Posts Tagged real estate

Home Staging to Sell – You Can’t Afford Not To In This Flooded Real Estate Market!

Real EstateHome Staging is a proven vital tool in today’s flooded real estate market. With well over 90% of all prospective buyers searching the web before touring homes with an agent, and mere seconds to make that first impression, MLS or FSBO photos on-line had better WOW! Having an abundance of homes to choose from has left the buyer’s market very particular and demanding. Builders too, who have been hit by the recession, are slashing prices on new homes. So, the competition is tough!

Although every home should be staged prior to listing, it’s never too late. The Real Estate Staging Association polls 2000 active real estate agents annually for their current home staging statistics. Once again, consistently since 2007, despite the market being down, homes that are staged to sell, do sell faster; saving sellers thousands in monthly expenses. Just one of the impressive statistics in their 2010 report is for Occupied Homes that were listed without staging first. The average DOM (Days on Market) was 233 days–that’s almost 8 months! After those same homes were staged to sell, the average DOM was 53. That’s 78% less time on the market!

Today, home sellers have options. A professional home stager can be brought in to make the needed changes, or for the Do-It-Yourself generation, who’d like to save some money, many staging ideas can be done by the home seller. And for the very design-challenged seller, who has difficulty knowing where to begin, personalized advice and guidance can Read the rest of this entry »

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How to Find a Staging Professional

Real EstateWhile our goal is to give advice to sellers (and often to people who are staying in their house but just want some ideas), there are times when it’s a good idea to call in a staging professional. A pair of trained eyes can help sellers make the best decisions because professional stagers understand the importance of a cost/benefit analysis when making these decisions. They also know what’s important to the buying public, as well as those things that aren’t so important. So they help sellers focus their time, attention, and dollars to the areas that are most likely to sell the house.

If you decide you want or need to work with a stager, how do you go about finding the right one? First, as with any contractor, ask for referrals from friends and family who have either used a stager or know someone who has. Asking your Realtor or a Realtor you know and trust is another option. Of course you want to make certain you are comfortable with the recommended stager, so be sure to conduct a phone ‘interview’ to discuss both your needs and how the stager can help.

If you don’t have any personal recommendations, you can always Google ‘real estate staging’ followed by your town. You will probably find several links to people in your area. You may also find associations who have lists of professional stagers. Either way, you can follow the links to the stagers’ websites for further information. Read the rest of this entry »

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Home Staging

Real EstateIn this saturated housing market you want to make the home you have for sale stand out. One way to do this is by hiring a company to professionally stage your home as if someone still lives there. This helps give potential buyers to imagine what the home will look like fully furnished. This type of service is perfect for vacant homes owned by banks, builders, and even a homeowner that has already moved out of their house can take advantage of this type of service.

For most people it is hard to see the potential of a home when it sits empty. All they see is a lot of empty space instead of seeing a future home. This is why the service of staging a home can really increase the chances of selling the vacant house.

The first step is to talk to a home staging company about your options. You will then decide what style of interior furniture will best suite your house. After that, you will negotiate how long you will keep the home staged for. Usually you will pay a monthly fee almost as if you are renting the furniture for a very low price. This process will put in just enough furniture to help a potential homebuyer’s imagination and it will not clutter the interior of your home. Read the rest of this entry »

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