Professional Home Staging: An Overview
When it comes to buying and selling a home, timing is everything. Most sellers hope to have a smooth transition from old to new, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes your old home sells too quickly, forcing you to find an apartment or look into gap financing until you can find a new home. Often your old home just won’t sell, no matter how ready you are to move into your new home. In this case, you should look for ways to speed up the home-selling process. One such method is home staging. Staging refers to preparing your home for the real estate market. It involves a thorough cleaning, the removal of personal items, and the rearrangement of furniture, among other improvements. The goal of staging is to make your home look as presentable as possible and to give potential buyers a taste of what it might be like to live in this home. In this regard, staging is a big improvement over the alternative: an empty house. If you decide against staging, you may end up with lowball offers on the house, a lack of enthusiastic buyers, and a prolonging of the selling process in general. Staging your home provides an extra experience for the buyer and can improve their perception of the home’s value. Check out a breakdown of how to prepare your home for staging here.
If you decide to have your home staged, your best bet is to go professional. Having your home professionally staged is a great investment. Although some may be turned away for fear of putting out extra costs, the potential return on investment is too great to ignore. Most realtors believe that buyers offer more for staged homes, and studies show that homes that are staged spend dramatically less time on the market. So how can you find a professional stager? The Real Estate Staging Association, and the Home Staging Resource provide great databases of stagers in your area. Be warned: professional staging doesn’t require licensing like other professions, so almost anyone can get involved in the staging business. Stagers come from a variety of different skill levels and backgrounds, making it difficult to discern who is and isn’t worth your time. Ask around for recommendations or referrals, and be sure to check online review sites for other people’s opinions.
Overall, staging can be a fun experience for everyone involved: buyer, seller, realtor, and stager alike. If you’re selling your home, consider staging. Without staging, you run the risk of losing out on a good portion of your home’s value.
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