If you’re toying with the idea of selling your home, make sure that you take full advantage of staging your home. Not only will your home look nice to potential buyers, but you’re able to hide flaws in your home by drawing a buyers’ eyes to what is in the room and not the size, layout, dated wallpaper, etc. There are several advantages to staging your home.

Homes that are staged sell in less time. This is great news considering that home sales have been stagnant for months. Research has shown that staged homes sell nearly 40% faster than other homes on the market.

Staged homes also sell for more money. Homes that have been on the market longer than 6 months usually receive lower offers, as buyers assume that there’s something wrong with the home. Staged homes, on the other hand, don’t sit on the market forever. What does this mean? That you’ll sell your home for a higher price. Along with the higher selling price, you’ll spend thousands less in carrying costs because your home sold in such a short amount of time.

Staging the exterior of your home also draws in potential buyers. When a buyer first drives past your home, they instantly make up their mind whether they may want to take the time to view your home. You only have one chance to make a first impression–make it a positive one! Otherwise, a buyer will feel like it’s not worth their time to make an appointment to see the interior of your home, the assumption being the interior of your home is similar to the exterior. Purchasing flowers, hanging baskets, keeping your yard mowed and trimmed, and attempting to keep the grass green (I know this is a challenge this time of year!) will convince buyers to contact you for a showing. By creating a very welcoming exterior, buyers will assume the interior is in just as good a shape, and that is exactly what you’re trying to accomplish!

A potential buyer loves the exterior of your home, and they’ve now made an appointment to see the inside of your home. Once again, you only have a few seconds to make that next great first impression.

• Entryway — Make sure this space in uncluttered–no shoes, jackets, backpacks, or litter boxes. Clean the floors because this is usually the dirtiest part of many homes.
• Living Room –Because this is where most families will spend the majority of their time, it’s important that the room feels large. Remove any super-sized furniture or anything that is not needed–your doll collection, baseball memorabilia, and toys all qualify. If you have a fireplace, make sure it is the centerpiece of your room–rearrange your furniture to take advantage of this. Also, be aware of walkways. Make sure it is easy for a buyer to see how traffic flows in and out of this room. Is there a door in the room? An exit to a patio or deck? Does the living room look out upon your backyard? A buyer should be able to view these features.
• Kitchen — Clean and uncluttered countertops–get rid of the mail and multiple small appliances.  You want your kitchen to feel spacious enough to cook Thanksgiving dinner, not cramped and storage-free.

Home staging has become increasingly popular with more and more sellers using a professional staging service. Staging gives the buyer the feeling that they’re home. You’ll be rewarded for making your home feel like it is every buyer’s dream home. Kirsten Kemp, host of TLC’s Property Ladder, has said that sellers will receive up to 169% of the money invested into staging back in the form of a higher selling price.

Every second and dollar you spend on staging your home will be worthwhile so take the time to present your home in the best possible fashion. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling for $100,000 or $500,000, every buyer still wants to feel like they’ve just found their dream home.

A few resources to start you on your way to staging your home:

• Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell

Note: Kirsten Kemp has authored a new book on flipping houses entitled: Flipping Confidential: The Secrets of Renovating Property for Profit In Any Market

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Staging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.