Dramatic Spaces Home Staging and Design

Doesn’t everyone dream of making it BIG, winning the lottery and being able to retire at an early age?  I know I do.  Well, I know of a way to spend a small amount of money and get a big return, almost guaranteed (remember – nothing is guaranteed in life except taxes and dying some day).

Let me explain.  You go out and buy a lottery ticket and spend $1.00.  You may even buy several spending $10.00.  You hope that your numbers are called and you probably would even be happy with a partial winning, although everyone wants more than the $10 or $100 payout.

After the drawings for the winning number you find you didn’t win a thing and your heart sinks at the thought that it wasn’t your turn, but maybe next time.  If only you could win the lottery to pay some bills and have the life that you dream about. (more…)

I have been reading the book Nothing Down for Women: The Smart Woman’s Quick-Start Guide to Real Estate Investing, which I highly recommend, and the author Karen Nelson Bell says “in real estate investing, we are not in the house business, we’re in the people business.” This is so true in the home staging business as well.

As a home stager our objective is to solve problems.  The problem or the goal for most homeowners is to sell their home quickly for as much as they can in order to get on with their life.  It just goes without saying that in doing this we are making their life easier and making the whole process simpler.

Statistics show that predominately women are the ones buying houses.  She is the one who decides where the family lives.   Karen Nelson Bell says that 18% of first time home buyers are single women.  The advantage that women have when selling a house or in staging a house is that we know what we are looking for in a home.  We don’t like cold, impersonal vacant homes, but homes that we can see our family living in, homes that have a warmth, welcoming and relaxing atmosphere.  We want that emotional connection to the home.

Sure we want everything on our logical list, but when a house feels right, it just is. The way you create this for the buyer, again the woman, is to show the homes warmth and potential.  The details are what seals the deal.  The majority of home stagers are women.  We know what to pay attention to, what really captures our heart within a home.  Anyone who tries to tell you that their is no emotion in buying a home is wrong.

If you are selling your home and thinking of hiring a home stager, remember that we want to help you solve your problem. Whatever your circumstances or your budget your home stager wants to help you as a person deal with the selling process as efficiently and as effectively as possible. Home staging is a people business, not a home staging business.

Karen Nelson Bell’s book, with co-author Robert G. Allen Nothing Down for Women: The Smart Woman’s Quick-Start Guide to Real Estate Investing has a lot of great information and ideas on how to become financially free. It is written in bite size chunks for easy reading. It is for those who don’t have a lot of time for reading, but who want to have more time in life for the important things.

Believe it or not the real estate season is slowing down.  Spring is the time that most sellers put there house on the market and there is a flurry of activity.  What if you missed this hot selling/buying period and your home is still on the market or you haven’t even listed it yet?

I went on MLS the other day, as I frequently do, and it is unbelievable the amount of little red dots that pop up.  Those little red dots show the location of all the houses for sale in a particular area (I know you know this).  I often wonder what these homeowners are feeling at this time. Are they totally stressed and freaking out or just feeling it’s okay, someone will eventually come along and want my house.

My guess is most homeowners are experiencing the stress and the freaking out feeling.  Whether to fret or not depends on your selling strategy. You do have a selling strategy, don’t you?

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I want to clear up the myth that home staging is only about cleaning your home so that it is presentable and de-cluttering the most common areas. Although this can go a long way in selling your home and I encourage it as a starting point IT IS NOT WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IN A HOME SELLING EXTREMELY FAST AND FOR WAY MORE MONEY!

When a homeowner cleans and de-clutters their space to help sell their home they are definitely in a better position than someone who doesn’t put the effort in to sell it (the “as is” sale).

Home staging is pushing it to the limit of the WOW factor, the most desirable home on the block, the “transformed” home. This is where you will really make more money in selling your home and selling fast.
Home staging is striving for PERFECTION. If you look at model homes, they are perfect. They often have high end features and everything is just right. It is not often that a buyer goes into a model home and says “I don’t need hardwood floors, I would much prefer the basic carpet and underlay”. Builders count on you “falling in love” with all the upgrades and that is why they plump these homes up and make them irresistible. And as for the price, are you able to negotiate to get “below” asking price? No, but you can do without the upgrades to lower the price and go for the “basic” model.

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Are you wondering if home staging can increase your list price? It absolutely can. It all boils down to the condition of your home. Now the amount of increase depends on the difference in the look before and after the staging. Remember, we are really looking at perceived value and when a home is presented as top notch it is perceived as higher in value. The better condition your home is in the more money buyers are willing to pay for it.

If your home has everything taken care of down to the last detail, then it compares to a model home. Have you ever been able to negotiate the price of a model home? No, but in these model homes do you see repairs needed, painting that needs to be changed or dirt, even clutter? No and this is why the can ask the prices they ask. People know it is new, clean and ready to go and are willing to pay what builders are asking for.
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This is a common question that homeowners have when they are in the process of getting their house ready to sell and you may feel the same way. I did when I sold my first home. The problem is it is easy to feel that you are wasting your money on repairs, painting, deep cleaning among other things when you are leaving. You may think “why can’t the new homeowners take care of things, afterall they can do it the way they want it to look?” Bottom line is if it is work for the buyer it will COST YOU!
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