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Setting the stage to sell your home
That is where real estate staging comes into play - especially in today's real estate market. "The average buyer's first reaction to a home happens in less than 10 seconds," says Carol Bass, a professional home stager. Staging a home means redecorating it to sell. "It's all about appealing to the masses. Buyers need to visualize themselves in the home," adds Bass. Professional real estate stagers suggest that sellers "depersonalize" their homes by removing as many of their personal items as possible - everything from family photos and trophies to toothbrushes hanging in a holder. Legacy Properties, a Chesterfield real estate firm, presents staging to its customers as an option. Customers have access to an exclusive real estate stager. "She can take a home and you can visualize 20 different types of families living there instead of the family that does live there," says realtor Teresa Wilcox.
While many people don't see the value in hiring a professional stager, those who do use a stager tend to sell their homes quicker and get top dollar, observes Wilcox. She recently hired a stager to prepare her Chesterfield home for the market. It sold for $523,000 in less than 30 days. Staging is one way for a home to stand out in an average real estate market. Before putting a home on the market, Wilcox says homebuyers should ask, "How can you make your home look better than the one with a 'for sale' sign down the street?" "Honey do" list Bass teaches professional stagers to use a national scoring system to evaluate homes, similar to an appraiser. "We would like most homes to achieve a 90 percent score before it is listed on the market. Most homes do not score that well," she says.
"We can get involved as little or as much as the homeowner needs," she adds. Some stagers practically become general contractors, overseeing landscapers, painters or carpenters. Professional stagers typically charge about $150 per hour for a consultation. Some homeowners choose to do-it-themselves and have professional stagers come back after they have made changes to create the "wow" factor, says Bass. It's important for homeowners to make sure their realtor retakes photos after the staging, reminds Bass. Vicki Macenka, a professional stager and Midlothian resident, learned how to stage a home from Bass. When arranging a room, start with a focal point and work around it, she says. For example, if the main feature is a beautiful window, place your furniture near the window. If it is an entertainment center, create a sitting area around the piece.
Create ambience with lighting. Realtors tend to turn on all of the lights in your home, Macenka observes. One technique is to replace light switches with dimmers so lighting can be easily adjusted to create different moods. Try to establish a triangle effect with lighting in rooms, she adds. Also, check the wattage so lights are not too bright, but not too dim. Bass notes that more than one-third of homes are shown in the evening. Consider the outside lighting and how people will perceive your home driving up to it at night. Deal killers One of the biggest "deal killers" to homebuyers are odors. Odors tell a multitude of things, Bass states. "Whether it is mold, food, smoke or pets, anything but a pleasant smell sends a negative message about your home." Clutter is the other big "deal killer." A common misconception that home sellers often have is that buyers "know we live here." But, potential buyers have very little imagination, Bass quips. In staging a home to sell, it is no longer about the homeowner. The homeowner is emotionally and sometimes physically separated from the home, so it should be viewed as an asset to sell, Bass explains. Motivated sellers are those who are ready to move on to their next space and usually the ones who hire a professional stager.
"Staging really does enhance the chances of getting their house sold," says Bass. "There are so many apples in the barrel to choose from. How are you going to get your house looked at seriously over someone else's?" |
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