Home Staging: The New 'Real' in Real Estate

Jan. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- REALTORS are becoming more creative and competitive and some are offering complimentary home staging consultations for their clients as a means to get their house sold quickly and for top dollar.  Savvy home sellers know that to compete in a buyer’s market OR a seller’s market, it is essential to outshine the competition.  And what better way than by staging the home?

Cathy Tarrant, a certified home stager and owner of HOMESTYLING BY CATHY, says “home staging or real estate staging is a new concept here in Canada’s most easterly province, but it is slowly becoming recognized by both the real estate industry and home sellers as being the single best way to get that house sold quickly and for maximum profit.  It is NOT about hiding defects or deceiving the buyers.  It IS about marketing your house to highlight its best features".
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According to Cathy, there are a few things to get ‘REAL’ about if you are planning to sell your home.

•   Check the qualifications of any stager, ask for references, and ask to see a portfolio of their OWN work.  Make sure your stager is licensed and fully insured.  And be sure to check out their website because REALLY, not all stagers are equal.

•   Budget is the primary cause of hesitation on the part of the sellers to stage their home. But recent statistics by HomeGain reports that staging REALLY brings back 300% return on the investment!

•   The MLS/online photos are extremely important, both in quality and content.  The REALITY is that over 90% of home buyers check the MLS/online photos before they even contact a real estate agent/seller, so those photos are actually the first impression people will have of the home.  Buyers will move on to the next listing if your MLS/online photos give a distasteful or even 'blah'  first impression.
 
•   Staging your home is NOT decorating your home….staging is essentially a marketing technique.   In REALITY, even the most tastefully decorated homes will often benefit from a staging just as much as a poorly decorated home.

•   The REAL truth is that the investment in staging your home will not exceed the amount of the first price reduction if you don't stage it.

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HOMESTYLING BY CATHY prepares homes to sell so that they appeal to a broad range of buyers thus ensuring a quick sale for top dollar.