Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Part Five, Updating
Part of my role as a professional home stager is to educate Home Sellers and Real Estate Agents about the realities of Home Staging. Watching home staging programs on TV frequently misleads viewers and does not impart the details of how a professional stager works and how the staging process plays out.
In the Fresno, Clovis and Madera foothill and mountain communities the housing market remains a very strong Buyers market. I have heard many stories of buyers getting homes for 40-50% of the value that was established for them 2-3 years ago. Many sellers are underwater with their loans and need a way out. Home staging can help with these issues.
Professional home staging is frequently misunderstood by many real estate agents and homeowners. Sellers and agents are often fearful of the stager and the process. They often think that it is primarily about decluttering, removing family photos and then adding beautiful items from a stager's inventory or having to buy new furniture themselves.
While those aspects can be important they are NOT the sum total of what a professional home stager can do for you and your home. We do NOT come into a home to demean or berate how the seller lives. A professional stager's goal is to help sell the property and to make the process as easy on the seller's as possible.
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This is Part Five of a Seven (7) part series about the ins and outs of real-life professional home staging. You can read Parts One,Two, Three and Four here:
Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, an Overview, Part One
Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Repairs, Part Two
Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Decluttering, Part Three
Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Neutralizing / Depersonalizing, Part Four
UPDATING
Today's buyers want a home that is move-in ready. Most of them are not looking for fixer-uppers. People lead very busy lives and they cannot see themselves spending their time and money on making a house into their home. To attract those buyers your HOUSE FOR SALE may need updating.
As professional stagers we can work with almost any home, updated or not, but if you are interested in a quick sale, if you don't want your house to linger on the market, then updating is important.
What should be updated? Here are the two most budget-friendly categories to consider first: 1) cabinet hardware and 2) light fixtures.
Cabinet hardware is part of the jewelry in the kitchen and in baths. They can leave a positive impression or they can turn buyer's off. If they are brass, antique brass or a style from the past then buyers may turn away from your listing over these simple to replace items. If you cannot afford to replace the knobs and pulls, then consider spray painting them. This is NOT the best solution but it will help.
Light fixtures, old versus updated, can have a big impact on how potential buyers see a house. As with cabinet hardware, brass, antique brass and old style fixtures DO NOT help sell houses. If the contractor, that built your house, was looking for a way to cut costs, they probably purchased contractor packs of low-end light fixtures. These fixtures from the 50's, 60's and 70's are still available today at most of the big-box home improvement stores. All of these scream....low end and should be replaced.
The photo collage to is just a sampling of fixtures that should be changed: 1)brass fixtures, 2)Enclosed light boxes and hollywood strip lights {hung horizontally or vertically}, 3)flourescent shop lights, 4)Tiffany style fixtures.
What finishes are popular today? The style of your home should help you determine what would work best. It is preferable that finishes throughout the house match. Avoid all brass fixtures. Look for chrome, satin nickel, brushed chrome, rubbed oil bronze and sometimes black.
Other items that may need updating include: countertops, cabinet finishes, flooring, door hardware, shower/tub surrounds and glass enclosures, window treatments, fireplace surrounds and screens, paint colors, wall finishes, plumbing fixtures and there's more.
If you are puzzled by this process and don't know where to start, seek the advice of a professional home stager. We specialize in knowing what is most appealing in local markets and what target buyers want. We also know what improvements will give you the biggest bang for you buck. A simple staging consultation can help you achieve a SALE so that you can move forward.
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Dream Interior Redesign & Staging, by Ginger Foust is a full service, licensed and insured, Professional Staging and Interior ReDesign/Decorating company.
Locally serving the California foothill and mountain communities of Oakhurst, North Fork, Coarsegold, Ahwahnee, Bass Lake, Wawona and Mariposa. Also serving areas of, Fresno, Clovis and Madera, California.
Providing Virtual and Conceptual Staging Worldwide.
Click here to see short slideshows with examples of our work. When the first show is over, click on OTHER SHOWS to see more.
Visit our website at http://www.dreamredesigns.com for more information or call 559-877-2442.
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