Home Staging – the MUST HAVE marketing tool for your property
MSN Encarta dictionary defines Home Staging as the act of “beautifying a home for sale: cleaning, repairing and updating the decor and furnishings of an older home to make it more attractive when shown to potential buyers.”
The concept dates from 1970s, when a California realtor and decorator noticed that the properties she took the time to «stage» sold faster and for more money than the average. Today, it’s an important marketing/merchandizing tool in the USA (and spreading to Canada from the West) for the realtors and the home owners alike and it’s especially important in a slow market, where you need every advantage over your competition. TV shows, such as Designed to Sell and Flip that House demonstrate that a bit of effort and a small investment can transform a property and make a BIG difference at sale time!
The logic is strikingly simple: when you decide to sell your used car, wouldn’t you clean, wash and fix it up before reselling it? You should do the same for your house, which is probably your biggest investment and presents an opportunity for a biggest return.
First impressions count for a lot, especially today, when most buyers pre-select the properties they are interested in on Internet. If your photos don’t show your house at its best, you are probably missing out on dozens of potential buyers. The same is true for the visitors – when they come, make them feel «at home», create that first impression which will make them fall for YOUR house.
Before
After
A professional Staging consultant looks at your property with a buyer’s eye and will recommend some easy and inexpensive solutions to enhance its value – such as decluttering, depersonalizing, and reorganizing your furniture and artwork.
The end result: your house «shows» better than its competition and it sell faster and for more money!
This article written by Sveta Melchuk from Decora Solutions, a Montreal firm that specializes in Home Staging and Interior Re-design services, www.home-staging-montreal.com.
February 1st, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Would you recommend changing colored walls to off white or a beige collar for home staging?
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:32 am
Hello, Linda,
excellent question! Repainting is one of the cheapest and fastest ways to dramatically improve the look of a property. As you are trying to appeal to most potenial buyers, you need to de-personnalize the house as much as possible, so neutral colors on the walls is a good idea. A nice off-white or a light beige will go with any type of furnishings, will make your space look bigger and wil look new and clean. Hope this helps. Good luck!
February 6th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I am looking for house around coquitlam or portcoquitlam.
March 5th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Hello:
I told that a home stager should have some sort of degree. What type of eductaion should I be looking for?
March 7th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Great Article-well written and concise but cogently explains what home staging is all about. Well done. Most of us cannot see what a “buyer” sees when they look at our property. We become rather unconscious of our surrounding because we live there whereas the potential buyers are “inspecting” our property for two reasons: 1-they are trying to find reasons to buy the property and 2-they are trying to find reasons not to buy the property. A professional stager removes as many of the second ones as possible and creates as many of the first as possible.
If you are selling your own home, a professional stager can give you a real advantage and make your home stand out from the crowd.
March 11th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Hi, James
thanx for the comments and the compliments. You understand what staging is all about and why it’s so beneficial to the seller. Thanx agagin ans stage it forward!
Sveta
July 18th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
indeed, i think it is always logical onces you sell a thing or property the first thing that will come to your mind is how to impress potential customers in buying your item, so therefore we find ways to fixed, modify that certain thing in order to attain this. btw very well written article…