Frequently Asked Questions About Home Staging

Why Should I Stage My Home?

Your home is exactly that - your home. Over the years you have personalized it to reflect the lifestyle of you and your family. You may display many personal photos and memorabilia that you cherish. You may have painted a room your child's favorite color or hung wallpaper that you fell in love with. Although you cherish these things, you reduce the buyer pool if you try to find a buyer who will cherish your belongings the way you do.

When you are selling your home your goal is to make it someone else's home. In order to do that, buyers must feel invited in and not like they are intruding into your personal space. To accomplish this, the home must be prepared for sale before it is listed. Home Staging will increase the salability of your house, by creating a neutral palette that will appeal to the majority of buyers. Since 84% of home buyers begin their search online and only 61% actually visit the homes they've viewed online in person, it is crucial that the MLS photos of your house immediately grabs a buyer's attention and converts them into visitors.

How Does Home Staging Work?

There are different aspects to Home Staging. Some techniques include de-cluttering and de-personalizing the home, as well as cleaning, organizing and creating functionality. Each Home Staging project is unique to the home that is being staged.

Can I Stage My Home Myself?

Of course you can, many homeowners are able to do the work themselves. But can you showcase your house to its fullest potential? It is always advantageous to have objective advice from a knowledgeable professional. A Fresh Eye will look at your house from a buyer's perspective and give you honest expert advice and instruction on how to increase the salability of your house.

Why Stage a Vacant Home?

It is estimated that vacant properties stay on the market 70% longer than occupied homes. The longer a home is on the market the greater chance of the seller having to take multiple price reductions in order to sell. In addition to the expense of monthly carry costs, which can add up over a long period of time. The property also becomes more vulnerable to vandalism, inclement weather and abuse.

One problem is that 9 out of 10 buyers CAN NOT see the potential of a vacant property. By having a vacant home staged, you create an inviting atmosphere and promote an upscale lifestyle that buyers can emotionally connect with, and envision having. Buyers are easily able to determine size and scale of furniture and functionality of rooms, instead of starring at blank walls.

When looking at MLS photos of vacant homes, it is very hard to determine the size of a room. Furnishing vacant rooms takes the guess work out of a buyer's mind and helps them define the space.

How Much Does Home Staging Cost?

Walk-through Consultations can start at less than $200 depending on the size of the home. Quotes for Home Staging Projects will be given once the scope of work is determined. While it is good to consider what your home staging investment will be, there are some other questions you should be considering as well...

1. Is Home Staging worth widening my pool of buyers?
2. Is Home Staging worth increasing my changes for an offer as soon as I put my house on the market?
3. Is Home Staging worth giving my house that competitive edge that it needs to get a buyer in this tough market?

What If I Can't Afford Home Staging?

A lot of times people just assume that Home Staging is too expensive and that they can not afford it. Again, it has to be worth it to you to invest in Home Staging. Yes, Invest. Home Staging is an investment because you will get a return and it's called a sale.

Statistics prove that staged homes can sell up to 50% faster and for 6% or more than non-staged homes. Statistics can vary depending on where you are located, so let’s use a local example. We'll call the client Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones purchased and moved into a new home. He then put his old house on the market. The monthly mortgage payment for the house Mr. Jones had listed was approximately $1,700.00. This does not include the other associated carrying costs such as insurance, electric and water bill. The house was on the market 11 months before Mr. Jones hired Fresh Eye Designs, LLC to stage his house. Listing price was $325,000. The house was staged and went to settlement in less than 2 months. Staging fees vary according to the scope of the project, but for this example we will use a 1.5% staging investment.

If Mr. Jones had staged his vacant house before it was listed and we had the same results, he would have saved more than $15,000 in carrying costs.

With results like this, can you really afford not to stage your house? To make an informed decision about home staging, contact us to discuss the best options available for you.