For persons wanting to sell their home it’s important that the property look as appealing and attractive as it can be to ensure it sells quickly and at the right price. There’s where the concept of staging a house comes into play. But what does staging really mean? In essence staging a home is like organizing a production such as a movie or a play. The home is the actor and the staging expert is the director of the performance.
To show the property at its very best the home is staged to make it look like a model home. When visitors tour the property it has to feel cozy, comfortable, colorful and inviting. The home must convey a charm that makes it stand out from the rest of the properties on the market. Every thoughtful homeowner knows they have to remove the obvious clutter, but staging is so much more than just packing up and tossing out the trash.
Successfully staging a home isn’t about decorating (although some decorating could be involved). Staging is all about creating an atmosphere. It’s about selecting the right props, getting rid of furniture that makes the space look cramped and creating dramatic focal points in the main living areas the visitors will be inspecting.
If you want to get a feel for what a properly staged home should look like, pay a visit to your favorite new development currently under construction. Undoubtedly there will be a model home or Show Home suite. This sample home will be perfect. It will be properly lighted, it will be open and uncluttered and it will appeal on every level.
Imagine that you are living there. Does your present home have the clean and dramatic ‘wow factor’ that the Show Home does? If it doesn’t then what can you do to capture that same ambiance in your home?
One of the first mistakes a Do it Yourself Stager does is to forget who the home is being staged for – the eventual buyer of the property. On the whole most sellers continue to view their house as a home, their home! The object of effective staging is to make the home feel like it could be the prospective buyer’s home. A property filled with the lifetime’s memories of the current owner will not appeal to someone wanting to make the property their future home. A failure to depersonalize a home typically results in a home taking longer to sell and could ultimately affect the selling price, in a negative fashion.
Beyond any obvious repainting and cleaning, a properly staged home must be taken to the next level by making it look bigger, brighter, cleaner, more efficient all while accentuating the property’s many positive aspects. Staging is about creating a sense of possibility and potential. Staging is all about creating an inviting space to inspire buyers and to generate a positive and appealing mood.
Take a critical look at your home. What is its best feature? Now what can you do to make the most of that feature? Successfully finding and fixing those elements is at the heart of any effective home staging. Still uncertain where to start? Then contact your favorite Realty Executive Mid Island REALTOR®. They have the experience and the industry knowledge to help at every step of the home sale process, including staging the property before the first sign goes up, or the first visitor comes through the door.
