If you have a vacant property to sell, you might not be too excited to invest in home staging right now. I completely understand that perspective, but I have to be honest with you — I don't believe that's the right strategy.
Research says that 90% of the population can not visualize a vacant space. That means, when you don't stage your vacant home for sale you are automatically eliminating 90% of the potential buyers.
Why would you want to do that? I want to help you, so here is what's up…
The following story comes from the Realtor, Josh, who managed the sale of one of our staged projects. As usual, we staged a vacant home, our clients listed it, and a buyer quickly fell in love with it and made an offer.
Well, Josh told me that the buyers ended up closing the sale at the property. But by that time, we had removed all our inventory and the home was vacant again. He said that when the buyer saw the vacant home, she began worrying that the space was too small and said that her furniture might not fit in the living room. She couldn’t visualize it anymore!
Her agent assured her that it would work out, as she had seen the room with furniture in it already, and it had all looked just fine. The sale went through.
But… can you imagine how this conversation would have gone differently with a vacant home that was never staged? It would have been very tough for the buyer’s agent to convince the client to blindly trust that her furniture would fit in the vacant home. I can tell you from experience, without the confidence that comes from visualizing a staging, vacant homes are much less likely to get offers!
So, why is this? Let’s talk about it…
Every home has its little flaws, but leaving your home vacant puts those flaws on display! When there is no furniture in a room, guess where your potential home buyers will look? With a microscopic view at the walls, the flooring, the base boards, etc. And guess who will be paying for repairs? You… when the buyer subtracts it from your list price.
The big takeaway? Staging helps them see the big picture and the potential of the space, not its defects.
It sounds counterintuitive, but rooms really do look smaller when they are empty. The right scale of furnishings, lighting, and even art, can make a space feel taller, larger, brighter, and grander. And believe me, more space (even if it’s just an illusion) SELLS better.
This is what staging by a savvy designer can do for you. Don’t miss the opportunity to present your property at its best.
It’s no secret. A home without furniture feels cold, sterile, and far from welcoming. If you remember that most buying decisions are made based on emotion… well, the three emotions I just mentioned aren’t the ones inspiring purchases. Warmth, welcome, and classiness do.
Without furniture, it is nearly impossible for a home to create a strong emotional connection with a prospective buyer. And like I said before, 90% of buyers can’t even picture what their future lives would look like in an empty space. They can’t visualize the things that will make them feel at home!
You have to do it for them. Truth of the matter is — as Steve Jobs accurately pointed out — people don’t even know what they want; we have to show them. This holds true not only for iPhones and iPads, but for pretty much every other product that exists out there. And yes, if you’re selling your home, it IS a product.
When a home is staged with furniture that reflects its list price, it is obvious that the number is reasonable. By contrast, when home buyers walk into a vacant home, you have to hope that empty rooms will convince them.
I don’t know about you, but I would prefer to be in control of the conversation! And that conversation does not include haggling over price. Buyers should fall in love with the home and be excited to pay the list price… or higher!
The longer a potential buyer hangs around, the better. Good staging allows the buyer to linger as opposed to going in and out of the home in a jiffy. They will have the opportunity to take a closer look at all your house has to offer. Their mind starts working. And you will hear them talk about how they could do “this” or “that” with the space.
Most likely by the time they are out the door, they have emotionally moved in. And that’s all it takes to get a house sold.
I understand times are a bit tough for many people right now. That's one of the reasons we have come up with creative ways to help our clients stage their vacant home for impact and a fast sale.
I believe in Home Staging so much that we’re offering a summer special from now to August 31st. Stage your home with us and pay when you close the sale. Really.
IF you have a home that's on the market, naked and vacant, before that next price reduction, please give us a call. We CAN help you.
IF you are about to put your house on the market vacant, because money is tight, please give us a call. We can talk about staging now, and collecting at the time you sell. Once we are confident the house is priced well and we are confident we will present it well via our staging design plan, there is no reason for you to not sell your house fast and for profit.
Per an article on #inman, "Numerous studies have demonstrated that staging speeds sales. Faster sales tend to bring the best prices. Quick sales at favorable prices generally produce happier sellers."
In other words, the biggest mistake any Real Estate Agent or Seller can make is not staging a vacant home for sale. And with our Pay at Closing Home Staging service, there is really no reason not to stage your home!
So don’t wait. Don’t leave things up to chance. Call us and we’ll help you get the most for your investment.
Xo,
Keti
I have seen this trend recently where some stagers are advertising and claiming that they will stage your home - and because they own their own inventory - they will not charge you any rental fees.
As a professional home stager myself and as someone who is dedicated to running a successful staging and design business whose services will benefit many clients for many years to come, I wanted to write about this trend and clarify some things.
My goal and desire is that all you who are seeking staging services - where the stager claims they will use their props and inventory and not charge you for it - will be better educated in making the right decision that best addresses your staging needs.
First I would like to make you all aware of the fact that Home Staging is not a regulated business. What that means to you as a consumer and as a seeker of staging services is that anyone can put a shingle out there and claim to be a “professional home stager”, but that does not necessarily make them so.
For anyone to achieve the highly sought “professional” status in any field a few things need to take place. I read once that it takes an average of three years or about 6,000 working hours for someone to hone in their skill set in the profession of their choice.
It is a known fact that a lot of people who claim to be home stagers, stage on the side, and on the weekends mostly. Staging is not their full time profession.
Secondly, like with any other profession, on-going training and education is a must. There is absolutely no way around it, if anyone as a professional is set on providing stellar service and products to all their clients 100% of the time.
As an example of this I have committed to investing up to $5,000 a year towards on-going training as it relates to what I am engaged with on a daily basis and that is, staging, design, and renovations.
Since Staging is not a regulated business, on-going continued education is not required. That is not to say, it is not needed however.
Thirdly results always speak for themselves. Check out their on-line reputation, portfolio and results. Reading reviews from clients who have actually worked with them in the past would be a great thing to check out.
And as always be weary of stock photos used on ads and websites, as they are not reflective of what the stager can actually do or accomplish; rather they only speak to the fact that those stagers can pick a pretty picture, no problem.
A professional home stager, one who has done the time so to speak and on an on-going basis hones their professional skills is very well versed in things like, fundamental design elements, what makes a staging design stand out, what does not, scale, balance and symmetry, how the style of the home and the fixed elements in the home dictate how the home is staged etc. For those reasons I am also against verbal staging quotes, but I will have to write another blog on that and why you as a consumer should not fall for it.
Please realize that all those items I listed above dictate how the buyers will respond to your home. Why would you want to risk having the potential buyers focus on bad staging when they should actually focus on your beautiful home?
You are making the buyers experience of touring your home memorable o’right but it is not your sellable home they will be remembering I can assure you of that.
Case in point, check out these two homes below.
One belongs to the Tuscany brown trend which is no longer trendy now btw. This property was located in Prestonwood in Dallas and it sold in one week once it was professionally staged by Design by KETI and it relisted as such.
This other home which is located in Preston Hollow in Dallas belongs to the current Parisian gray trend. This home sold in two weeks after it relisted as a professionally staged home by Design by KETI.
Here are some other examples...
This condo sold and de-staged in less then 30 days...
This luxury Home in Lake Highlands sold in three days from being listed as a professionally staged home. It de-staged in less than two months.
This renovated home in Preston Hollow sold and de-staged in two and a half months...
Different type of props, inventory and color schemes were used to stage those homes as the fixed elements and the color scheme in the home dictate how the home should be staged.
For those reasons – so that you ensure that you hire the right stager for you, whose staging will add value to your home and not take away from it – some good questions to ask would be along the lines of their professional staging background and how much actual time do they dedicate to staging homes on a weekly basis and for how long have they done so.
Some people might excitedly say “staging is my passion”. Please understand Passion Is Not Enough.
Although there is nothing wrong with being passionate about staging, having the skill set to also deliver a top staging and design plan that will yield results and that is to sell your home swiftly and at a desirable price point, is of utmost importance.
Passion does not make you a professional!
For example, I love dancing. I am very passionate about it. Everybody who knows me on a personal level knows this fun fact about me.
And I exercise this passion of mine by social dancing on a regular basis. On occasion and when my schedule permits it, I will take a group class but that is about it. But IF I want to become a professional dancer however, I would need to dedicate a lot of time and money to it. I would need to allocate time in my schedule to take a lot of private lessons so I can hone my dancing skills, and be really good at it. I also need to practice what I learn during those private lessons, so that one day in the near future I would be able to call myself a professional dancer and make a living out of my dancing.
My point is having passion about something – even staging - is not enough!
Cultivating your passion by dedicating time and resources to it, will elevate you to a professional status in the field of your choice!
Now that you have a little bit of a background on what distinguishes a pro stager from an amateur stager, let me tell you the reasons why we charge rental fees when we use our own props and inventory to stage your home.
Let’s apply this to hiring a stager to stage your vacant home and you need not pay rental fees for props and inventory.
Although it appears you may be getting a good deal, in actuality you may be getting a really bad one.
It pays to invest more in the front end. When you pay a rental fee for props and inventory to stage your home, you are ensuring you are getting top of the line items that are on-trend, are ispirational to the buyers and in line with the architecture of your home. Since staging is nothing but packaging and merchandising, it is of utmost importance that the right props and inventory are used to package and merchandise your home in other words stage your home.
Please understand each added input/benefit (in other words, "free props and inventory") will lead to a decrease in the quality of what you thought the outcome of staging was going to be.
So you find yourself six to eight months down the road and not only do you not get the return on your initial staging investment, you suddenly find yourself losing money because of it. Those losses come in the form of several price reductions, and on-going mortgage, tax, insurance and upkeep payments and fees.
The quote from John Ruskin comes to mind:
“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
So I encourage you to pay for something better, all the time.
3.1 We charge rental fees when we use our own props and inventory to stage your home because not charging accurately for services provided is not a sustainable business model. Specifically such type of business model will drive the business and the business owner into bankruptcy in no time at all.
Let me explain this a bit further. The three basic components that make up a vacant staging price quote are: 1. Staging Design Fee, 2. Moving and Logistics/Packing/Unpacking Fee and 3. Furniture and Accessories Rental Fee.
The staging fee covers things such as putting together a staging design concept, selecting all the props needed to stage the home (things like furniture, accessories, artwork, and soft good, lighting), and packing and wrapping all such props and inventory, and then setting up on site as well as styling.
The moving fee covers the cost of moving all packed and wrapped props and inventory from the warehouse all the way to your house. And then from your house all the way back to the warehouse when your house sells and it needs to be de-staged.
If you have moved recently you know from experience that it is expensive to hire movers in Dallas. Our experience has been that when staging vacant homes – based on the scope of the project, the rooms we have staged and the distance of the house from our warehouse– moving costs can go anywhere from $700 and up to $2,000 on any vacant staging project.
And then there is the Furniture and Accessories rental fee. Please understand that there is a lot of money that goes into purchasing new inventory items on a regular basis. Inventory purchase and warehousing are two of the largest expenses any staging business has on their books.
We have a special formula in place when it comes to pricing out the rental fee for all items that are needed to stage your home.
What those other stagers are doing when they say “they don’t charge rental fees” is no different that you reaching out to some of the furniture rental companies out there and have them let you lease their stuff for free. I can assure you that will never ever happen. Why because they are a for profit business. An exchange of products (staging props and inventory) for dollars ( inventory rental fee) needs to happen.
That makes a lot of logical, business and financial sense.
Red flags should go up when someone claims they do not bill rental fees. Some valued questions to ask would be, where did they get their props and inventory, how much money they spent towards it, will they bring cardboard furniture to stage your home, are they bringing stuff they got on garage sales to stage your home, or is it their parents oversized peanut butter color leather sofa from the 80’s that will make its debut in the formal living room of your $900K home.
I am mentioning all those things because I have seen them actually happen over and over.
And last but not least do they have insurance for their inventory. And do they have insurance to be working at your home. Unforeseen/unexpected things happen all the time. And the smart and savvy business owners plan accordingly for such things.
At the end of the day – as a consumer myself – I would be reluctant to hire someone who appears to not understand the intricacies of basic pricing. In my head that is something that would raise flags related to their professionalism, knowledge of real estate and their skill set.
Since they are not capable of doing such elementary thing – meaning pricing their services correctly - I would wonder if they are capable of being a top notch professional who will provide top notch staging designs so that your home is packaged and merchandised the correct way, so that your home sells fast and for top dollar and so that you get your money’s worth and return in staging it the professional way by a professional stager.
…those are all my thoughts. What are yours? Please feel free to share your opinion on this. I would love to hear it.
And if you are set on working with a professional home stager to help stage your home the right way, we would welcome the opportunity to be of service. And because we care for results and we care that YOU turn a profit, we will bill you rental fees, not because we are greedy, but because it's a win-win for all parties involved, we are fair, and we are really good at what we do. 🙂
Cheers,
Keti
O: (469) 210 – 1067
Website: https://designbyketi.com/
As some of you who follow my posts know, I keep track of all the vacant homes that hit the market in the East Dallas, Oaklawn/Uptown and N. Dallas MLS areas because I see it as part of my job since I sell home staging.
Today for example I looked at all the vacant homes that listed in the month of November - 17 of them – in East Dallas. Of the 17 vacant homes that listed for sale in East Dallas in November 2013, as of today, 3 sold, 1 delisted - most likely due to lack of activity and interest, 1 is under contract and the remaining 12 are still on the market.
In addition think of how much the lack of a sale has cost these sellers in mortgage payments, taxes, HOA dues, utility and any other maintenance cost associated with owning a house.
The takeaway from this exercise in Home Selling? Don’t list your home vacant. You are reducing your chances of selling within 60 days by at least 70%. You are also reducing your chances of getting an offer at asking price when your house does not sell within a curtain time frame. Instead follow the example of these brilliant sellers in, Lake Highlands, East Dallas and Preston Hollow who brought in Home Staging Dallas - Design by KETI to help sell their home in record time.
This gorgeous mid-century modern house in Lake Highlands, listed for $900K. It went under contract after three days of being marketed as a staged home. We were able to destage the home in less then two months from staging.
This luxury home on Preston Hollow listed for $1.2M. It sold shortly thereafter and we were able to de-stage the home in less then three months from the list date.
These modern condos in the East Village in Dallas all sold and de-staged with an average of 48 days on market from the day they got staged to the day they got sold and therefore de-staged.
For more info on the benefits of staging a vacant home for sale Click Here:
Cheers,
Keti
I would like to share with you an interesting thing that has happened to me during these past few months... On a few instances, I have been brought in as a Dallas home stager by a Realtor “because the seller asked to work with a Professional Stager”. That’s right, the Seller asked the Realtor to get them in touch with their preferred Professional Property Stager as they prepare their house for the market.
It is truly amazing to see the shift in people’s mentalities when it comes to Property Staging. I am thankful for all the smart sellers out there who truly understand that Property Staging is not just about “bringing some furniture into a vacant space”, and it’s not just about “fluffing their home”.
Smart Sellers understand that Property Staging is a powerful marketing tool that when used correctly it has tremendous FINANCIAL benefits associated with it.
We are stepping into a Sellers’ market these days and there is a lot of talk about how the sellers are benefiting and how “offers will practically just drop on their lap”, because the demand for homes is high and the supply is low.
Although, as a Dallas home stager, I understand the concept of supply and demand really well, I also do understand that REGARDLESS of what the market is, buyers are smart and savvy these days; they want the Best Product that meets their needs and wants at a dollar amount they are willing to part with.
Let’s take this example:
You go to a 5 star restaurant for dinner. You have the most decadent appetizers and entrees one can possibly have in their life. You enjoyed every bite of it…now it is time for dessert. You happen to love Cheesecake and you really want to order some. You talk to your waiter and he gives you your options:
You can have their “Regular Cheesecake”,
Plain Cheesecake
or for $1.50 more you can have their “Special Strawberry Cheesecake”
Strawberry Cheesecake
I don’t know about you but for only a $1.50 more I definitely want the Strawberry Cheesecake which comes with drizzled chocolate caramel and strawberry sauces topped with whip cream and a glazed strawberry. Yum.
(Oh and btw, I guarantee you; it did not cost the restaurant $1.50 for the toppings).
The strawberry cheesecake creates a feeling within you and it eludes a vision of the reality of having that cheesecake vs. the plain one and you just can't resist it, plain and simple.
That’s exactly what Staging does to a property. It presents the buyer with the opportunity to emotionally connect with a property. It also sets your property apart in presentation and value from all the other “cheesecakes” in your neighborhood that are up for sale.
UNLESS you don’t want to make more money when it is readily available to you for a minimal investment of time and money (perhaps even some sweat equity on your part) than Property Staging might not be for you!
…therefore you need not read further.
But if you want to make more money when it is readily available to you than read on…
Here are 4.1 reasons why you should enlist a Dallas home stager for your property in a Seller’s market:
Once your property is listed on the MLS your job is basically done. All you have to do now is sit back and wait for the buyers to come by, tour it and make an offer on it.
We need to understand that the internet has changed the way we do business in every area of our life – and that includes selling a home. Did you know that 42% of buyers used You Tube to look up houses for sale last year? That means, pictures may no longer be all that valuable. The video and the virtual tours will be! I can only imagine how a home that is not staged would look on video, especially if it is not done by a professional. I read this expression a while back I thought it was so true and also so funny at the same time.
“If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait till you hire an amateur”!
Using a Dallas home stager is an essential and irreplaceable marketing tool, like we have never seen before because we live in a day and age where people are taking care of all their social, private and business needs on the internet.
Did you know that for every dollar you put towards preparing and staging your home for sale, the buyer will most likely ask that you pay them $10. I don’t know about you, but I would rather pay a $1 now so I can keep $9 in my pocket later.
All parties involved in a Property Staging project are winners. It can’t get any better than that.
a- Sellers win because they are able to maximize their return on their investment and preserve the equity of their home. Sellers also win because by Staging their property they will drastically reduce their time on market, which will directly reflect on their pocket book.
Less time on market = less mortgage expenses and all the other costs that go along with having a mortgage, such as tax and insurance payments, maintenance cost, etc.
b- Real Estate Agents win because a higher sales price translates into a higher commission payment for them. Real Estate Agents also win referral business if they sell faster and for top dollar. If a Realtor has sold my neighbors house in two weeks, who do you think will be the realtor I will most likely be inclined to do business with when I am ready to put my home on the market?
c- Buyers win because you give them the opportunity to gain their confidence in the property they are buying from you and because you also give them the opportunity to fall in love with the house/property of their dreams.
d-Professional Stagers win because they are given the opportunity to exercise their creativity and gift of knowing how to merchandise a property for sale by Staging it while at the same time being able to financially support themselves and their families. Most Professional Home Staging Businesses are run and operated as a local small business and when you hire a Professional Local Home Stager, you are supporting small local businesses.
You would want to Stage because you will get the deal done quickly and for more money. Did you know that Staged homes sell 2 to 2.5 times quicker and for 17% more than the non-staged homes?
4.1 Property Staging may also increase the appraisal value of the property which in turn naturally would allow some buyers to qualify for a mortgage easier.
It would make sense to me that you hire a Dallas home stager for your property 100% of the time, regardless of what the price of the property is and what neighborhood you live in.
These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Cheers,
Keti
When it comes to selling Real Estate, there is a tremendous difference between being In The Market, vs. being on the market.
You would want to be “in the market”and not “on the market”.
Here is how you know you are “on the market”. By the way, this is NOT a place you want to be if you want to sell your house fast: Your house has been listed for at least two months now, you have had less than 10 private showings and you have had Absolutely No Offers!
If that’s the case you need to sit down and re-evaluate your selling strategy. What is causing the lack of traffic and interest? Is it because the house is overpriced or is it because it does not show well. As experts in Property Staging, we can help guide you on some things that you can take specific action on, to assure that your home Shows Well, Sells Fast and for Top Dollar.
Houses that are professionally Staged and photographed Show Well. Because they show well, a lot more potential buyers will be inclined to schedule an appointment to come by and tour it.
Selling your home - like with every thing else in life - is basically a “numbers” game. Once you have priced your house well and you have professionally Staged it -once it hits the market - you should have at least 10 showings within the first week of listing. For every 10 showings that you have, there should also be at least 1 acceptable offer.
1. That your home is Priced Well (Your Real Estate Agent is a great source for this). Check out my blog titled “3.1 Things You Should Do When Choosing a Realtor! for more details on how to select a Realtor that will represent your financial interests the best when selling your home.
2. That your Home Shows Well: that means it is professionally Staged and photographed (call Design by KETI or another Professional Property Stager in your area for assistance with this).
Once those 2 conditions are fulfilled you are on your way to selling Very Fast and for TOP Dollar regardless of what the Real Estate market is.
The reason being, by ensuring that your home is Priced Well and that it Shows Well, you are fulfilling the demand that the buyers have: they want the best product (1) that meets their needs (2) at a great price (3).
Truthfully Yours,
Keti Abazi, MBA, ASP, IAHSP
Owner and Creative Director of Design by KETI
Hi everyone. I have not had much time to do any blogging recently - thanks to all of you who have kept me busy – but wanted to take some time and write on the cost, or what I like to call the Investment in Home Staging.
From my discussions with many a Realtor, I have heard it mentioned more than once that although Staging a listing might sound like a great idea, their Seller just can’t afford to do so.
In response to that, I always say, the seller cannot afford to not Stage their home for the following reasons:
I then Stage the property (package it, merchandise it) in such a way that the Staging design does and will appeal to that specific target buyer, in that specific price range. By Staging the property, the Realtor/Seller are confident on determining where in that range, the property will fall; which 100% of the time, it’s on the higher end of that spectrum as it should be. Staging does add on average 5%-20% perceived value to the property.
Now back to my point about showing the numbers and doing the math:
For example purposes will look at a property with a Listing Price of $250,000.
- Since Un-Staged properties stay on the market an average of 9 months or so and assuming monthly mortgage carrying costs of about $2,300/month, that would cost the Seller an additional $20,700 ($2,300 x 9 = $20,700)
- Average price reduction is about 1% per month so, $2,500 x 9 = $22,500
Cost to Seller when property is NOT Staged: $43,200 ($20,700+$22,500)
- Commission before Price Reductions: $250,000 x 3% = $7,500
- Commission after price reduction: $227,500 x 3% = $6,825
- Cost to Realtor: $7,500-$6,825 = $675
- Add to it the opportunity cost and another $250 or so a month ($250 x 9 = $2,250) in Marketing Cost
Total average Cost to the Realtor is $2,925 ($675+$2,250)
And now for the Savings that both the Seller and the Realtor realize and how Staging is an Upfront Investment worth making:
- Knowing that Staged homes sell in about 29 to 45 days in the current market - translates into about two months of mortgage carrying cost to the Seller ($2,300 x 2 = $4,600)
- Staging Investment of $175 to $3,000 (consultations start at about $175, and Vacant Staging projects for properties in the $250K price could go up to $3,000)
Total Cost to Seller if Property is Staged = $7,600.
So, when it is all said and done, is Staging worth it? Absolutely, enthusiastically “Yes”. The net savings in this example is likely to be around $35,600 for the Seller and about $3,000 in additional commission money to the Realtor. Eventually, with or without Staging, money will be spent. The question is how much and for what? Will it be spent in additional mortgage costs, price reductions, money brought to the closing table, continuous monthly Marketing cost, or Staging it and actually selling it now, so you EARN MORE MONEY?
Cheers,
Keti
Many a people have a hard time understanding home staging essentials. “What is Home Staging anyhow”, you may ask?
Another question that I hear all the time is: “Do all houses need to be Staged?
All houses need to be staged prior to sale, if you want to sell for top dollar and be in the market for a short time. Secondly 90% of the population can not visualize or imagine spaces. That means 90% of buyers can not visualize spaces or imagine themselves in the house you wish they buy from you.
Home Staging is equivalent to car detailing (the male reader can totally identify with this); you never try to sell your car, whether it is a Kia or a Ferrari, without detailing it first. If we are willing and open to spending money on something that is a liability, (our vehicle), why are we so closed to the idea of investing on maximizing the return on something that for most of us is our most valuable asset (our house)?
“But my Seller has great taste and therefore Staging is not necessary”, is something else I hear quite often from Realtors.
Staging has nothing to do with a Seller's taste and a lot to do with the buyer’s wants. So the Seller and the Real Estate Agent/Realtor would need to answer the question- who the buyers are and what they want and look for in the specific area or neighborhood- and package and merchandise the house (i.e. stage the home), accordingly.
I went to an open house a few days ago in THE most desirable and affluent neighborhood in my city. The architecture of the house is very traditional-Mediterranean as a matter of fact- and the interior decorating and furnishings are very modern which makes the house very eclectic. First thing you notice as you walk thru the main entrance, are the beautiful expensive art work and furnishings. What happened to highlighting Real Estate (almost 7, 000 sq. feet of Real Estate?). And that is what Staging would do-highlight Real Estate. After all that is what the buyer wants to buy, the house and not the Seller’s possessions.
This particular house has been on the market twice in the last two years and did not sell, and now it has been on the market a third time for over 60 days and they have yet to have an offer. Never mind the price reductions of the 7 figure type…The architecture of the house is beautiful (traditional Mediterranean), the interior design and art work are beautiful (ultra modern, minimalist). Spaces “speak” to us and this property speaks “single bachelor who has a very incredible eclectic taste”. There is nothing wrong with ultra modern, minimalist design. Personally I love it, as a mater of fact…but I highly doubt that house appeals to the young family who wants to make it a home so they are able to raise their children in the most desirable, affluent neighborhood in the city.
So yes, Staging is needed, if you want to sell quick and for top dollar!
As a seller you can not afford to not Stage because your online photos will stand out (which means more showings/traffic-therefore more offers), your house will sell faster, you will make more money therefore you will get your Return on your Staging investment back-at least a 200% return and up to 576% of it. And did you know Home Staging cost may be deductible in the State of Texas?
Cheers,
Keti
