Home Staging, the What, How, and Why

Q: What is home staging?

A: Home staging is the art and science of making your home the most appealing it can be to the largest numbers of buyers in your market.

home staging before

Art and Science

Yes, it’s fun to make a room or a whole house pretty, but when staging, HeartWork Organizing focuses on universal truths about how we all like our homes. We like our homes light, bright, open, large, clean, organized, comfortable, updated, coordinated, and smelling nice.

HeartWork Organizing always starts with a written report that outlines all of the actions a homeowner can take to improve their home before they list it for sale. The goal is to spend the least amount of money and have high impact (that’s art). The science is that for every $1 you spend, we’d like you to get a return of $3 on that investment. The written report tells a homeowner just where to focus to get that kind of return.

home staging- after

Home Staging Isn’t Reality TV

Unlike what you see on TV, most people have to live in their home while it is listed, and most people don’t want to spend a lot of money on fixing up a house they are leaving. Home staging typically uses things the client has on hand, or a few carefully selected new or rented items, to refresh the home (art). In most cases, any new items coordinate with your belongings, so they’ll work wonderfully in your new place, too (science).

With the written report in hand, a client can either complete their own work or, more often, allow HeartWork Organizing to transform the space into a buyer’s dream (art). Since you’re probably pretty busy already, and maybe even more than usual with the details of moving, getting the house ready for sale is something that your stager can do. We typically spend between 1 and 5 days on a home, depending on the size and the areas we’re improving (science).

Home Staging Myths

Many homeowners think buyers should be able to look past the décor and see the “bones” of the house. Most people can’t imagine something different than what they see. If they can, they are probably ringing up what it will take to “fix” the things that don’t appeal to them, like poor lighting and wallpaper. By updating décor before you list, you can raise the value of your house well beyond the value of the changes.

Staging doesn’t mean stripping your house of personality and going completely neutral. Believe it or not, white walls are not appealing to buyers. HeartWork Organizing creates or highlights the wow factor to appeal to most people, while still creating something memorable to distinguish your home from comparable homes.

Transform Your House to Wow

We’ve heard more than once, “Wow, it looks so great, I don’t really want to move now.”  Of course, that’s what we want your buyer to feel when they walk through your front door (art). When they see how wonderful and well taken care of the house is, they’ll be more likely to put in an offer, and more quickly (science).

Written home staging analysis are just $180, and hands-on staging starts at just $525. Email now for free staging tips or to schedule an appointment.

Darla DeMorrow is an award winning home stager, Certified Professional Organizer®, Color With No Regrets consultant, decorator, author, speaker, and owner of HeartWork Organizing. Request your free $taging to $ell tips at www.HeartWorkOrg.com or schedule an appointment at 856-905-3202.

My thanks to EveryHome Realty  and realtor first-class Stephanie Newcomb for their involvement in this post.

 

Would you consider Home Staging when you sell your home now that you know the What, How, and Why?