two different things!" -Barb Schwarz, The Creator of Home Staging.
If you are like most people the largest asset that you own is your home. Thus, we take strides to properly maintain our homes, thus investing in the equity of our homes. Things like mowing the grass regularly, replacing the roof when necessary, keeping cobwebs down, and cleaning windows regularly add value to our home. Also while living in the home we surround ourselves with furnishings, colors, pictures, photos, plants, and memorabilia -anything that makes us happy and brings joy into our lives. This is the way we live in our homes.
Around 90% of today's homebuyers begin their search on the internet. Buyers who come to look at your house have most likely seen it on the internet and have an interest in seeing more. Buyers shopping on the internet give a house only 3 seconds to make an impression. Imagine 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi and they decide to click on more photos of your house or click on to the next property. Your house must be prepared or packaged for that instant when a buyer sees the photo on the internet; it must generate interest - enough that the buyer contacts the agent to set up an appointment for showing. Your house must be ready for its next investor before you list it and get the photos on the internet. You also want to sell your house for as much money as possible. Investing in the equity of your house is imperative to draw the best buyers possible. This is the way we market and sell your house.
If you are living in your home be sure to make it yours! Personalize it the way that suits you and your family. Enjoy your home; this is your domain. However, when you decide to sell your home, make it a house. It must be well maintained, painted in neutral colors that will appeal to the widest range of buyers and have great curb appeal as well as an interior with good traffic flow. By this, I mean to say that less is more; buyers need to be able to move freely about the interior -and exterior- of the house. One last thing that is so important to mention; it must be Clean!
If in doubt, you can check the internet yourself. See what is for sale in the same price range in your area. Look at the houses, study the photos and you will notice a difference between the houses that are prepared and ready to sell and the ones that will remain on the market for months just because of their first impression.
Stacey Gibson, ASPM is owner of Chico Home Staging. She welcomes your staging questions. Email Stacey@chicohomestaging.com Stage® is a federally registered trademark of Stagedhomes.com
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