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By Patti Stern, PJ & Co. Staging and Interior Decorating
Staging your home involves creating an environment that house hunters can envision themselves living in and can help to facilitate a speedy sale and for top dollar. Quite simply, if potential buyers don’t feel an emotional connection with your home, they won’t feel like they belong there and they’ll be inclined to look elsewhere.
That said, why would home owners make the selling process more difficult for themselves by choosing NOT to stage their property in order to make the best impression? The following are some misconceptions that sellers have about home staging.
1. It’s too expensive.
Staging is an investment in getting a house sold for top dollar and always less than the first price reduction on a home. According to the Association of Staging Professionals (ASP), 95 percent of staged homes sell in 11 days or less and sell for 17 percent more than homes that are not staged. When compared with the carrying costs of a home that lags on the market (monthly mortgage, utilities, landscaping/snow removal, etc.), the cost of staging is far less.
2. Our home has been professionally decorated.
Decorating and staging are completely different. Although home owners may love the way their house looks and it suits their needs perfectly, it may not appeal to the tastes and style of today’s buyers. An accredited home stager has the experience and objectivity to prepare a home for mass appeal in the current marketplace to engage as many buyers as possible -- no matter what their personal style.
3. We don’t need a stager to declutter and clean.
Although these may seem like easy tasks, there is a lot of emotion that goes into depersonalizing a home after so many years of accumulating personal belongings. An accredited stager will provide a detailed action plan to neutralize and remove any items that will distract from the home’s features to get the house sold.
4. We can’t stage the house if we’re living in it.
Staging is absolutely not just for vacant homes. Every home can be staged while it’s occupied and a professional stager will provide home owners with tips for keeping the home in show-ready condition while the home is on the market -- and still feel comfortable in their own home.
5. We can wait and then stage later if needed.
There is a lot of truth to the popular phrase “you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” If you don’t stage before you list, you will inevitably lose time and money.
6. Staging won’t hide all the problems.
Before beginning the staging process, sellers should address basic repairs such as leaky faucets and broken lights first so buyers won’t have a reason to turn away as soon as they walk into a home. Once this is done, a staging company will handle superficial imperfections such as repainting walls and removing outdated wallpaper to make the home aesthetically inviting and comfortable.
For more examples of interior decorating and home staging, visit www.pjstagingdecorating.com.
