HOW HOME STAGING CAN HELP SELL YOUR HOUSE

Posted by Krystina Maloney On July 14, 2014 In Tips & How To

In our second installment of our Home Staging Series, guest blogger and professional home staging expert, Cindy Bryant offers her expertise on how home staging can help stage your house. Read on and find out why she believes home staging is an important part of the selling process:

When it comes to selling a home, the benefits of home staging are enormous.

A NAR survey states that a whopping 90% of buyers search online during the home buying process. That’s why you have to grab their attention in the very beginning, starting with the MLS photos posted online. If buyers don’t like what they see, they won’t waste their time or make it to your front door. In this day and age, it’s on to the next listing with the click of a button until potential buyers feel a connection to a home they see. Staging can provide that emotional connection that many homes lack. Prepare, stage and then list with picture perfect photos.

The vast majority of buyers can’t imagine how their furnishings will look in a home. A properly staged home will accent and highlight the features and attributes of your house. It will help buyers visualize how they can place their furnishings and accessories and imagine a future lifestyle. It also defines any awkward spaces or rooms that may be questionable for a buyer. Proper placement, size and scale are key. You want a room to look as large as possible. Buyers are paying for square footage and they want to see it.

Your home should show as warm and inviting, not sterile. Home staging is designed to keep buyers in your home longer. The longer they linger, the more interested they are.

Home staging is a way to connect with potential buyers that are looking in your neighborhood. If you stage for your demographic area, you will have an advantage over your competition. If your neighborhood is older and home sellers are downsizing, then young families may be your target market. If so, the lifestyle staging should reflect a younger buyer.

Home staging also gives the notion that a house is worth more money, and is well kept. If you have older, outdated furnishings, I would highly recommend hiring a professional home stager to bring in updated furnishings and accessories to give your home a newer, fresh look. If you are on a tight budget or a D.I.Y.’er, consider hiring a home stager for a consultation. It is the first step and a very cost effective way to stage your home, giving you a third-party, non-partial perspective of your property.

If homes are staged, buyers will realize the seller cares and has maintained and taken care of the inside and out.

A staged home will show better, bringing you more traffic and better offers, which can result in a bidding war.

Having your home staged is easier to keep show-ready at all times, taking the stress out of last minute showings.

Don’t give buyers a reason to walk through your home and pick it apart only to give you a low ball offer. Home staging will be the best investment you can make when selling your largest asset!

Cindy Bryant is the Owner of Redesign Etc. Home Staging, a full-service business serving the Greater Houston area. She started the company in 2006 and has staged and consulted on hundreds of homes worth over $100 million dollars in real estate properties. She has been featured on two episodes of “Stretch Your Dollar” on ABC Channel 13, The Houston Chronicle and live talk radio. Cindy is a Featured Blogger and Ambassador for the Texas Home and Garden Show, a member of the Benjamin Moore Design Advisory Board. She is a Real Estate Observer Expert, CORT Corporate Stager for Houston and author of numerous articles. Cindy was awarded the Best in HOUZZ 2014 in Satisfaction. To learn more about Cindy and her business, visit www.RedesignEtc.com.

Don’t forget to visit www.remax-nj.com to see homes for sale in New Jersey.

Via REMAX of New Jersey