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Why Stage & Why Does It Work?
Staging Increases Value &
Selling Price:
Undoubtedly, the two most compelling reasons to
stage a home is because staging gives the seller the very best
opportunity to realize the highest selling price
for their property - and, staging also helps
homes to sell much faster .
Statistics prove this, without a shadow of a
doubt. On average, a home that has been
professionally staged will sell for 6 to 10%
more then a home that has not been
professionally staged. Many staged homes sell
for much more then this. For realtors, this means higher
commissions; for sellers, this can translate into
the ability to replace the home they are selling
with a nicer, larger home, or to possibly
prevent being in an upside down mortgage
situation. Staging can mean having extra money left over after
moving, too. Staging is a
value to buyers as well. Yes, you read
that right - staging is a benefit for the buyers
too. When a home is staged, it lets the
buyer see and visualize the home in a way that
would not otherwise be possible if they only
walked into a cold, empty house. The fact
is, people have a difficult time conceptualizing
space. An empty home not only gives a
cold, sterile, uninviting feeling to the
potential home buyer, but it also creates a
dilemma. Studies show that home buyers
often times have a difficult time visualizing
how their furniture might fit into the space
that they see, and in seeing the homes full
potential. But when you put
furnishings into a home, as long as it's done
correctly and sparingly, so as not to clutter
the space but rather enhance it, magical things
begin to happen.
Sell Your Home FASTER:
Staging Helps You To Sell Your Home FASTER.
According to statistics from
www.stagedhomes.com,
93% of homes that are staged by ASP stagers sell
within one month or less. The average time
on the market for an ASP staged home is 33 days,
or less. This is compared to the average
of 161 days on the market for Non-Staged homes.
Very similar statistics apply for homes that are
staged by other home stagers who are certified
through professional
organizations such as: HSR, Haverhill, CSP
or HHSPC, for example.
In fact, the very first home that we here at PHS
staged, in Ewa Beach,
sold in exactly 33 days! Other homes in
that same neighborhood, that were on the market
at the same time but that were not staged,
remained on the market for months longer!!! The value gained by
selling a home more quickly, is realized not only
in the fact that the seller gets his or her
money faster, and that the real estate agent
stands to gain by better cash flow, but also
from the fact that the longer a home sets on the
market the more likely it is that there will
ultimately be a price reduction. Staged
homes sell faster and almost always result in a
higher selling price rather then a lowering of
the selling price. The cost of staging a
home is far less then the cost of having to
lower your price in order to successfully close
a sale. Or, as it has been said, "the cost
of staging is far less than your first price
reduction"!
People Buy With Their
Feelings & Emotions: Another aspect of home
staging addresses the fact that people, most of
the time, buy with their hearts and "feelings".
Let me say that again, because this is so
totally critical to get a grip on - "People Buy According
to Their Feelings and Emotions"!!! This is
true, when it comes to a home, as opposed to any and all
other considerations. Staging a home for sale has
a lot to do with creating an atmosphere that is inviting
and that allows the buyer to be able to visualize
themselves actually living in the space in front of
them. One of the goals in a successful staging
project is to create an atmosphere where the perspective
home buyer walks into the home and
"immediately" develops a good feeling about the home.
A home that has been staged in a way that says to the
potential home buyer, "here I am, I'm the place place
you've been looking for" will instantly take you light
years toward the sale. This is a proven strategy
that has worked for many years now. If you succeed
in creating a situation where your potential
buyer falls in love with your home, it
will sell very quickly.
February 16,
2006: Image is Everything: Creating a
Positive First Impression is Key to Selling Your
Home.
Read
The Article
Competitive
Advantage:
Another strong and compelling reason to stage is
that we are currently in a down market, which
means there are far more properties on the
market right now then normal. More
properties on the market not only mean lower
selling prices but also more inventory for
potential buyers to choose from. The
bottom line here is that you have MORE
competition. In a market like this, you
need some kind of an "edge", or strategic
advantage in order to make your home stand out
apart for all the others. Staging can give
you that strategic advantage because a home that
is not staged will fail, every single time, to
evoke the kinds of Feelings & Emotions and make that all
important "first impression" that a staged home
will almost always make. When it comes
down to a choice between a home that has been
staged, and one that is cold and empty - the staged home
wins out, hands down, nearly every single time!
Again,
statistics show this very clearly.
Positive First Impressions:
A
strong, positive first impression is your most powerful weapon
when it comes beating the competition and selling your home.
If you do not stage your home, of if you stage
it improperly, you run the very real risk of
generating negative
impressions. If this happens, buyers will walk out of
your property without even giving it a second thought. This is one of the most critical
parts of selling a home. Keep in mind, too
- that there are several first impressions that are available
to be made. Most people overlook this important
fact. The very first impression is made when the
potential buyer drives up to the home and sees
the neighborhood and the home itself. This
is known as "curb appeal". If this is a
condo and not a stand alone house, then it's the
impression that they get when they drive up to
the building. After this,
the next first impression is made when the
potential buyer walks through the front door and
enters into the home. After this, each new
room that the potential buyer walks into is an
opportunity for yet another first impression.
You NEVER, EVER get a second chance
to make that all important and critical "first
impression". Once you blow it, the damage
is done. Studies show that nearly all
potential buyers actually make a mental decision
about a home within less then 30 seconds of
setting foot inside a property. In fact, in
reality, it's probably more like less then 15
seconds and some realtors even say it's more
like only five seconds. That's right, you
may only have about 5 short seconds to
really impact the Feelings & Emotions of your potential
buyers! After that, the entire game might very well be
all over with if you mess it up and get this part of
your marketing (merchandising) efforts wrong. If the first impression is
a cluttered, smelly, dirty, uninviting, or empty space,
or maybe a barking dog running at the potential
buyer, then that first impression is a huge negative and
this may
very well be the final straw that kills the sale; even before you get a chance to
show the rest of the home. This means that
you are just wasting your time after those first
critical 30 seconds (or less) and your home is
going to continue to set on the market and wait
for the next person to come along, only to
repeat the entire cycle all over again, and
again, and again. If your home has been on
the market for awhile, if it's getting a lot of
activity and a lot of looking is going on, but
no offers coming in, it means that you are Doing
Something Wrong!
Appeal To Realtors:
If you are a homeowner / seller, you will find that many
realtors are much more enthusiastic about showing a home
that has been staged. This is because most
realtors know and agree that Home Staging DOES
WORK! They will give your home
more attention then one that has not been staged and
they will be far more enthusiastic about showing
it .
Realtors would much rather show a home that is
beautiful, that attracts a wide range of potential
buyers, and that excites their clients into
making an offer. Also, in today's
down and slow market, Staging gives your
Real Estate Agent a strategic edge and helps
them to sell your property faster and more
easily.
Print, Advertising &
Internet Marketing:
It probably goes without saying but
a home that has been staged will not only show
better but it will also look better in print
advertising and on Internet websites when it is
being marketed. Today, more then 90% of
all people who are shopping for a new home begin
their search online. If your home doesn't
look absolutely spectacular in print and online,
it will not effectively compete with other
properties. Staged homes attract
more people to look at your property because
staging makes the advertising more effective.
There are more reasons to stage your home, when
you are trying to sell it, but the bottom line
is this...
Home Staging is a
win/win for everyone! Want to learn more?
Go to our FAQ Page.
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