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Fall 2006
To Stage or Not to Stage – Is It A Question?
Real
Estate Staging; I know there is a lot of
talk around this process, but is it really
worth it?
Fact: The market has slowed down and is on a downward slope. Dare
we say it, but it is looking more and more
like a buyers market.
Fact: Gone are the low interest rates of 2004. Buyers are that
much more choosy and careful with their
decisions.
Fact: If there’s one, there are usually more houses for sale on the same
block. Houses just are not selling as
fast as they used to.
Let’s
face it, if you have a real estate agent
that’s worth their weight, they will tell
you the tricks of the trade to make your
house “show” as best as they know how.
But are they really telling you about all of
the “white elephants”? Probably not,
but who can blame them? Their primary
jobs are to make sure that your house is
competitive with the marketplace, to bring
in lots of potential buyers and to protect
the ongoing relationship that they have with
you. These relationships are lasting
even longer now that houses are not selling
overnight.
Or,
maybe you are trying to sell “by Owner”.
Short of having had someone knocking on your
door for the past 6 months begging you to
sell, this has become a near impossible
challenge. Your house has to stand way
out above all of the rest to even get
noticed in this marketplace.
So what
does Real Estate Staging do? It helps
make your house stand out in a way that
makes it most attractive to the broadest
range of potential buyers. There are
no “silver bullets” out there in this
market, but a simple $300 investment for a
staging consultation could make the
difference in weeks on the market, or even
thousands in market pricing. At Smart
Surroundings, we will look at your house
through the eyes of your most critical
buyer. In the end, we provide you with
a detailed written list of the changes that
will get you the biggest bang for your buck.
Beyond the consultation, we can work with
you to help make the recommended changes as
well.
As with
any process, it seems that the same
questions arise over and over. Here
are a few of the questions that I get
consistently:
Q:
Do I really need to remove all of my
personal items when showing my house?
A: Yes – and it goes beyond family photos!
Any trophies, awards, certificates, diplomas
and the list goes on – should be the first
items to be packed away. The goal here
is to keep the potential buyer looking at
your beautiful brick fireplace that someday
could be all theirs rather than your
lifetime of accomplishments.
Q:
I have lots of stuff packed and want to
store it in my garage, is this okay?
A: Depends. If you have enough boxes to
pack the garage floor to ceiling, wall to
wall, I recommend a storage unit. If
its 15 small boxes of your trophies and
pictures, then, by all means, store them in
the middle of the garage, away from the
walls so that potential buyers can still see
the size of the garage without having to
imagine those boxes gone.
Q:
I am ready to move to my new home, but my
last house hasn’t sold. Can I go ahead and
move all of my furnishings to the new home
now?
A: Not if you want to sell fast! I have
had buyers admit to me that they didn’t even
consider purchasing an empty house because
they couldn’t imagine how furnishings and
other belongings would fit in.
Minimally, you want to create the illusion
that the space can, is and will be lived in
for the potential buyer.
So you
decide, to Stage or not to Stage? At
Smart Surroundings
we can help you find the answer!
See previous Andrea's Antidotes:
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