3 Reasons to Stage Your Home NOW
You’ve thought about selling your house and finally… you’re ready to pull the trigger. I totally get it. It’s a big decision. It’s not just about selling a house; it’s about leaving the memories and the life you’ve built inside the physical structure. Once the decision is made, you’d better hurry up and do it before you change your mind. This is the critical point where you need to hit the PAUSE button.
I’m going to give you 3 reasons why, if you don’t stage your home now.. before you list it… you’ll hate yourself later.
1. Your Home- Your Greatest Asset
Once you make the decision to list your home, it becomes your biggest asset. As with any asset, you want to get the best price out of the sale and maximize your investment. Appealing to prospective buyers is not about showing them the memories YOU built in the home. It’s about showing them how they can create their own memories in the home with their family. Buyers emotionally connect to a home when they can visualize themselves living and entertaining in the home as well as being a part of the community. Within 10 seconds of entering a home, buyers know whether they’ll make an offer on a home, or whether they’ll keep looking. Because of this, you home needs to have that WOW factor and needs to appeal to a diverse group of buyers. Over the years, you’ve probably spent a lot of time personalizing your home, and that’s fantastic! However, when your home is listed for sale, the focus needs to shift towards making it appeal to a diverse group of buyers with varied tastes. Home Stagers are experts in doing this and can create a personality for the home that connects with many different buyer types. We’re trained to deliberately create these e connection points and make buyers say “this feels like home”
2. Sell Your Home Fast
Everyone hears about THAT house. The one with the bidding war where buyers are fighting to purchase the home for more than list price. Wouldn’t you love to put your best foot forward when you first list your home to make it the house of choice. I can tell you one of the best ways to do this is with amazing online photos. Eighty percent of home buyers research houses on the internet before they physically go shopping with a realtor. These are daunting statistics for someone that has terrible photos on the MLS listing. With poorly executed photos, you can’t get your home out of the starting gate. Statistics also show that the more photos you have, the better the chance you have of selling your home faster. With Millennials becoming a growing home buyer sector and buyers being internet savvy, it’s no surprise that homes are ruled out before buyers even set foot in them. Home stagers know how to make a home look spacious and bright for photos with just a few minor adjustments. We know the colors that can make homes pop in photos and know how to create a home that buyers aspire to live in. Staging really is about setting the “stage” so you create a backdrop that makes your home more appealing both in photos and in person.
3. Prioritize Your Spend
Many people are under the false assumption that they need to complete a laundry list of home improvements in order to list their home. This assumption is false and often causes a homeowner to spend money unnecessarily. Home stagers can help you prioritize the list of To-Dos, so your home looks it’s best without breaking the bank. Often times, stagers can recommend minor cosmetic changes that significantly improve your home’s appeal rather than major renovations that cost money and time. In addition, sometimes having an impartial set of eyes looking at the home provides opportunities for arranging and decorating in ways the homeowner cannot always visualize. Stagers can create much needed focal points to highlight the best features of your home with furniture and accessories you already own and love. We can not only save you money in renovation costs but many times homes that are staged sell for the best possible price, which is what every homeowner hopes for when they put it for sale.
So, by now I hope you’ve figured out that the goal of a home stager is not to tell you what’s WRONG with your house, but to help define all the things that are great. Homes that are staged typically sell for 10% more than those that aren’t staged. That’s a pretty significant amount of money to leave on the table for a small investment in hiring a home stager. Don’t spend money unnecessarily on major renovations before speaking to Di Leo Design & Staging for an HSR Certified home staging professional. Let’s make your house THAT house in the Tampa and Wesley Chapel, Florida area that buyers want and let the bidding war begin!
