June 01, 2007

Home Staging May Help You Sell Your Home

Home Staging May Help Sell Your Home

You understand the value of curb appeal and how important it is to get the buyer to consider looking at your home. You've done everything you can to make the front view of your home beautiful; it looks perfect.

You get them through the front door. Now what?

What about "once-they-get-inside-the-front-door" appeal? How important are your prospective buyers' first impressions as they tour your home? Very important, say the experts. In fact, it's so important that many people are turning to professional "home stagers" to sell their homes faster.

Home staging can be simple and inexpensive, involving small projects like repainting rooms or adding fresh flowers and plants. But, sellers who really want to impress might drop the big bucks and rent high quality furniture, or even remodel.

You might not think the fancy tissue box or those fresh flowers on the kitchen counter make a difference, but they do. In fact, according to stagedhomes.com, most home staging efforts have a return on investment somewhere between 400-700%.

For example, simply cleaning and de-cluttering your house has a value nearly seven times the cost. So if you spend $400 getting rid of junk, it can raise your home value by an estimated $2,800. Lightening and brightening your home can also have a great affect on homebuyers. A $200 investment in new lights and making sure all windows are free of obstacles has an estimated value on a home of $1,700!

Following are a few points that home stagers consider when preparing a home to look its best:

• Do whatever you can to reduce clutter and "junk." Throw it away. The cost of the dumpster may be the best investment you'll make in selling your home. Messy homes don't sell for top dollar.
• Make sure all hallways and doorways are free of obstacles and the home is easy to navigate. Shelves and other items in hallways are visually unappealing and give an impression of sloppy caretaking.
• Fresh flowers in the home go a long way in making people feel good about both the home and the sellers. It signals a genuine desire to keep a home beautiful.
• Pictures and paintings look nice, but too many actually hurt your sale price.
• Make sure you home smells nice. Boiling cinnamon in water makes a wonderful smell. Also try burning scented candles or baking something just before a showing (another great way to leverage that cinnamon aroma).
• Avoid dark painted walls and brighten your home with lights as much as possible.
• If there is one place clutter may be an asset, it's your flower garden. Use a variety of seasonal flowers to ensure beautiful plants are always in bloom, regardless of the season. Good landscaping is considered one of the most important facets of home staging.
• Renting furniture can be expensive, but it gives your home a professional look. Secure all rugs with non-slip pads.

Home staging is growing in popularity, and for good economic reasons. According to the stagedhomes.com, homes that are professionally staged spend 50% less time on the market and sell for an average of 6.9% higher than homes not staged.

Quicken Loans Marketing Manager Regis Hadiaris staged his home before selling it last year. Although he did the work himself and didn't use a professional, he thinks staging definitely made a difference in selling his home.

"People were very impressed with the little things we did around the house, such as buying new deck furniture, adding new custom blinds, and repainting the exterior," said Hadiaris. "Our staging improvements helped potential buyers more easily visualize living in the home. Our home sold pretty quickly, so I'm convinced it was money well spent."

As the housing markets in some areas of the country continue to be "buyer's markets," many sellers are turning to techniques such as home staging. Highlighting your home's best attributes and making it as beautiful as possible can impact how long it stays on the market and its selling price. Whether you go with a professional or do it yourself is up to you and your budget.

-- Published on Jun 01, 2007