When you decide it’s time to sell your home, you should do all you can to make sure it’s in perfect viewing condition. With the real estate market in such serious decline, this has never been more important than it is right now. With such a large inventory of houses available, you must make your home stand out from all the rest. You don’t want it on the market for one to two years like so many others, especially if you need to get out of it quickly.
Since there are so many houses available, people who are in the market will probably look at dozens and dozens of houses before finally deciding on the one they want. If your house doesn’t make a lasting impression, it will be forgotten as soon as potential buyers see the next house on their list of targeted properties.
How can you insure that your house has the best chance of selling quickly? It is called home staging, a relatively new market that is growing more and more
every day. Home staging companies are sprouting up all over the country and they are making believers out of those who are using their services.
However, there are still many homeowners who try to take on this task themselves, believing that they will save money. But instead of saving money, they are wasting time. The longer they own their homes, the more those homes are costing them. So, are they really saving money by getting their own homes ready for the viewing process? The answer to this question is usually no.
Here are five good reasons you should hire a home stager if you are looking to sell your home:
- You are too close to the project. When you’ve lived in a house for several years, you tend not to notice the details. The creaky floorboards under the entry hall barely make it to your eardrums anymore. A professional home stager will pick up on things like this right away and be able to either make the repair or hire someone who can.
- Your family mementos are precious to you. It’s painful when a home stager urges you to pack away the cute baby photo of your son that’s adorned the piano for fifteen years. And what’s so wrong with that family vacation souvenir of a stuffed moose head? A home stager de-clutters your home and makes sure the family mementos don’t distract potential homebuyers.
- Professional stagers rearrange the furniture to make sure your spaces flow properly and your rooms have balance. Some of these home staging companies even loan you the necessary furniture to decorate your home properly. They will also suggest needed upgrades such as curtains or linens – whatever it takes to make the space work from a design angle. In addition to the interior, they will also stage the exterior.
- You’re too busy. Between communicating with your realtor, getting a moving company lined up and trying to keep a steady supply of normalcy in your family, selling your home is one of the most challenging times you’ll ever go through. If you hire a professional home stager, the process will go much smoother. They will even go so far as to organize your closets. Remember, potential buyers want to see how much closet space they are getting so your closets will be on display, same as the rest of your house.
- Get an estimate of what the staging might cost you and tack that amount onto the asking price of the house. Take pictures before and after the staging. They may come in handy next time you want to sell a house. You may even be able to use them to help you better set up the rooms in your new home. The space you are moving to is as important as the space you are moving from – it’s all part of the transition.
Good luck! We would appreciate receiving comments from anyone who has used a professional house stager. Let us hear from you – did it help you sell your house?
11/13/2011 by Anne Benedetto
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