Do Your Own Home Staging - Tina Parker Reference Series

Скачать книгу

to get a good idea of the tasks required during the process.

      • Put on your “buyer’s eyes” and complete your “Home Improvement Checklists,” available in Appendix II. The home improvement part of the process can take quite some time, depending on the size of your home and the amount of work that needs to be done. The checklists are designed so that you can use a new list for each room, to ensure that you are thorough. Take advantage of the time you spend in each room and consider what your target market may be interested in. Decide if you want to invest in your house to maximize its value and to increase the chances of selling it faster.

      • Next, use the “Home Staging Checklists,” available in Appendix III. It will also be helpful if you write down your own ideas that are specific to your house as you go through the process.

      • At this point, your to-do list and the rest of your “General Checklists” (available in Appendix I) may seem overwhelming, but they will help you organize everything you need to do.

      • Then, pack everything you will not be using in the next six to nine months. Enlist some help as de-cluttering and pre-packing are big jobs. See Chapter 8, “Packing and Moving Tips,” for more suggestions.

      • Your home will then be ready to stage. Proven ideas and techniques listed in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 can now be implemented.

      • Once you feel that you have successfully prepared your home for the market, check your “Home Staging Checklists” again to determine if there is anything you have overlooked. Sketch furniture arrangements on the “Furniture Layout Grid” supplied in Appendix I to figure out the best way to provide an effective traffic flow. Often, you can get a better idea of a room’s traffic flow when viewing it from above.

      • Ideally, it is at this point that you will call your real estate agent to provide you with an accurate market analysis. Your agent can provide you with the best possible price for your house because you will already have highlighted the home’s best features and eliminated many of the key obstacles buyers use to chip away at your asking price.

      • If you chose to stage your house after it was put on the market, it would be a good idea to invite your real estate agent back, so he or she can realize its greater potential and take new pictures to put on the cut sheet and the Internet.

      • In order to maintain the level of excellence you’ve worked so hard to achieve in your home, keep your “Open House Checklist” (available in Appendix I) close by at all times.

      • Relax for the moment, because before long, you’ll be moving. To help set priorities relating to the big move, read Chapter 8, “Packing and Moving Tips.”

      2

      Understanding Home Staging

      One can say, without a doubt, that the process of selling real estate has changed over the past decade to include home staging. Today’s marketplace is well-informed, educated, very particular, and accustomed to experiencing great customer service when purchasing products — especially when buying high-ticket items. Technology has changed how real estate is promoted, as 84 percent of potential home buyers are looking to the Internet to find properties. Photographs are the new first impression, instead of curb appeal. Besides showing what a room looks like, photographs tell a story and sell a lifestyle or feeling about a home.

      Preparing your home with home staging will allow you to use these first impressions to your best advantage before any actual viewings. The home staging techniques described in this book are effective tools for increasing your chances of selling your property faster and for more money.

      What is Staging?

      In general, everyone looks for comfort, adoration, status, and excitement in life, all of which are involved in the psychology of buying a home. Successful staging capitalizes on these feelings and creates an ambiance that compels people to take their time and imagine themselves living in the space. Essentially, staging maximizes a home’s potential to encourage the buyer to put in an offer.

      Staged homes—

      • sell two to three times faster,

      • sell for 3 percent to 10 percent more money,

      • look better in photos and marketing promotions,

      • attract more buyers and more offers,

      • eliminate buyers chipping away at the asking price,

      • show your level of commitment to your real estate agent,

      • prepare you for moving to your new location, and

      • assure you that you’ve secured the best possible deal.

      The Developing Industry of Home Staging

      Before home staging became commonplace in real estate, it was primarily used as a last resort; if a home did not sell within a specified time, a professional home stager was called in. Home staging grew in popularity because homes sold quickly after being staged and, quite frequently, attracted amounts close to their asking prices. Eventually, it became normal practice for real estate agents to suggest various tips for preparing a home for sale, mostly de-cluttering and a good cleaning.

      As the home staging industry grew, it became known for more than just de-cluttering and cleaning. More and more, real estate agents were paying attention to the effectiveness of staging a home, and it was the forward-thinking agents who called in professional home stagers to prepare homes before they went onto the market. Doing so made their listings look far better than their competitions’ and practically guaranteed that their properties would sell before others in the same neighborhood. Forward-thinking home owners also had the foresight to see that home staging maximized the market value and increased the equity of their property.

      Home staging is a young, self-regulated industry and has only recently begun to develop. New home staging training companies are forming rapidly every day. The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) was formed as an industry-wide trade association in 2007. Its mission is to cultivate industry-wide standards for all stagers, regardless of their

      training, certifications, designations, or backgrounds. It also provides support and continuing education to maintain a level of excellence in the industry. You can find out more by visiting the website: www.realestatestagingassociation.com.

      RESA conducted a study on properties that were professionally staged from January 2007 to February 2008 and found remarkable results. RESA looked at the amount of time non-staged, marketed properties spent on the market without selling, and compared that to the amount of time these same properties spent on the market when both staged and marketed. In one case, homes that spent 120 days on the market unstaged (without ever selling), sold after only 26 days when staged. In another, homes that spent 102 days on the market unstaged (without ever selling), sold after only 45 days when staged. RESA also found that vacant homes sold on average 40 days after staging, while occupied homes sold on average 38 days after staging.

      Fast forward several years from now and home staging will be a prerequisite for selling a property, much like the home inspection industry, which we barely had 15 years ago. Potential home buyers will come to expect to view properties that have been staged and will walk away from those that have not been staged.

      Marketing Strategies Behind Home Staging

      Marketing has evolved over the past century to reflect developments in society. It has continued to advance in the direction that it shifted to in the ’70s, which was from consumers buying what was produced, to consumers telling producers what to make.

      As time passed this marketing practice became “normal” and producers had to compete to make the customer happy, which resulted in lower prices for products. It was not until these lower prices

Скачать книгу