Home Staging: The Winning Way To Sell Your House

Statistics show that home staging is advantageous even in the current market condition. It is difficult enough selling a home in today's market the old fashioned way, however home staging is a reliable way to sell your house faster and get the asking price if not more.

Houses that have been staged are shown to sell two to three times faster than a home that has not been staged. For example, the average time for a staged house to be on the market until it sells is 8.9 days versus a house that has not been staged is 163.7 days.

In a good seller's market, home staging can mean anywhere from 6 to 10 percent above your asking price. If your house is priced to sell at $200,000 this could very well mean a $9,000 profit.

Many real estate companies won't even list a house today unless it's been staged. This is a good indication of how much better a house does in terms of how quickly it sells and the additional profits it could bring depending on the condition of the housing market.

Staging a home attracts more buyers and solid offers which commonly result in bidding wars therefore raising the price and closing the sale quicker. This, of course can be dependent upon the condition of the housing market at that time. Staging a house in a hot market usually results in selling it for more than the asking price and in a sluggish market staging usually results in the house selling much faster. Staging really is a win-win situation.

There are some homeowners who feel it is too expensive to stage their house, however the figures speak for themselves. Depending on the condition of your home and the the types of repairs that are required, staging a home does not have to be a costly venture. The average investment to stage a house is anywhere from 1 to 3 percent of the homes asking price.

Much of the work can be done yourself. Also keep in mind a great deal of staging has to do with getting rid of clutter and with doing deep cleaning. Again, a great deal of this work can be done yourself and perhaps with the help of family and friends.

The first steps in home staging are to get the rooms ready for photos. Many real estate companies place photos of your home on their web-site as well as in the MLS directory. Be sure to start depersonalizing your home and becoming emotionally unattached to it.

Staging a home consists of focusing on the homes best features through strategic placement of furniture, upgrading features, making needed repairs, deep cleaning and getting rid of the clutter. Many people will put their household items in a paid storage unit until the home sells and they are ready to move. Staging can also help make small square footage areas appear larger in the house. Staging should bring less emphasize on the things in your house that might not be as pleasing to buyers.

There are a few tricks of the trade you can use to stage your house. These are bringing in fresh air, using an air purifier, cleaning with environmentally-friendly cleaning solutions, hanging wall art with heavy duty hangers and hanging art using a level tool so each piece is placed at the proper height. Save your walls by using wall receptors. Add some citrus scent fragrance to the house. Fill all cracks and holes in the home.

There are a few good suggestions to prepare your house to sell which consist of becoming less attached to the home, making every room a buyers vision, packing up and storing half of the things in the home, organizing all of the closets and removing half of the contents, organizing and removing half of the contents in all of the cupboards and drawers, freshening up the exterior, inspecting the house before buyers do, inviting potential buyers in, purchasing and replacing the homes address numbers, shining everything up and hiring professional assistance to help with some of the projects.

So much of real estate is now being shown on the Internet. This works the same as far as first impressions go so you want to make sure the photos look good. Curb appeal is very important and should not be undervalued in the power it carries. Arrange the furniture to show off the homes best features. Remember to stage all closets. Do this by removing half of the contents. Organize and tidy up closets. The idea is to turn your home back into a house. You really need to do comparison pricing as to what similar homes in the area are listed at and be within a competitive price range.

Upgrading kitchens and bathrooms go a long way and will always help sell a house faster as well as bring you closer to getting your asking price. Clean or replace flooring if it is dated or worn. Pick up and remove pet dishes, pet beds and toys. Send the pets to a friend or relatives home at least when holding open house.

There are a number of reasons why a seller does not stage their home but should. These include having no time and thinking location and price will do the trick by itself. Some homeowners think since they often receive compliments on their home there is no reason to stage it. Others feel their home is good enough for them so it has to be good enough for others.

Many real estate companies have already come to a point where they will not list a house that has not been staged. As time passes this will soon be a requirement when selling a house.

Read as much information as you can about home staging. Read the many books available on the market as well as information found on the Internet. The more knowledge you have the better decisions you will be able to make. Feel confidant that staging a home is a win-win situation.

There are a few common mistakes sellers make when putting their home on the market. By being aware of what these are you will be able to avoid making them. Many homeowners ask way too much for their house. This is usually due to still being personally attached to the house.

Many of us have invested quite a bit of time into our homes fixing them up,doing upgrades and improving different areas and features of the house. It is difficult for us to forget about the time and sweat that went into doing the work. This will sometimes reflect in our pricing of the house. With this said be careful about not overpricing.

Choosing the wrong professionals to do contractor work such as with roofing or plumbing repairs or renovations are other common mistakes. The result from hiring unskilled contractors is work which will likely need to be modified or even re-done.

Selling your home without the assistance of a real estate agent is usually not the best idea. It can help greatly in the sale of your house if you have a good real estate team assisting you.

Listing the house before you have completed staging it is another common error many of us make. First impressions are everlasting and it is best if this can be avoided.

Not doing your homework and educating yourself about the process of staging, selling and everything in between can also cause a great deal of frustration. Educate yourself as well as you can. Having a good amount of knowledge always pays off in the end. Failing to target the right kind of buyers is another common error among home sellers.

The mistakes made in the area of home staging that are most commonly seen have to do with improper lighting for night showings, undervaluing the power of curb appeal as well as not washing the windows.