Why Hire a Professional Home Stager?
Article written by Internationally Recognized Home Stager Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
There are lots of simple things homeowners can do on their own to decorate their homes to sell. They can get rid of clutter, repaint, clean or put out fresh flowers. So why hire a home stager?
Many homeowners are unsure of what paint colors to choose or where to move the clutter. The process of selling a home can be completely overwhelming. They often lack real estate knowledge about their local markets and how homes in their price range should look.
A home stager has the ability to look at a home with a fresh pair of eyes. They view the home as a highly critical buyer would see it. Home staging expert Debra Gould provides five examples of how a professional home stager can benefit you:
A home stager knows what’s needed to create the right environment quickly and at the lowest cost.
A home stager knows what homes in different price ranges look like and what’s selling. They will give homeowners suggestions that their real estate agent may be afraid to offer because the agent does not want to risk losing the listing.
A home stager is not emotionally attached to any of the home’s contents, which means that they can see the home in a way that someone who has been living there for years simply cannot. Using their fresh vision, they recommend the optimal way to rearrange existing furniture, art and accessories.
A home stager can quickly choose new paint colors, flooring, tiles, countertops or any number of finishes. They have a ready source of painters, cleaners, handymen, off-site storage and a myriad of other services that may be needed on short notice.
A home stager can bring in replacement furniture, accessories and art if what is there isn’t appropriate for the home’s target market or the home is empty.
Home staging is not just for multimillion dollar homes. Even for modest homes, staging can have a dramatic effect on the selling price and the number of days spent on the market. For example, one of the homes Gould staged had previously been on the market for months with the best offer being $350,000. She spent 90 minutes with the owner rearranging the furniture, putting items in storage and telling him what needed to be cleaned. He sold the house the following week for $361,000!
How many other (legal) ways can you think of to invest $600 and get an $11,000 return on your investment the following week?
Home Staging Means Buyers Shouldn’t Have to Stretch Their Imaginations
Article written by Internationally Recognized Home Stager Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
Homebuyers have less imagination than you might think. That’s why home staging can make such a difference in the selling price of a home and the length of time it takes to sell. During the few minutes that homebuyers typically spend in a house, most of them aren’t able to look past ugly, crowded and disorganized rooms, or figure out that the missing dining room is actually masquerading as a family room. In a house with few bedrooms, most buyers won’t look past a desk and imagine a bed in its place. What you do with a “spare” bedroom can have a huge impact on how the house does in today's real estate market.
A professional home stager will not assume that the rooms in your house are already furnished for the right purposes, and will be able to envision what homebuyers want to see. A home stager’s job is to lead a buyer down the garden path of how a property can look and show them exactly how they can live in it.
Add a bedroom
Debra Gould, founder of the Staging Diva® Home Staging Business Training Program, has encountered this scenario countless times since she started her home staging business, Six Elements Inc., in 2002. “I once staged a house that had only two bedrooms, and one of them had dark paneling, no closet and was set up as a home office,” says Gould. “Consistent criticism after showings told the homeowners that it was being perceived as a one-bedroom house. For staging, I took out the desk, put in a bed and turned it into a guest room. The house sold within days.”
Add a child’s room
Home stagers pay special attention to whether or not a home might be a popular choice for young families. This is where knowledge of the local real estate market comes into play.
“If a home is in a family-oriented neighborhood and the existing owners do not have children, at least one existing bedroom needs to be transformed into a child’s room,” remarks Gould who is also known as The Staging Diva®, “When a couple with a young family walks through a childless home, it's hard for them to imagine how their own family will live there. Are the bedrooms appropriate for their kids? Where will they play?
Professional home stagers always keep the target market of a house in mind when staging. This helps paint a picture for the potential buyer by staging the house the way it would be lived in by them. With minimal furnishings and a few props, it's easy to show a child's bedroom!”
Disguising a small bedroom
“If you’re staging a four-bedroom home that has an exceptionally small bedroom without a closet, consider styling that room as a craft room or home office. Homebuyers would only see how tiny it is and that could put them off,” warns Gould. “If possible, include a loveseat with end tables and lamps so buyers will envision it as a fold-out bed. This will help them visualize how the room can double as a guestroom.”
The important thing to remember is that home buyers are in a house very briefly and won’t struggle to imagine how they can change the property to meet their own needs. When they go to a showing, they want to picture themselves living in that home. With good staging, they don’t have to imagine their lives there; they should already feel like they’re home. That’s what sells homes faster and for more money.