Why Standing Out in the Crowd with Home Staging is a GOOD thing!

Why Standing Out in the Crowd is a GOOD Thing!
By: Jennie Norris, ASPM®, IAHSP®
Owner, We Stage Sacramento
www.WeStageSacramento.com

Blend in. Fit in. Don’t bring attention to your self.
Sure, with relationships or life – some people use that philosophy, but when it comes to selling a house, turns out Standing out in the crowd and being different from the rest is a GOOD thing.

Home Staging. Those two words have become more well known in the last five years. The actual service has been around for 37 years, and sellers have been given tips about prepping their house for the market for decades.

Home Staging is being featured on television, magazines, newspapers, and news media features. There are statistics that prove a Staged house will sell faster than one that is not Staged in any market. (the best resource for statisticsand articles featuring Home Staging is www.Stagedhomes.com). One would think with all the exposure it would be a no-brainer to have every house Staged. And yet the majority of houses for sale are in sore need of Home Staging help. In fact, in some markets less than 1% of the houses are being professionally Staged, and in others it’s approaching 40-50%.

To some Home Staging is a Fad or Trend. To others it’s a well known Marketing Tool that gets a house sold. Now is NOT the time to “Blend In.”


So what is the big deal about Home Staging anyway?

Can’t buyers just look past all the “stuff” in a person’s house? Don’t they know that they are going to live in the house in a different way?

Believe it or not – the answer to that question is a resounding, “NO!” Home Staging is about three things: Talent and Time and Money.

TALENT: Less than 10% of the population has a “gift” or eye for seeing things in a different way, and we don’t just mean a different color pillow or a few minor changes. We mean that most people cannot picture a room or a house in a different way once they have an image of it in their heads. When a Buyer looks at a room full of “stuff” they have a very hard time picturing the room any other way, and they certainly cannot envision it cleared out, refreshed, repainted, recarpeted and rearranged. That is beyond 90% of the Buyers out there. Staging truly is a talent or gift.

TIME and MONEY: Does Home Staging really matter in today’s market where house values are continuing to go down? Of course! Even in a slow market or a declining market, a house can still SELL at its BEST VALUE. What is that best value? It is the price a Buyer is willing to pay for the property – and so first and best impressions matter. Staging in today’s market will save time on the market – and this means the house is less likely to drop in price. That is an estimated 5-20% of the list price!

Some recent Success stories and statistics from

We Stage Sacramento:

• An occupied house in Roseville that was put on the market in the low $600’s – SOLD in 3 days at FULL PRICE after it was Staged.
• A house in Folsom priced in the $500K range languished vacant on the market for nearly 5 months - was Staged and SOLD right away – and closed escrow within 35 days!
  
  That is in TODAY’s market – where “nothing is selling.”
  
  So Being Different IS Better in Selling a House:
  1. It gets the Buyer to make an offer on a well-priced and well presented house.
  2. Home Staging sells the House and sells the Buyer on the purchase because it looks and feels different than other houses.
  3. Home Staging is all about positioning a product on the market in a way that makes it appealing to all buyers.
  4. Home Staging is a key marketing tool for Realtors to differentiate a house from other products on the market and differentiate themselves as a Realtor.
  5. Buyers like to view the house online first – so photos and/or virtual tours of the property should be of “Staged” rooms and a Staged house.
  
  The question you need to ask yourself is: Do YOU want your house or listing to get the positive attention – where buyers make a BIG DEAL made about your house and bring a good deal to the table? Or do you want your house or listing to sit and languish on the market with all the other poorly presented properties?

In this case, it’s GOOD to stand out in the crowd!

Home Staging WORKS even in a "down market"

Another Staging SUCCESS Story to share with our readers - Staging is working to help houses SELL even in our "down" market. We just Staged a $1.495 Million house and it SOLD the first week!

We have all heard about the terrible foreclosure market - and how that is having a huge impact on normal sellers. They are trying to compete with houses that are flooding the market - some in decent shape, with others have been trashed.

How does a Seller compete in these times? PRESENTATION MATTERS now more than ever! Buying a house is still an EMOTIONAL decision. Buyers will either connect with a house or not. Making the investment to prepare a house for sale can be the difference between sitting and selling.

The average investment to Stage an occupied house using what the homeowner has in new, creative ways - is about $500.00. The process starts with a Staging Plan telling the seller what to do to get their house ready - they can pack up their personal things and clutter according to the Plan - and then have some help on the back end to add the "Wow" factor with their things or with some limited inventory rental.

The result - a house that is ready for a BUYER to BUY!

For vacant houses - we provide a FREE preview of the house and a Pricing Proposal that includes pricing for time and inventory to best present the house for sale. Once we all agree to pricing and terms, the house is Staged right away. The difference between a vacant and Staged house is amazing - putting furnishings in key areas of the house allows a buyer to emotionally connect.

Our last two vacant high-end properties SOLD in less than a week - in our "down" market! That is virtually unheard of for "normal" listings - but when they are Staged and priced right - the buyers will buy.

Staging also costs less than most people think - for a vacant house - Staging starts at about $1,200 and can be as much as $5,000 for a higher end house. The fee includes installation and first 30 days of rental, and then there would be ongoing rental investment until the house sold.

Even with ongoing rental, the Investment in Staging is always less than a price reduction! When the house is priced right and Staged - it should sell - and this means it will not have to experienced a price-reduction.

When you want Staging done right - contact the experts at We Stage Sacramento - the region's first and premier Home Staging Company. We stage it all - from big to small! Give us a call at 888-WE-STAGE or go to http://www.westagesacramento.com/ to view our background, testimonials, and examples of our work.