All the Home is a Stage

Well, I finally found someone in San Diego to repair my computer. My hard drive blew and I had to have data recovered. So, I finally have some time to write this post. Ok, here we go. What is staging? And why do you need it? If you need to sell your house quickly whether because of a new job, a divorce or if you are simply upgrading to a larger home then here are some tips to attract buyers as soon as possible.
Experts agree that sellers in a buyer's market have to take the extra steps to make their property stand out from the others. Buyers need to feel an emotional connection immediately upon entering a home, and then they will desire to continue to tour the home as opposed to hesitation.



Since there are fewer qualified buyers in the housing market today, then sellers need to get serious about presenting their property much like a stage. This is not to be confused with decorating. Decorating shows the skill and personality of the home owner, while Staging showcases the property for the potential of the home for the new owner. This is showcasing the personality of a home and you are looking for a match for a potential buyer. For example décor, art, and the use of color are all exhibiting the style of the owner, not the home, and should be downplayed to find the charm of each property.



When the new homebuyer finds the personal connection to a home, then they get excited and when buyers get excited they make higher offers. There are persons offering professional staging services available for hire. The money spent hiring a professional can actually help people save money at closing. A typical consultation fee can be in the one hundred dollars to two fifty range, depending on the time the stager invests, the location and size of the home. Some expenses stagers incur are furniture rentals, and thus this can result in a monthly charge as well as the initial consultation fee.



This is one of the most important issues that involve staging a home. An empty house has negative connotations and imagery of abandonment. Filling the home with furniture shows the potential buyer the hope and expectations of the homes. Showing the buyer a furnished home creates for the buyer the sense that there are many possibilities and the home can come to life with expectations of success, style and nesting. Leather furniture can make a nice addition. Sometimes something as simple as a contemporary leather sofa can do the trick.



The use of color has been mentioned as an expression of personal style, therefore professional stagers recommend only the use of neutral colors. This allows the buyer to see a blank canvas for their imagination, as opposed to crashing the deal because a buyer does not connect emotionally to a colorful pallet, or specific décor. For example, if there is a singing fish on the wall, then the buyer's main impression of the home is associated with a singing fish, which can be detrimental to the sale if the buyer can not get past the memory of the fish. The sale can tank especially if the buyer has an unhealthy fear or dislike for fish. But this is the concept of neutralizing the pallet of the home.



One of the final things sellers need to be aware of in order to stage the home for a quick sale, and one of the best reasons for staging at all is the Distressed Seller. When a home is being sold under distress, due to foreclosure or divorce or for any other less than optimal reason, then this sense of desperation and disarray translates in to the ambience of the home. Staging is a way distressed sellers can correct the negative energy, project the inherent value and sell the home.