Staged Homes™ is sweeping the nation! Barb Schwarz, founder of Staged Homes™, became a real estate agent in 1972, and soon realized that agents needed to know how to help sellers prepare their homes for sale. Barb started educating her clients on how to stage their homes to get their properties sold for top dollar and in a quicker amount of time.
 
In this buyer’s market we are currently experiencing, sellers need every advantage over the competition they can get!

There’s a big difference between decorating your home and staging your home. The goal of decorating is to personalize your space, but the goal of staging is to depersonalize your space. If you have too much of your personal taste on display, a potential buyer will have a difficult time visualizing themselves living there. In my experience, buyers will stop and look at your photos and collections, and pay almost no attention to the house! The goal is to sell the house, not your personal items, right? The way you live in your home and the way you sell your house are two different things. Just like any product on the shelf, today’s consumer buys the best product available, at the best price, in the best packaging, to meet their needs.

Staging™ starts at the curb. Is your house clearly visible from the street? You can’t sell it if you can’t see it, so prune your shrubs, keep the lawn mowed and add colorful flowers, season permitting. Give your front door a fresh coat of paint as well as any trim on the house that’s looking a little tired. A pretty, clean exterior creates interest and buyers can’t wait to see inside.

As Barb says, clutter eats equity. How true! Pack away family photos and collections. You also may need to remove some furniture to make your room feel bigger. Remember, buyers need to see extra space to imagine their own furnishings in the room. Give your house the smell test. If you can smell it, we can’t sell it, so clean everything thoroughly. Give your walls a fresh coat of paint in a neutral color. Clean your carpet, and if you have colorful or worn carpet, you may want to invest in new, neutral carpet.

As an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP), I guide my sellers through the process of Staging™ to bring them the best price in the least amount of time. It requires a team effort and nothing is done without the home seller’s permission. In most cases, very little money is needed, but sometimes repairs are required that might cost some money. The investment is well worth it, however, to bring a speedy sale — and it’s almost always less than the first price reduction.

For more information or to find an ASP real estate agent in your area, go to: StagedHomes.Com™ .