Stage Your Home To Sell: The Basics of Staging
Today I’m proud to introduce the third contributor to the Dalton’s Arizona Homes Blog. Calie Waterhouse is a Master Stager and owner of Decorated To Sell in Chandler, Arizona. Staging Phoenix and Scottsdale homes since 2002, Calie has staged over $50 million of prime Arizona real estate.
Add this to the benefits of blogging and blog-initiated networking … Calie and I both were at last week’s Southwest Blogging Conference at the Ranch House Restaurant, where the seeds of her contribution here were born.
Deciding to sell your home is not a decision that can be taken lightly. Whether you are moving up or moving on, selling your home is…well, it’s traditional. Houses have been selling for centuries. My grandparents sold homes, my parents, my in-laws, my friends and even myself. Why do we sell our houses? Is it to be part of something bigger or is it merely to keep up?
Whatever your reason for selling – in today’s real estate market, it takes proactive ingenuity; It takes a keen eye and a strong backbone to endure the process. It requires patience on your part and technological genius on the part of your REALTOR®.
The newest industry buzz word is “Home Staging”. Although it’s been in practice for many years, today’s home sellers are gaining an understanding on the benefits of intentionally preparing their property for sale.
BEFORE STAGING
AFTER STAGING
What is Home Staging, you ask? It’s the process of preparing your home for sale. It’s not the weekend before the “For Sale” goes up – it’s a process. It’s the time you invest into your property to enhance the appeal to potential buyers.
Simply put – it’s the list of would of/could of/should ofs that were suppose to be done in years gone by. Have you ever noticed that when you open your house to the public, it really has never looked better? I’ve even witnessed many an argument between husbands and wives because the things that have been on the never-ending “honey-do” list are now done. Why? Because of the threat of potential buyers walking through the house.
VACANT HOME BEFORE STAGING
VACANT HOME AFTER STAGING
Staging your home starts at the curb and continues to the back yard. It’s removing the clutter, cleaning the nooks and crannies, being creative with what you have and highlighting the home’s features. The basics of staging start with your senses. Don’t rely on your impressions – instead invite a friend over and ask them. What do they smell? What’s the first thing they see when they walk in the door? What do they hear? Do they have any suggestions?
Because we live in our homes, we become desensitized to things potential buyers will pick up on or potentially walk away from. How about the condition of the baseboards? Leaky faucets? Smoke or cat? Condition of walls? Flooring? Walk-ways? Traffic patterns?
By investing your time now in staging your home, you are:
- Making it easier for REALTORS® to show your property
- Shortening the amount of days your home is for sale.
- Removing the negotiating issues in the sales offer.
- Allowing the appraiser to see the value of a well maintained, well cared for property.
- And ultimately, you’re allowing the home’s new owner to fall in love with the property – the same way you did, all those years ago.
Technorati Tags: Home staging, real estate marketing, Phoenix real estate
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Calie Waterhouse has done an excellent job of briefly describing the importance of home staging and the processes involved. She has been able to explain the reasons for the process as well. Kudos to Calie.
[…] Century 21 Arizona-Foothills Realtor, Jonathan Dalton and Calie Waterhouse recently met at the Southwest Blogging Conference. He has asked Calie to contribute a blog or two about home staging to his Phoenix Arizona Real Estate blog. Now that the first one is done, I’m excited to show it off and share it with you. I would also like to remind you that I would be honored to contribute a home staging article to your real estate blog, as well. Hope you not only enjoy the blog, but also find it of value. Be sure to leave a comment. Here it is: Stage Your Home To Sell: The Basics of Staging […]
Thanks, Yvonne … I’m glad to have Calie here!
It is amazing to see how crucial home staging has become. The market seems to be growing so quickly. These basic concepts are great and really build a good foundation of ideas. One site I have found particularly helpful in staging is Imagekind.com. They provide many of the stagers in my area almost all of our wall art and are a great resource. Hope it helps others!
Nice job Calie! You’ve joined forces with one of the best!
I´m from Germany.
A very nice description of the necessity of *homestaging*.
I´ve sold a house to a couple which feeled very uncomfortable in a vacant home, prepared with furniture (picture 4)- but nevertheless i´m convinced that *homestaging* is a decisive part of `the art of the deal´.