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HOME STAGING...WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT!

By
Home Stager with ReStyled to Sell Home Staging New Jersey

As inventory for the real estate market continues to grow, more realtors and sellers alike are calling upon the services of a professional home stager. Realtors have begun to use Home Staging as part of their marketing strategy which is very wise. But I am still finding that while the popularity of Home Staging has grown, many sellers still do not fully understand what the home stager will set out to achieve when staging their home.

Let me help you try to understand what Home Staging IS and IS NOT!

HOME STAGING IS NOT INTERIOR  DECORATING

1. Many homeowners seem to confuse the two. As professional home stagers we will stage a room to enhance the selling features of the room. For instance, if there is a fireplace in the room but it is not the focal point of the room, the home stager will arrange the furniture and/or accessories to draw the buyers eye to that focal point of the room which is the fireplace. 

2. When I stage a home I may not necessarily be concerned with dressing every window or filling up every nook and cranny with some sort of decorative item or book or basket. I stage a home to show the buyers the space and how they can arrange the room, I don't stage it to show off your accessories or furniture. Buyers will buy your space/home, NOT your furniture.

HOME STAGING IS NOT JUST DECLUTTERING

Too many sellers think that by simple removing a few items their home is NOWdecluttered and therefore will appeal to many. Home Staging goes way beyond decluttering. While decluttering is an ABSOLUTE MUST and very good to do, it is just the BEGINNING of having your home staged.

HOME STAGING IS NOT JUST REARRANGING FURNITURE

Too many sellers are trying to stage their own homes based on the little bit of knowledge they have picked up from watching HGTV or surfing the internet. Last week I went to stage a home and the clients had moved their furniture into what they felt was a suitable arrangement. If they were going to be living there then I agree the arrangement would have worked. But because they are selling this arrangement was too closed in and did not open up to the kitchen area which was the selling feature of the home. When you have a GREAT ROOM that includes a large family room and kitchen, then you need to stage it as ONE BIG WELCOMING COZY ROOM. A professional stager is trained and has the eye to accomplish these tasks. 

HOME STAGING IS the art of professionally preparing your home for sale

HOME STAGING IS about creating a mood and ambiance in the home that will make buyers say, I WANT TO LIVE HERE

HOME STAGING IS about depersonalizing the home and "decorating" the home to appeal to a wide number of buyers, both MEN and WOMEN

HOME STAGING IS about neutralizing the home which means no flowery wallpaper or dark paneling or lime green carpets

HOME STAGING IS HARD WORK and Sellers need to realize that they don't need to accomplish this large task on their own. 

I have seen this scenario time and time again. Most sellers are so overwhelmed with the amount of packing and decluttering that must be done prior to staging that they don't know where to begin. When my team and I enter the property we give them a gentle nudge in the right direction and before you know it, the work is completed.  Working together as a team relieves so much stress.

HOME STAGING IS for occupied homes, vacant homes, new homes, older homes, large homes, small homes, lower priced homes and multi million dollar homes. 

HOME STAGING IS FOR EVERY HOME AND IN TODAY'S MARKET EVERY HOME THAT IS STAGED WILL REAP THE REWARDS.

For an initial consultation, please call ReStyled to Sell Home Staging @ 732-995-3425

 

Kathy Passarette
Creative Home Expressions - Mount Sinai, NY
L.I. Staging/Decorating
Phyllis ~ Great post!  You laid it out quite well here. 
Oct 10, 2007 11:32 PM
Susan Smith
Rooms That Work LLC - Sandy Hook, CT

Amen sister!  Great post!

Oct 10, 2007 11:35 PM
Judy Heinrich
Judy Heinrich Home Staging - San Diego, CA
Nice that you pointed out what home staging is NOT... so many people think once they've decluttered and cleaned up their house is staged...NOT!
Oct 10, 2007 11:54 PM
Charlene Storozuk
Dezigner Digz - Burlington, ON
Home Stager - Burlington Ontario
Great post Phyllis!  You cleared up some of the common misbeliefs about staging.  You're not kidding when you say it's hard work!  It sure is, but you get such satisfaction out of a completed project don't you?  There isn't anything else I'd rather be doing as a profession.
Oct 11, 2007 01:05 AM
Minnesota Home Staging Firm, Minnesota
Minnesota Home Staging Network~ MN's Top Home Staging Firm - Inver Grove Heights, MN

Wonderfully said my friend!  I'm going to send you a quick note on a different subject :)

All the best,

Beth

Oct 11, 2007 01:54 AM
Janice Sutton
1st Stage Property Transformations - Murrieta, CA
Home Stager - Temecula Murrieta

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Great detailed educational post. 

Just yesterday I was in Kirkland's and when I told the clerk I was a Home Stager he said "Oh, that's like an Interior Designers, right?  UGH!  Oh well,  I have to admit it is getting better. More and more people understand what I am when I tell them.  :)

Oct 11, 2007 03:17 AM
Sheryl Delorme
Special Effects Staging & Decorating - Belleville, ON

Great post Phyllis. I agree that most people think that once they declutter, then their home is staged. I am in an area that has not been educated in the art of staging their home for sale. It can be quite frustrating repeating this process over and over again. I explain to people that once their house goes up for sale that they are no longer selling their home, they are selling a product. In order to put this product on the market, they need to gift wrap it, and that is my job. To present it in the best possible light, and to a wider variety of people. Some get it and some don't. So for now I keep educating.

Sheryl Delorme  Special Effects

Oct 11, 2007 10:01 AM
Concetta Pepenella-Timmons
Remax Metro Staten Island, New York - Staten Island, NY
Associate Broker
Phyllis, Do you travel to Staten Island? I have a listing with motivated sellers that could use staging. 
Oct 11, 2007 01:03 PM
Phyllis Pafumi
ReStyled to Sell Home Staging New Jersey - Old Bridge, NJ
ReStyled to Sell Staging Homes NJ

YES Concetta I do travel to Staten Island. That is a hop, skip and a jump from me...LET'S DO IT!

Phyllis Pafumi

Oct 11, 2007 02:55 PM
Betty Haney
Haney Consulting - Calgary, AB
Phyllis what a good article you have created.  I think you should submit it to your local newspaper.  Homeowners, buyers and sellers can all benefit from what you have written.  Have fun on Staten Island!  Betty
Oct 11, 2007 07:21 PM
Kimberly Uksik
Independent - Pickering, ON
Home Stager - Durham, Toronto, On.

Phyllis - Great Post - I use something similar in my marketing package for agents to try to "clear" up the differences.

Thanks for posting this

Oct 11, 2007 10:52 PM
Kathy Riggle
STAGING SMART N SOLD - Houston, TX
Houston Home Staging
Well said, Phyllis! I especially like the part about appealing to women AND men-so many sellers are surrounded by floral stuff..
Oct 12, 2007 11:59 AM