So, you went against the grain, and for whatever reason decided to put your home on the market at the worst possible time. I'm sure that if you have put your home on the market at this time, outside of a small craziness factor, you have the serious need to relocate due to a job or family crisis or are facing foreclosure and hope to quickly sell your home before that happens and ruins your credit. Regardless of your reason, you are stuck in this rut that is our horrible housing market!
What's the good news about this market? Well, if you have a perfect credit score of 820, have never missed a day of work, have $100K to put down on a home, submit a DNA sample and promise your next born child, you can get a smokin deal on a house that was once purchased for $600K and is now selling for $120K. The bad news for you who is now selling your home is that these lucky people with the perfect credit scores going through this crazy song and dance with these crude lenders are looking for all of the bells and whistles that they can find in their new bargain home. Your home might not have them, but that doesn't mean that your home wouldn't be an appealing place for them to call their own. They just need help to see the forest for the trees. That's where someone like me comes in to save the day...dum, duh, duh, dah!...it's Staging Woman to the rescue!
Now, let's dispel a few myths.
The first is that a stager is an interior decorator who comes in and fluffs up your home like a model with top of the line stylish furnishings and the like. NOT TRUE! Not all, not even most interior designers and decorators can be stagers. Staging is an art, separate from design and decoration. When a designer comes into your home, they use their knowledge and craft to personalize your home with your style and taste, interpreted through their eyes. It is the art of home customization and personalization. It makes your house a home! Staging is completely the opposite. When a stager comes into your home, they are decluttering and staging the area with a purpose. They practice the art of de-personalization and work their magic to turn your home back into a house, a basic understood slate upon which the future owners can see their personal tastes and furnishings within your space. Far too many designers and decorators cannot separate the two, creating "staged" rooms that are so over the top decorated, that a client does not see the actual space, and therefore can't make a connection to it. When you hire a designer to stage your home, make sure this is a procedure that they truly practice. I happen to be a designer who has experience in home staging.
Leaving my home empty is the best way to show off it's size and assets, because they are not hidden behind furnishings and all my stuff. NOT TRUE! Even a home with large rooms and great character will throw off a potential buyer if they cannot see how it will all work for their lifestyle. A massive master bedroom might leave a buyer without a clue of how to place their bed and nightstands to maximize use of the space. A small family room with a fireplace and a great view might leave a buyer wondering where they would put their sofa and whether or not their television would work in that space. Buyers just don't understand what they are seeing sometimes. It is a stager's job to breathe just enough life into that space that they can see the potential with their own eyes. It is not buyer specific, meaning that it is not in any one particular style- like contemporary or rustic, it is just neutral.
Staging will cost so much money! I'd rather just take my chances on letting the home sit until it sells. SUPER HUGE BOO BOO HERE! In AZ, as well as most states in the USA, your home will suffer a price reduction for every 30 days that it sits on the market. The average amount of a price deduction on a moderately priced home is between 5 and 10%. The typical price reduction on a luxury home is 20- 25% and that's a big gulp to swallow every month your home goes without a sale. By comparison, staging a luxury home runs an average of 3% of a home's sale price. And staging a moderately priced home can be lower than that, as low as 1.5% in some situations (depending on how much inventory you have to work with- furnishings and accessories). A home listed for $600K would be well staged for an investment of around $18,000. A home of this caliber calls for this amount, because there is much expected of a home of this size and price tag. It will require wall treatments and some model-like effects, yet should still be simple and elegant enough to attract a buyer with any style. I've been following a few homes in this price range and have seen that once a month they have dropped by a good $30,000- $60,000. Wouldn't the staging cost have made more sense? It would have increased exposure to your home by attracting more buyers. Staged homes are usually noted as such in advertising, show exceptionally well in a virtual tour and work far better in an open house than visiting an empty shell. Although staging your home is not a guarantee to get it off the market, a home that is sitting on the market for four months before selling would sell in a month and a half if well staged. *(based on source 1)
If your large home has a perceived identity crisis for the buyer- such as they don't love tuscan style, but the home has a tuscan exterior, you need to show them that they can do more to the home than just decorate with tuscan furnishings. This now opens this home up to the contemporary or traditional or modern taste buyer, because you have staged the home in a neutral way that shows the potential for all to enjoy.
The many benefits of staging your home for sale, far outweigh the possibility of it sitting on the market, especially when facing a foreclosure situation. In many cities across the country good real estate agents and companies suggest and even reccommend stagers to their client. Some companies even offer incentive packages for home staging when working with new build homes, model homes for custom home builders and before listing luxury homes for their clients. My surprise is that more agents don't recommend or even work in conjunction with stagers to help increase their sales. If your agetn does not offer this service or recommend it to you, ask what the feedback is on your open houses. Chances are that you need better definition of your space, and it's never too early to get me in your home! You just might feel better doing it before your home's list price drops by $20,000. Yikes!
Source 1 http://www.brokeriptv.com/staged-homes-sell-faster-than-competing-homes
No comments:
Post a Comment