This feel-good photo is by firstindy

Home Staging — the act of preparing your house for sale on the real estate market by making it appeal to the highest number of potential buyers.  The goals of Home Staging are: (1) to sell it quickly; and (2) to sell it for the most money possible.

One of the “symptoms” of Home-Ahol-ism is the bizarre desire to spend your Sunday afternoons (non-Steeler-game Sunday afternoons) attending open houses when you are not in the market for a new home. To me, it’s a fun way to learn from other people’s decorating Do’s (and Don’ts.) It’s a sickness, I know. I shudder to think how many open houses I’ve attended over the years. *Oy* Anywho, one benefit to this behavior was that I developed a knack for predicting which houses would sell quickly and which would not, based on “how well they showed.”  My predictions were usually right on. This seemingly useless knowledge paid off big time when we put our first house on the market.  Before I even knew the meaning of the word staging, I knew I had some work to do to make my house sell quickly and for a lot of money. It was the middle of a cold January (not the best time to sell a house in Pittsburgh) and there were three other homes for sale on our street. 

Well, I must have done something right because we received the offer we wanted just 11 days after it went on the market.  The realtors said, “It showed so well. Did they use a Home Stager?”

A what? You mean there are people that make a living doing that!?!

That was seven years ago.  And since that time, I’ve received my Home Staging Expert (HSE) certification from Center Stage Home and have made Home Staging a key part of my decorating business. (Even though staging is NOT decorating, it’s marketing…but I digress.) The houses I’ve staged have all sold in 6 weeks or less.

Typically, I try my best not to come off as a Bossy Know-it-All.  But I do get a little…um…feisty when it comes to giving advice on staging a home.  Only because I truly believe that home staging is the most crucial step in putting your house on the market and yet so many people don’t take it seriously (or even think to do it.) 

I’ve got tons of Home Staging tips swirling around in my tiny brain. (It’s tough being me.) For my blog, I’ve decided to spew this Home Staging advice across a series of Lessons.  So here goes Lesson 1: Just Do It: 

Having your house on the market stinks!  It really does. I feel badly for people going through it: always having to keep your house tidy, never knowing when potential buyers may show up, dealing with the roller coaster of emotions, yada, yada, yuck.  When your house is on the market, it feels like you’re living in “limbo land.” You want it to be over as soon as possible.  You can’t wait for that very happy day when the big, bold SOLD sign decorates the For Sale sign in your front yard. 

That’s why the effort put into home staging, while kind of a pain, can really pay off. In this market, it’s no guarantee, but you must give it a try. 

 The National Association of Realtors reports that, on average, a staged home sells more than twice as quickly as a non-staged home. In addition, staged homes sell for 6.9%-10% more than their non-staged counterparts.

So if you’re reading this blog and are getting ready to market your home or if your home has been sitting on the market without a nibble, don’t wait for me to publish all my Lessons. Find a home stager in your area now. It doesn’t have to be a huge expense. You can choose from their menu of services, which will range from an hourly-rate consultation to a whole-house staging.

Here are some resources to help you find a stager (also listed under “ReDesigners”):

Center Stage Home

Staged Homes

Interior ReDesign Directory

Or, if your plans for marketing your home are not as immediate, stayed tuned for my future blog entries on Home Staging. (I promise they won’t all be as long-winded as this one.)

Love Your Home,
Sue