Home Staging Can Increase Your Home's Perceived Value

While doing a bit of research, I came across something that described the difference between actual value and perceived value.

The actual value of a property is based on the square footage, number of bedrooms, number of baths, size of kitchen, the location, etc. Perceived value is based on what the would-be buyers believe about the home. They want to see that it meets their needs AND makes their lifestyle better than it is now.

The best way to increase the perceived value of your home is to have it staged. The better your home looks, the better a potential buyer feels about it. Home staging adds the perceived value buyers are looking for.

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Home Staging Advice From Kate Hart of Kate Hart and Associates Staging and Design LLC

Kate Hart of Hart & Associates Staging and Design LLC knows that home staging works for all properties regardless of the price point because home staging is about preparing your home for a faster and more profitable sale and marketing your property to the most potential buyers for its target audience. “I have staged homes ranging from $100,000 to $10 million and have had the same result- the homes sell faster and for top dollar compared with the competitors within their price range.”

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No Budget Does Not Mean No Staging

The very best situation is to have a professional stager come into your home paid for by your realtor. The next best solution is to have a professional stager come in paid for by you. If neither of these things can happen, you can still do some budget staging on your own.

Think about rearranging your space, cleaning your space, decluttering your space, and repairing your space. The number one most economical way to increase the appearance of your home is with paint. Fresh paint can make all the difference in the world.

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Home Staging Advice From Debra Blackmon of Blackmon Design

Debra Blackmon of Blackmon Design offers the following suggestion for your windows: Many homes have the louvers of the blinds turned down to face the floor. A more enhancing way to use blinds is to turn the louvers up to reflect much-needed ambient light onto the ceiling.

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Home Stagers Help With Time Management

Husband and wife both work. Both kids are in 3 activities. Commuting. Eating out. And selling a home??? Where does it fit in and how can it fit in?

How can these home sellers get their homes ready? Even if they aren't as busy as the family above, getting ready to sell a home can be a daunting task.

One way to help ease the burden is time management. Figure out what activities can go. Perhaps eat in instead of out. Spend the weekends working on home projects. Have a plan with the highest priority items first.

Having a plan is something that an agent and/or a home stager has the knowledge to create. What absolutely needs to be done? What is in the "would be nice" category? What is more of a wish list?

How to get the tasks done? Delegate, ask friends, hire out. Stagers are a great resource.

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Home Staging Advice From Kimberly Cash of ASPM Tidewater Home Staging Consultants, Inc.

Kimberly Cash of ASPM Tidewater Home Staging Consultants, Inc. offers the following advice: People do not see their house as a product that you have to market and sell. However, selling your home is like packaging. People look at the outside before deciding to come in. Then they look at the inside before deciding to buy, and it is mostly based on looks. It is packaging. You need to wrap up your product, your home, like a beautiful package.

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Home Stagers Offer Many Levels of Service

Whether you have a small amount to spend on staging your home or are willing to spend up to 1% of your home’s value, you will be able to find a stager that meets your price limit.

The cost of fully staging your home will depend upon the size of your home and the condition of your home. It will also depend upon whether the stager charges a specific fee per room or home or whether they charge by the hour. The more you ask of a stager, the higher the price will be.

No matter what price range you choose, home staging will make your home sell faster and for more money.

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Home Staging Advice From Donna Reynolds of Home Rearrangements

Donna Reynolds of Home Rearrangements explains that there are two times that you can angle furniture: In a square room and if a room already has an angle in it, like a corner fireplace or a bay window.

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What Can You Expect When You Hire a Home Stager?

Most home stagers offer many different levels of service.

1. You can have the stager walk through your home and give you a consultation. The consultation ends with a list of recommendations that will help you show your house at its best. Such recommendations may be removing clutter, painting the walls, or hanging some art in specific places on the wall. This is typically the cheapest service and can range anywhere from $75 to $350 depending upon your location.
2. For a bigger fee, the home stager can come in and redecorate your home by changing around your furniture, removing pieces that do not fit, and even bringing in some of their own props.
3. Some home stagers will charge an hourly fee to do the cleaning, decluttering, and packing for you, as well as doing the redecorating.
4. And finally, some stagers will not only redecorate and bring in a few props, they will also bring in complete furniture suites with furniture from their own warehouse or from a rental store.

No matter what price range you choose, home staging will make your home sell faster and for more money.

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Home Staging Advice From Holly Weatherwax of Momentum Realty

Holly Weatherwax of Momentum Realty explains that whenever possible, she recommends leaving the garage free from storage. If people see that the seller does not have enough storage and has to use the garage, they will begin to wonder if the same thing will happen if they buy the house. People like to think that they might actually be able to use a garage!

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Home Staging: Change the Hardware

Change the hardware. Creating a whole new look can be as easy as changing the knobs and pulls on your cabinets. Nowadays, knobs and handles come in every size, shape, and color imaginable.

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Home Staging Advice From Katie Joanow of Star Staging

Katie Joanow of Star Staging explains that: You should remove extra chairs from the tables. Unless you have a massive space, you will not need more than 4 chairs around a table. Also remove extra leaves from the table. This will make the room feel larger.

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Hire a Home Stager First and You Won't Be Sorry

Numbers do not lie. Homes that are staged first and then sold sell 2 to 3 times as fast and at a higher price. If you show the home to someone before staging, you will lose that edge.

Let’s consider a broker walkthrough. They go through each room and notice the dirty carpet in the family room. Then they notice how the walls are dingy as well. Their frame of mind is now fault finding. As they walk into the dining room, it feels cramped and dark. And the kitchen! How small. Their inner voice is saying something like this when the walkthrough is over:

“No, this house is too small and too dark and too dirty. The sellers want far too much. I’m not sure that I have anyone that would be interested in this house.”

Even if you go on to stage the home before allowing potential buyers in, the stage has been set – incorrectly set.

If the same group of brokers had seen the home for the first time after it had been staged, they would have noticed how fresh and clean everything was. They would have noticed the lovely light and how airy it felt. They would have noticed the spacious rooms and the quaint kitchen. And their inner voice would be saying:

“This is a great home for the price. Mr. Brown and his wife would just love this!”

The difference is in the staging.

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Home Staging Advice From Marlene Feldman of Marlene Feldman Associates Home Staging & Design

Marlene Feldman of Marlene Feldman Associates Home Staging &Design has the following suggestion for small dining rooms: If the dining room has an oversized china cabinet, consider removing it. Or, if has a top and bottom, remove the top. This will open up the space considerably.

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Why use a Home Stager?

If you were selling your car, would you get it detailed, clean out the trash or at the very least take it to the car wash? Home staging is doing the very same thing to your home. Your home is the biggest investment you have. If you are willing to detail a car - a much smaller investment - then why not a house? Doing so will ensure the biggest return on your investment possible.

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Home Staging Advice From Sylvia Beez of m.a.p. interiors inc.

Sylvia Beez of m.a.p. interiors inc. reminds us that: A home for sale should always be presented in its best light and immaculate condition, which is not the reality of everyday life. Potential buyers do not want to see how you live, with your children, cats and dogs, and mess. They want to see themselves in a perfect house under perfect conditions and that is how a home on the market should always be presented.

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Home Staging Statistics You Should Know

Statistics at StagedHomes.com show that you can make at least 3 percent more with home staging. In some areas, that number can go as high as 50 percent! These statistics also show that homes that had not sold in an average of four and a half months after listing sold within a week of being staged by a professional. Homes staged before listing were under contract more than twice as fast as comparable homes that had not been professionally staged.

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Home Staging Advice From Ruthanne Hatfield of Art of Interior Placement

Ruthanne Hatfield of Art of Interior Placement emphasizes that taking away items is needed, but adding back is essential, too: Each room should be embellished with accessories artwork, mirrors, accent tables, silk trees and florals, as well as dishes, bedding, and towels so all areas look inviting.

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Home Staging: Watch Your Colors

People like or dislike something in less than 90 seconds Somewhere between 62% and 90% of this assessment is based on color.

Oranges and purples tend to put people off. Red, as an accent can make a house "pop." Burgandy on one accent wall can be incredibly beautiful. Yellow needs to be creamy. Color matters!

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Home Staging Advice from Lisa Wonsey of Space/Lift

Lisa Wonsey of Space/Lift explains that selling an empty home can be a huge mistake. Buying or renting furniture is especially vital in an empty home. Empty homes do not show well and can sit on the market for months until a buyer with a good visual imagination comes along, or until the seller drops the price so low that the home is a steal.

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How To Hire a Home Stager

Home stagers have the ability to show off your home’s best features. With some paint, some cleaning and decluttering, and some knowledgeable furniture placement, your home will shine above others in the same market.

The goal of home staging is to sell your home faster and for more money. Home stagers can do this because they know what the buyers want and know how to produce those “wants” in your home whether your home is a million dollar mansion or a modest starter home.

How do you know if a stager is a good one? To read the rest of the article, click here.

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Home Staging Cleaning Vs. Spring Cleaning

According to the 2006 Soap and Detergent Association Spring Cleaning Survey, 60% of Americans participate in a spring cleaning ritual. This might include washing windows (I don't do windows), cleaning carpets, washing down siding, taking down window treatments, and more.

But, what do they forget to do in the rush to get the BIG jobs done? They forget the hidden clutter found in closets, medicine cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and of course, the infamous junk drawer. These areas are often the most neglected in a home - and when selling a home should be high on the to-do list!

To learn more about decluttering your home, read 301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home NOW and For More Money Than You Thought.

Home Staging: Replace Your Old Flooring The Easy Way

Floors are often overlooked when it comes time to remodel, but new flooring is a great way to add just the right touch to your bathroom, kitchen, living room, or dining room. And now, with glueless laminate flooring, the job can be done in one weekend!

The most popular laminate designs are made to resemble hard wood flooring, however, you can also find those that look like stone or marble. Whatever your choice, you will be able to put the new floor down over your old floor – no need for scraping off old vinyl flooring, removing hardwood flooring, or covering concrete. Just about any flat hard surface can be the base for laminate!

No matter what your décor or your lifestyle, you can find a laminate floor to fit your needs.

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Home Staging: Give Your Kitchen a Facelift

The kitchen is not only the heart of the home but one of the most important rooms when it comes to resale value. If your kitchen is humdrum but you simply don’t have enough money for a total remodel, consider giving it a facelift – a cabinet re-facing, that is!

Just what is cabinet re-facing? It is simply changing the appearance of the cabinet doors while leaving the cabinets and the layout the same.

Cabinet re-facing can be accomplished in a number of ways:

1. You can sand and repaint your cabinet doors using any color or texture you choose

2. You can strip your cabinet doors and re-stain in a variety of finishes.

3. Simply changing the hinges and knobs can make a world of difference.

Just a little bit of time, a quick trip to the home supply store, and some elbow grease, and you will have the look and feel of a brand new kitchen.

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Paint the Walls for Home Staging Success

There is no easier or cheaper way to redecorate than to paint! Not only can painting a room dramatically change its appearance, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do a good job. All you have to do is follow three simple rules:

1. Clean Those Walls: All artists understand the need for a good surface, and painting a room, though not necessarily an artistic endeavor, is no different. It is best to clean the walls with soap and water and then rinse with clear water. Once the wall is dried completely, you are ready to start!

2. Good Paint is the Best Paint: Although you don’t have to buy the most expensive brand out there, good paint is worth the price. It won’t show brush strokes and you can often get by with a single coat.

3. Start From the Top Down: Start with your ceilings, move to your walls, then to your windows and doors, and last but not least, paint those baseboards. It’s the way the professionals do it!

Once you are done, you will hardly recognize the place!

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First Part of Home Staging: Decluttering

One of the very first things a homeowner can and should do to begin the staging process is to get rid of clutter:

1. Piles of stuff with no home

2. Unorganized closets, cabinets, and drawers

3. Too much on shelves, tabletops, and mantels

4. Furniture that makes a room feel cramped or doesn’t allow flow

For items one and two, you can easily do this at home. You may even be able to handle what is “too much” when it comes to home accessories. By the time you get to furniture, having a professional home stager is essential.

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