What is home staging?
Home staging is the art of enhancing your home to make it more appealing to buyers, so that your home sells more quickly and at a greater profit. Staging to sell a home is a hot new trend that is sweeping Canada and the U.S. You have probably seen home staging shows on television; it is fast becoming the new 'norm' for selling real estate.
The idea behind home staging is that people who are looking for a home to buy, have very definite likes and dislikes. Although many of these are unconscious, they have a very powerful effect on whether the person is interested in buying your house, and on the price that the person is willing to pay. A professional home stager can help make sure that your home meets, and even exceeds, the expectations of potential buyers. The goal is to make sure that your home stands out from the competition!
Buyers know what they want and need in a home. They know a lot about yours before they arrive. They know the asking price, location, age, size and the number of rooms. They have come to see your home because, based on its description, they think that it might meet their needs. Market research has shown that first impressions of a home are formed within the first few seconds of entry. You have only one chance at that first impression, so it is important to make it a good one. It is very difficult to overcome a negative first impression!
When should I hire a home stager?
Ideally, you should hire a home stager at the same time, or just prior to, listing your home for sale. If you wait until a lot of time has gone by with no offers to buy before you hire a stager, you will have wasted a lot of opportunities!
Real estate agents are thrilled to have a staged home to list! They know that you want to sell it as much as they do. Also, they realize that it will probably sell faster and for more money, translating to higher productivity and commission for them. Listing staged homes puts them on the cutting edge in the real estate market - they know that this will mean more satisfied customers and more referrals. The financial boost that you get by investing in home staging, is a financial boost to your agent as well!
The financial benefits of staging
For most people, their home is their biggest financial asset. Whether your home is worth $80,000 or $2,000,000, there is a significant financial advantage in 'staging to sell'. Staging is as critical to receiving top dollar for your home as the location, age, and condition of your home.
The cost of staging is always a minimal amount in comparison with your asking price. To put in another way, the return on investment for money spent on staging, will probably be much higher than the return you are likely to make on your money in the stock market in any given year. And as no taxes are payable in Canada on the sale of a principal residence, the amount of any increased financial return that results from your professional home staging is a tax-free benefit for you!
What exactly does a home stager do?
Most sellers have neither the desire nor the know-how to stage their own home. From a decorating point of view, it is important to remember that the way you live in your home and the way you sell it, are two different looks. One is about you, the other is about the house.
A stager will come into your home and make an objective assessment on the impact your home can be expected to have on prospective buyers. The stager's job is to suggest changes that will make your home appear more spacious, brighter, cleaner and overall, more welcoming and attractive to the prospective buyer. Your home's best features will be enhanced, while the weaker, unattractive points will be minimized or camouflaged.
Upon hire, the stager's first task is to carefully go through your house and record what she believes should be done to make your house 'market ready'. This is Phase 1 of the home-staging. Once Phase 1 has been completed, you have a choice: you can undertake to implement the stager’s suggestions yourself, or you can hire the stager to do it for you. The actual implementation of the work by the stager is Phase 2 of the home-staging. If you engage the stager for Phase 2, the stager will inform you what part of the work she will personally do, and what will have to be subcontracted out.
In Phase 2 of the staging, your home will be staged from the point of view of what is attractive to the eye of a prospective purchaser. Stagers are skilled at using the three C's as a guideline to achieving this goal: Cleanliness, Colour, and Clutter Reduction.
| |
Cleanliness
A clean home speaks for itself. It has been well cared for, and is hygienic. Only hard work keeps a house clean. A dirty house is a turn-off for the majority of the buying public. It is difficult to imagine one's own prized possessions in such a place. If the home is dirty and messy, what else has been neglected? Rule number one in showing a home is to strive to have your house tidy and clean.
Colour
A bright inviting house is achieved with colour, lighting, and window treatment. Rooms that are dark and drab will create unconscious negative feelings in buyers. Potential buyers will be distracted by walls that are dark or unattractive, and will be thinking about what colour choice they would make and how much it will cost to have the walls repainted. That's not what you want them thinking about! Keep the rooms neutral but bright, and let buyers move on with the inspection.
Clutter
Clutter is a big issue. It minimizes the space, draws your attention to it, is unattractive, creates the impression of an unkept house, and basically gets in the way. Pack it up! Don't shove it in your closets, under your beds, or in the basement or garage. Keep your home clutter-free. Don’t let it ruin your show!
As stagers, we do not permit sentimentality to cloud our judgment. Most traces of yourself and your family will be banished to create an idealized and 'neutral' living space. Think of it as getting some of your packing finished early. |
Your stager may suggest that your furniture and decorative items be rearranged to create a feeling of spaciousness, while drawing the eye away from weaker architectural points. She may add some new furniture and objects if so needed, or have some of your current possessions tagged for storage. Some light fixtures may have to be replaced, and minor faults repaired. Painting might be suggested to freshen up your home. Carpets may have to be removed - old or discoloured carpets are a major turnoff for prospective buyers. In staging your house, the goal is not to focus on your belongings, but to showcase your home's architectural features. While striving to add warmth and appeal to your house, we will arrange, accessorize and light your home in a way that will give buyers a sense of possibilities.
Keep in mind that home stagers are trained, not in designing for you to live in your home, but in designing for you to leave!
|
