The Number
One Real Estate Mistake
Google the phrase “number
one real estate mistake” and the first result you find is an article
on the HGTV Web site, 25
Biggest Real Estate Mistakes, which was also a television program
by the same name.
The #1 mistake: Failing to showcase your home and make cosmetic
changes. To put it another way, failure to
stage the home for sale is the worst mistake a seller can make
.
Here’s what the article
had to say:
When you are selling your
house, you have to really look at it objectively and think about it from
the viewpoint of the house hunter. Make minor enhancements to the house
and maybe hire a professional stager to come and arrange your furniture.
Staging is about decorating
your house for the buyers' taste, not yours. A great place to start is
with the front of the home and the main entryway.
Home staging is designed
to increase the potential selling price and reduce the amount of time
the house stays on the market.
Realtor,
don’t be guilty of allowing your seller to make what HGTV called
the No. 1 mistake. Encourage them to stage the home. The
following article will help you overcome objections to staging homeowners
may raise.
.
"You
Want Me to Do What?" Overcoming Objections to Home Staging
What
is home staging?
It is the Realtor’s job to educate their clients on home staging.
Home Staging is a new industry that has emerged in residential real estate.
It is the art of preparing a home for sale. Home Stagers are invaluable
to sellers in providing guidance and needed information during the selling
process. Home Stagers know what it will take for their home to meet or
exceed a buyer’s expectations.
I’m moving, why would I want to expend time and money on this place?
Why offer a home “as is” instead of “the best it can
be.” Even used cars are detailed before they are brought to the
used car lot for sale. It only makes good sense to invest the most care
in the house to be sold for the highest possible price. When a homeowner
does not stage, they are cheating themselves and may be losing money in
the process. Homeowners should not be “penny wise and pound foolish.”
I can’t afford home staging.
Often times, a home owner can’t afford not to stage. Some people
feel the cost of home staging is something only “rich” people
can afford. The cost of home staging is always going to be proportionate
to the property being sold. The other factors to be taken into account
are the condition of the home and the amount of work the homeowner is
willing to do themselves.
Homeowners should not be misled into thinking they will have to spend
exorbitant amounts to have their homes staged. Many people equate the
cost of Home Staging with the cost of having an interior decorator “decorate”
their home. This is not the case at all. Home Staging is the opposite
of “decorating.” Home Staging is about making money not spending
money.
What is wrong with my house anyway that it has to be staged?
The way we live in our homes and the way we sell our homes are two different
things. A trained Home Stager will show the home owner what is needed
to optimize the home to compete in the neighborhood to sell. Sellers have
to understand their homes are now “houses” that are a “commodity”
to be sold. That “lived” in look is not what will attract
top dollar.
We have been living here for years and it was good enough for
us.
Often times a homeowner has lived in their home so long they are unable
to see what a potential buyer will see. A Home Stager will provide the
objective set of eyes needed to see the home as the commodity that will
appeal to potential buyers.
The value of the home needs to equal or exceed expectations of today’s
buyers. The buyers of today are a different breed than buyers in the past.
Today’s buyers need to have the work done for them. Nobody has time
to consider buying a home that needs small updates or painting. A home
stager makes this task easy by providing a step by step plan to accomplish
the staging process.
Our neighbors didn’t stage their home before putting it
on the market.
Odds are, their Realtor did not have a Home Stager as part of their team.
What a shame. Realtors who work with a Home Stager as part of their team
are seen as more credible and professional as well as having more to offer
to their clients.
Don’t vacant homes show better than furnished homes?
The answer is a resounding no. With today’s new open floor plans,
the dining room is often defined with a light fixture. It is virtually
impossible for sellers to understand the scale and proportion of a room
with no frame of reference. Also, a potential buyer will have a tendency
to focus on every little “flaw” when the eye has no furnishings
or accessories to rest on.
I watch HGTV – I can stage my home myself.
We’ve all seen it -- a home that has been what I call “faux
staged.” It just falls flat. Knowing what to do to stage a home
and actually doing it are two different things. Home Stagers generally
follow several key principals but creativity, skill and training are the
keys to a successful home staging job.
Contact
Amie today 337-654-8522 for more information about her services.
Seven Simple
Steps for Staging a Room
1.
Stand in the doorway of the room in order to see what the buyer will see.
What are your first impressions of the room? What feelings does the room
conjure up. Is the room inviting? Do you want to go into the room and
take a closer look? A properly staged room will invite a potential buyer
in which is the ultimate goal.
2. Decide what the intended purpose of the room is.
3. After deciding the intended purpose of the room, it is necessary to
determine what furniture will stay in the room to define its function.
For example, a bedroom will contain a bed, night stands and a dresser.
4. Remove all unnecessary furniture as well as all accessories from the
room. If a piece of furniture is crowding the room move it out.
5. Decide on the most pleasing placement of the furniture. Generally this
is the furniture placement that will give the room the most spacious appearance.
6. Re-layer in the accessories. Remember too many accessories will be
seen as clutter. The accessories in a room are there as accents only.
7. Stand in the doorway. Answer the same questions you started with. What
is your first impression of the room? Is the room inviting? Do you want
to go into the room and take a closer look?
If you answered “yes” to the questions in step 7 its time
to move on to the next room.
