Tennessee Home Staging
You only get one chance to make a First Impression- so Stage your Tennessee Home!
First impressions are everything when selling your home, and you only get one chance at it! One of the simplest ways to get your home market-ready is to stage and de-personalize, removing the majority of personalized items and painting the walls a neutral color. Photographs of your family members and personal items throughout the home makes it difficult for them to imagine themselves in the home. While you may love aunt Edna’s 100 piece doll collection she gifted to you, it might turn off potential buyers.
We all have attachments to our own stuff and tastes, but buyers want to be able to envision their own family and decor style in the home and it’s difficult with the current owner’s personal items everywhere. Once you decide you’d like to put your home on the market, it’s important for the you as the seller to understand that your home will no longer feel like “your” home, and you have to realize it’s time to emotionally detach.
Even in a hot seller’s market, such as what we’re seeing the last few years here in the Greater Nashville area, we are seeing more and more buyer’s expecting homes on the market to be clean, freshly painted, and with very minimal belongings.
Think of how you would like to see the home if you were the potential buyer. It is always best to pack and store away all personal items before listing photographs are taken when the home is advertised for sale. The easier it is for a potential buyer to imagine themselves in your home, the more likely it is that they will put in an offer to purchase.
Not only is this beneficial to the home owner since these items will be packed away and ready to move, but removing an excess of personalized items typically makes the space feel much larger and more inviting. Plus, by removing an excess of family pictures on walls, this will also allow the owner to address repairs, patch any holes in walls and touch up paint prior to listing. The more neutral the home, the better chance you have at a buyer picturing themselves there and potentially putting in an offer.
What is Home Staging?
Home staging is home decorating designed to help you sell your home quickly. Some stagers will bring all of the staging furniture if your home is empty while others will work with what you have an add things and change things out. The second kind of staging is called occupied home staging- which usually costs a little less than.a full staging.. The staging company is renting their furniture to you while you sell your home and will move it in and set it up and move it out when the home is sold. One added benefit of staging is that you get nicer listing pictures.
How much does Tn Home Staging cost?
Prices will vary greatly by the size of the home and whether you are doing occupied staging or a full staging but a good rule of thumb is about $2.5/sqft for a 3 month contract. So for an average size single family house expect to pay $3,000 to $4,000. If your home doesn’t sell during the 3 month period, most contracts will allow you to extend the staging on a month to month basis for 10% of the original staging cost. .
Who Pays for Home Staging?
The property owner pays for home staging. Some staging companies offer financing options for homeowners that may not have a budget to pay the total amount up front.
- Makes the home sell faster and for more money
- Easier for buyers to image using the space
- If your going to move you are going to have to pack anyways!
Staged homes sell faster and for money!
Homes that are professionally staged photograph much better and on average sell faster and for a higher value. Over 90 percent of buyers start their search for a new home online, so it is absolutely imperative it looks its absolute best. So put the family photos away, hide all the toys and clear off all surfaces of clutter so your home shows nicer than the competition to buyers. Don’t know where to start? As an Accredited Home Staging Professional Realtor, I am available to consult with you and help you get your home looking its absolute best.
Home Staging Tips:
The fewer distractions in your home, the better chance potential buyers are able to focus on all of the great features of the house that made you fall in love with it originally. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. Would you be able to look past clutter and see the home itself? Let’s be real; you are selling your home, not the fancy throw rugs, dining tables, patio furniture and couches. By removing an excess of furniture, this allows the buyer to focus on your homes best features. Such as; the soaring ceilings, a beautiful staircase, gorgeous trimwork, etc. If you do this, you will allow buyers to see the beauty of your home with less distractions, resulting in a potentially faster sale and a higher sale price.
Tip 1: Clear off those counters in your kitchen and Bathrooms!
We know it’s no fun when you are selling to keep your house dressed to the nines- I mean you still have to live there, but it is important that the new buyers can see the amount of counter space in the kitchens and bathrooms. The larger your kitchen and bathrooms appears, the better. A lot of home buyers have outgrown their current home and are looking for more space. The last thing you want to do is leave the kitchen or bathroom with your personal stuff, providing the impression that the space is less than it really is. Give potential buyers the freedom to imagine their belongings on the counters and their level of interest will skyrocket.
Tip 2: Hire a professional!
While it can be tempting to want to save some money and stage yourself there is a reason that you want to work with a professional- they know what furniture, accessories, colors, art, rugs, towels, plants will appeal to the broadest number of possible buyers. Staging is not interior decorating. A lot of homeowners get tripped up when trying to stage themselves because they stage they way the like and don’t think about buyers. Since stagers work with real estate agents and buyers day in and day out, and follow the most recent design trends they know exactly what buyers want and how to please them.
Tip 3: Pack Early
When it comes to home staging, less is more. Similar to the countertop advice before packing up early or moving extra items into the garage so that your staging has room to work. Also, it gives you a head start on the moving.
Tip 4: Use Neutral Colors
When you are staging a home you are trying to appeal to the most broad audience of buyers. Picking Neutral colors like the earth tones of Grey, Brown and White are always sure to please. I have noticed in design trends that Teal has become a very popular color recently. You don’t want patters to be too busy, or really bright strong colors like Fire Hydrant Red, or Bright Orange in large amounts. These colors with some spunk in them are great for accent pillows, or place settings to give a pop of color but in general stick with a neutral color scheme.
Remember Cluttered homes make buyers feel uncomfortable.
The experience of viewing a cluttered home is not great for most buyers, it is a major distraction and can make buyers think that the home is poorly maintained. If the buyer neglects keeping their home organized, what other items have been neglected? This can and will scare away potential buyers and offers.
IN CLOSING…
If you are looking to sell your home, declutter it to make the home appears its absolute best – here are the main takeaways from this post:-
- Maximize the homes space by minimalizing your personal belongings
- Start getting rid of your clutter now – and long before the agent has listing photos taken
- Store items in boxes out of the way that you will not need until after the home is sold to maximize the homes appearance of space.
- Stage the home to showcase the home as a model that will inspire your potential buyers to put in an offer.
- Keep it looking perfect during the time the home is on the market
- Be proud of all the hard work you have completed getting to this point it will surely pay off.
- Call me for a consultation on decluttering and staging your home!.
