To Stage or Not to Stage
April 29, 2010
Staging a property sort of had its major debut back in the 1980s. As I recall. a real estate agent named Barbara Schwartz from the Seattle area came up with a book and seminar entitled "Dress Your House for Success"> I went to one of her seminars and she was very persuasive about the benefit of "staging" a property. Such ideas as "You won't buy what you can't see." seemed right on. Pictures of the front of a home nearly obscured by shrubbery was not nearly as attractive as one with the shrubbery cut back and fresh flowers planted to add color. A home with wall paper everywhere, made the home too personal to the present owner and less appealing to a prospective buyer who had different tastes in color and design.
It has always been true that "crisp and clean" sells better than "dated, dirty and cluttered".
At a minimum, every owner who wishes to sell needs to declutter and clean up. Depending on one's budget, the fix up for a sale can be just a good decluttering, rearranging the furniture and cleaning. If funds are available, an investment in paint and new carpet may well make the property sell quicker - not necessarily for more money.
A properly prepared property generally sells quicker and, if priced to match a market value, for the listed price or , even in this market, for more.
Bottom line, if a home is not at least minimumly "staged", the price will need to be at least some percentage under what similar "staged" houses sold for. One of Barbara's catch lines was " The way you live in a house that is for sale is not the way you live in a house normally." or words to that effect. When you offer your home for sale, in a real sense, it is "on stage."
Staging a property sort of had its major debut back in the 1980s. As I recall. a real estate agent named Barbara Schwartz from the Seattle area came up with a book and seminar entitled "Dress Your House for Success"> I went to one of her seminars and she was very persuasive about the benefit of "staging" a property. Such ideas as "You won't buy what you can't see." seemed right on. Pictures of the front of a home nearly obscured by shrubbery was not nearly as attractive as one with the shrubbery cut back and fresh flowers planted to add color. A home with wall paper everywhere, made the home too personal to the present owner and less appealing to a prospective buyer who had different tastes in color and design.
It has always been true that "crisp and clean" sells better than "dated, dirty and cluttered".
At a minimum, every owner who wishes to sell needs to declutter and clean up. Depending on one's budget, the fix up for a sale can be just a good decluttering, rearranging the furniture and cleaning. If funds are available, an investment in paint and new carpet may well make the property sell quicker - not necessarily for more money.
A properly prepared property generally sells quicker and, if priced to match a market value, for the listed price or , even in this market, for more.
Bottom line, if a home is not at least minimumly "staged", the price will need to be at least some percentage under what similar "staged" houses sold for. One of Barbara's catch lines was " The way you live in a house that is for sale is not the way you live in a house normally." or words to that effect. When you offer your home for sale, in a real sense, it is "on stage."
posted by shirley harry at 5:50 AM
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