Dan's Papers -March 27, 2009 - Home Staging - Yes, Staging

Merchandising your home for sale, a selling strategy once reserved mainly for new homebuilders, has become more and more mainstream. With the advent and current popularity of home staging, the selling advantage of presenting a "model home" is now available to anyone listing their home for sale. A home is an investment and it is also a marketable commodity, just like any other product for sale. The listings that are currently seeing sales and rental activity are those that not only are priced well, but also that show well, the cream of the crop.

It may seem counterintuitive to invest money preparing your home for sale, but it is, in fact, one of the best things you can do to sell faster and net more, especially in this market. According to recent statistics compiled in Connections, a magazine by The Women's Council of Realtors, staging provides a 349% return on your investment and the 2008 statistics from Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) indicate that staged homes spend 85% less time on the market. In addition, the costs associated with preparing your home for sale are typically a tax deduction; check with your accountant.

What is designing to sell? There is a psychology behind designing your home for sale that new homebuilders and model home designers have been privy to for years. Buying a home is not only a huge financial decision, but is also an extremely emotional one. No matter how much a home shopper has the intention of making a practical purchase, any seasoned real estate agent will tell you that a large percentage of home sales are due to love at first sight. Eliciting the buyer's emotional response is a key ingredient to successful home staging. A well merchandised home will cause buyers to say: "I could live here!"

Once a potential buyer enters a home, it typically takes less than a minute for them to form an impression and make a decision if this is a home they would be likely to purchase. Without a positive first impression, the buyer may quickly tour the house and leave. A quick scan of a room that lacks interests or is too overwhelming and the buyer may move on. The longer a potential buyers remains in a house, the more likely it is they will start to appreciate the possibilities of living in the home. It has been said that only one in 10 people have the ability to visualize themselves living in a home that is not merchandised to be "buyer friendly".

This is one reason why vacant homes are so much more challenging to sell. Try and view vacant home listings online. Without a frame of reference, they are impossible to decipher. Unless the home is replete with rich and varied architectural features and defining paint colors it's often difficult to discern what you are looking at. Without furniture and artwork as visual clues people are often perplexed and cannot imagine how they would live in the home. One of the first things that potential buyers do when they walk into a home is wonder, "How would I live here? Where would the sofa go? Where do I watch TV? Can I entertain my friends and family here?" Thus, a dining room table with 12 or more chairs indicates large gatherings, and when you place an armoire or entertainment center in a room ... voila! That's where the TV goes. These are practical connections that need to be made in a home as well as emotional ones.

A typical home shopper may look at 10 or more homes on any given day, a select few may stand out in his or her memory. A properly staged home will exude a universal appeal and capture the hearts and imaginations of many buyers. The objective is to render enough attraction in the home to pique the buyer's interest. At the end of the day, a well staged home will resonate in a buyer's memory. A professional stager will create a canvas that will enable a prospective buyer to mentally make a few brush strokes and see their own masterpiece before them. In today's competitive market "memory" and how your home is distinguished has become even more important.

Professional home stagers are experts who can guide you through and streamline the process of preparing your home for sale, making it stress free and ultimately you can expect greater returns. Most home stagers offer an affordable two to three hour consultation for owner occupied homes that will generate a "to do" list that can be completed by the stager or the seller. Conversely, a stager can transform a vacant home into warmly furnished space. When hiring a home stager, make sure they are professionals. Ask to see their portfolio, testimonials and credentials and find out what qualifies them to call themselves a home stager. Get references.

Before you reduce the price of your property for sale, you can invest a fraction of that cost in making your home more marketable with home staging.

Allegra Dioguardi is the owner of Styled and Sold, LLC, and the author of Designing to Sell and Designing to Dwell. Questions? Contact her at stylyedandsold@optimum.net.