On this Month's Cover:
1925 Adirondack Ct.
$289,900
MLS#: 98347

Presented by:
Tom Kuhn
Coldwell Banker United

View this month's issue online now!

Make Your Home Stand Out
By Debra Gould, The Staging Diva

On your mark, get set . . . sell! The spring months are traditionally the busiest time of the year for the residential real estate market. The weather is more cooperative and many families like to move while the kids are on their summer break. But wait, it’s still a buyer’s market. What can you do as a homeowner to catch the buyer’s eye and get an offer this spring?

As a home seller, you want to beat the days-on-market averages. As the number of unsold homes on the market rises:

• buyers can be pickier about what they choose to buy 
• buyers have more room to negotiate price 
• you’ll become frustrated if your home isn’t selling as fast as you’d like 
• agents are closing fewer deals and can be reluctant to take on new listings

How can your home stand out from the competition when there are several homes for sale at similar prices in your neighborhood, or worse on your street? Before you lower expectations along with your selling price, there is a far less costly option to consider - staging the home for sale.

Home staging is simply the merchandising of a house to capture the hearts and bids of potential buyers. The objective: making a good first impression; the purpose: to help make buyers see that the price is right and that if they fail to act, they may lose their “dream home.”

However, it’s going to take more than a fresh coat of paint and a new welcome mat. A buyer’s market raises the stakes, and you may need to do more work on your home to get the highest price possible including cleaning, painting and repairing.

As a homeowner, you may be falling into the trap of complacency. Often we are so used to our own homes that we cannot see them through the eyes of a buyer. It’s the Home Stager that can make that leap for you by figuring out how to showcase the best features of each room. Or in the case of a vacant home, a professional home stager can help add that homey feeling an occupied home exudes.

However, do not confuse staging with decorating. Decorating means personalizing your space and staging is about depersonalizing it to make it appealing to your target home buyer.

Home staging expert Debra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, had one client last year whose agent wanted him to cut $50,000 from his $949,900 asking price after the home had sat on the market for four months without a single offer. For the agent, the reduction in the list price would have been about $750 out of her pocket. For the client, however, that’s a loss of $47,000! This homeowner hired a home stager instead, spent about $1000 on staging and got 98% of his original asking price when he received three offers the following week.

Why wouldn't everyone stage their house with those sorts of numbers and that kind of turn around?  One can only imagine what his house might have sold for if he'd had the benefit of a Home Stager's advice when he first went on the market in the spring, instead of selling in the slower summer. 

To find a professional home stager in your area, visit the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers. Debra Gould, president of Six Elements Inc and the Staging Diva® Home Staging Business Training Program, developed the directory to help homeowners and real estate agents find a professional home stager in their area.