Home Staging

Most real estate agents agree that first impressions are everything. They believe that successful home staging is both an art and a science. To effectively market a luxury home for sale, it must be properly "packaged." When you hire a professional to stage and sell your home for top dollar, they must also understand who your potential buyers are in order to capture their hearts and minds and build a desire for the home.

The purpose of stagging a home is to trigger a first impression that appeals an emotional attraction to the buyer. A buyer’s first impression of a home will typically make or break a sale. This first glance must inspire them emotionally and persuade them that the home will provide a quality of life the buyer aspires to have. The goal should be to highlight the features of the home by adding realistic and livable qualities that allows the buyer to visualize themselves living in each separate space of the home.

IT ONLY TAKES 15 SECONDS

When I meet with a client in their home for the first time we talk about marketing. Staging is part of this process and in order to attract quality buyers, setting the stage should not be overlooked. Luxury homes are often beautifully decorated but not often effectively staged. For example, a kitchen can be beautifully painted and include luxury appliances and fine fixtures and moldings, but without glassware on the counter, or fresh fruit on the island, a state-of-the-art kitchen can look cold and unwelcoming. By adding a few wine bottles, stemware and decorative containers to the counters, the kitchen is transformed into a livable space. Staging a client’s home is mandatory, even though decorating can be optional. Potential buyers make up their minds within the first 15 seconds of seeing a home. Whether through photos and virtual tours or visiting a home in person, buyers decide quickly.

Buying a home is an emotional decision. When I walk through a client’s home, I am continuously planning how to create a flow and mood with proper staging and redesign. I think about all the necessary steps required to elicit emotional energy from a buyer while evaluating a client’s home in order to sell it through proper staging: furniture layout, functional use of each room, redesign, color scheme, personal pictures, etc.

Decorating is personal and requires more consideration as buyers have unique taste and style. Often a homeowner can be discouraged by a poor choice of pillows or framed art. If choosing only one element, staging and repositioning existing furniture usually takes priority over redecorating. Utilizing both approaches works too, with an emphasis on strong staging to produce results.

TOP 10 REASONS FOR HOME STAGING

1. Staging sells a lifestyle, not four walls and a roof.
2. Staged homes appraise higher in most cases.
3. Buyers perceive staged homes as being well cared for.
4. Staged homes sell for top dollar.
5. Staged homes sell faster.
6. Photos of staged homes look personalized.
7. Staged home photography has a more professional presentation in print advertising.
8. Home staging costs less than a first-price reduction.
9. Real Estate agents prefer to show a staged home.
10. Staged homes set themselves apart from the competition.