To Stage or not to Stage
Gitte Melnick If you want to get the highest possible selling price for your home, the number one best way to do so, is to stage your house. The "home feeling" of the property has to be taken out and replaced by a "model house sensation". Human beings are visual people, as a matter of fact, we are 80% visual. The prospective buyers base their decisions on whether they like the look and feel of the house. According to a survey done by Coldwell Banker on buyers' tendencies, 87% said that presentation of the property was the most important. Staging is 100% visual. When a prospective buyer enters a house, he/she will usually pause just inside the front door or just inside the living room door in order to let their senses take in what he/she sees. For example: In a living room, 15 x 20 feet, the buyer will see two couches, two chairs, two end tables with lamps, one coffee table and a bookcase with a variety of photographs of the family and will feel overwhelmed by the amount of furniture and quantity of "things" in the room. It will seem "cluttered." A better choice for a room this size would be one couch, two chairs and a coffee table. In this scenario, the prospective buyer will walk into the room, look around and think: "There is lots of space here for my two love seats, a coffee table, two chairs and the end tables and I can even place a bookcase over there by the window". That is Staging . . . Providing the prospective buyer the opportunity to see their furniture and accessories in new surroundings. When a property has a "For Sale" sign on the front lawn, it is on the market and it becomes a Product. To compete in the marketplace, the Product must be priced correctly and packaged better that the competing products. We all know this because we are the biggest consumers and buy lots of things . . . .. The house must be presented to prospective buyers to highlight all the benefits it has to offer -- space, traffic flow, curb appeal and overall ambiance. The prospective buyers must be able to visualize themselves living in your house. Give yourself the best possible chance to sell your home at the best possible price. STAGE IT LIST IT SELL IT Call a Home Styling & Staging Consultant today and start packing! About the Author
Studied Staging & Redesign at QC Design School in Ottawa, Canada. Member of CDECA (Canadian Decorators' Association) & IDDP (International Design & Decorating Professionals). Gitte Melnick may be contacted at http://www.2020@staging.com. Click here to view more articles by Gitte Melnick. Reprinted with Permission from IdeaMarketers.com
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