What is ‘Home Staging’?
The way you live in your home and they way you sell your house are two different things.
When your home is for sale, the goal is to have every potential buyer believe that he or she can live it. Selling a home changes the focus for the way the existing home owner lives, because when living in a home, the home reflects who the owners are. Once the owners decide to sell their house, it ceases to be THEIR home – it becomes a marketable product. Home staging is all about packaging a home to show off its best features and downplaying the flaws. It is all about romancing the buyer and putting them in the mood to make an emotional connection with your house! Sold for Top Dollar Transformation Packages by Houses to Impress help home owners with Smart Ideas that are Designed to Sell your House quickly and for top dollar. It may be as simple as rearranging what you already have or as complex as bringing in new furniture, accessories and art. Most projects lie somewhere in between these two extremes.
Why spend money on Home Staging before selling your home?
It’s extra money in your pocket that’s why. What other legal way can you invest a small amount of money and get a return of up to 10 times that amount in a small amount of time. Some people are reluctant to spend money on a home they’re selling. In fact some Real Estate Agents advise their clients to sell “as is”. Your house is the most valuable asset you own – why wouldn’t you give it a makeover to unlock the hidden value in your property? Consider this; you really can’t afford NOT to makeover your home. While there are no guarantees in real estate, well presented homes do sell more quickly and for higher prices. Home Sellers should not look at a home makeover by seeing how much it will cost them, but how much it could make them. A cosmetic home makeover before sale will ensure that you receive a Return on your Investment (ROI) in a short amount of time. How would you like to swap $5000 for $40,000 in less than a month?? Check out some of the testimonials from our happy clients.
Why does a Home Staging Consultation Work?
Real Estate professionals have known all along that the decision to buy a home is an emotional decision. When prospective buyers feel an emotional bond and when the first impression is favorable, the buyers are much more likely to decide to buy.
Home owners become “blind” to faded paint, tired curtains, clutter, things that are in need of repair or maintenance or the fact that your home decor is 20 years out of date. Your potential buyers won’t forgive you for you lack of taste and list of jobs they will have to do and they will respond with a quick exit.
A professional home stager is trained to “see” those things and will work with the home owner to highlight the best features of your home and downplay the negatives.
A well presented home suggests that the home has been well cared for and will bring attention to its best features. Houses to Impress are skilled in being able to create a welcoming, neutral, universally appealing space that will attract your target audience. A tastefully presented and styled home will suggest a luxurious lifestyle and will help your prospective buyers envision living there. A Sold for Top Dollar Transformation Package will give you an edge for securing your asking price (or more) by making your house stand out from the crowd.
How much will we need to spend on a pre sale makeover?
Home Staging Statistics show that homes that have been professionally staged usually sell for 6- 10% higher than unstaged homes. However our Houses to Impress clients (see Case Studies) often achieve 100%, 200% even up to $1500% . For example one of our clients from last year, Carmel (see Case Studies) invested $5000 on her house that was appraised at $615,000 and sold the house at auction 3 weeks later for $690,000. That is a 1500% ROI!! Wouldn’t you love to get those sort of returns of your investment?
We generally recommend that you spend 1% – 2% of the appraised price of your home. This is a minuscule amount to spend on the largest asset you own. See table below of the average Australian Cities House Prices and then the table that shows 1% and 2% home staging spend on the median price of a home.
Australian Cities Average House Prices September 2010
Home Staging Statistics show that homes that have been professionally staged usually sell for 6- 10% higher than unstaged homes. However our Houses to Impress clients (see Case Studies) often achieve 100%, 200% even up to $1500% . For example one of our clients from last year, Carmel (see Case Studies) invested $5000 on her house that was appraised at $615,000 and sold the house at auction 3 weeks later for $690,000. That is a 1500% ROI!! Wouldn’t you love to get those sort of returns of your investment?
We generally recommend that you spend 1% – 2% of the appraised price of your home. This is a minuscule amount to spend on the largest asset you own. See table below of the average Australian Cities House Prices and then the table that shows 1% and 2% home staging spend on the median price of a home.
I don’t live in a capital city – can I still access a professional home stager?
Houses to Impress offers a unique Australia wide home staging online consulting service. We work with clients in all areas using your photos, a detailed questionnaire and communication via email, skype and phone. We can only project manage home makeovers in our home city however most of our clients only want the Sold For Sold Dollar Transformation Package so they can DIY their own makeover.
We also have strategic alliances with service providers in each city who could help you out with Furniture Hire and Styling if required. Please ask us for a recommendation in your area. If we haven’t already got someone on our team we will take the time to research the best provider we can. Our Packages also includes my book Sold For Top Dollar which has specific chapters on choosing the right tradespeople to work with and also how to choose the best real estate agent for you.
Isn’t Home Staging only for High End Properties?
Home makeovers and home staging techniques work across all price ranges. I spent many years renovating homes for PROFIT in the lower end of the market and the results are just as dramatic! One of our best results in the lower end of the market was with a client whose home was an ex housing trust 2 bedroom maisonette on a main road at the start of the GFC when the market went really dead. Her house was appraised at $155,000 and after a 3 week cosmetic renovation that we project managed it was sold on the FIRST OPEN for $188,000! Read Michelle’s Maisonette Beauty Case Study to see what we did.
The renovation cost $13,000 so Michelle made $20,000 PROFIT plus it sold for a record price for her area in a dead market. Now this may not sound like a huge amount to you but Michelle was a single mum building a new home and that extra $20,000 cash in her pocket made a huge difference to her life. If she hadn’t gone ahead with the cosmetic home makeover, she risked not selling for weeks or months and most likely not achieving the appraised price of $155,000!
Please be assured that any investment in home staging and home makeovers will dramatically improve your chances of selling your property faster than other homes on the market and achieving the price you are after, no matter what the price range.
