During Friday’s Washington Post Real Estate Live discussion with Maryann Haggerty, the topic of staging came up and the content is great, and exactly what we are always telling our sellers:
"Alexandria, Va.: Maryann, love your column. Having recently sold my home within three weeks (we received multiple offers in early October) I have some advice for sellers: Get rid of the clutter. We rented a $99 a month storage unit and rid our home of all the clutter. Make sure your home is clean and fresh looking. We put fresh flowers out. Make sure the house shows well. Spend that extra money on paint and carpet if necessary. We updated light fixtures and added crown molding ourselves. You have to price your house accordingly. We had our realtor pull comps every week and we reduced our price one time (we had two offers several days later)."
"Maryann Haggerty: Yes, a house that sells now is one that sparkles. And it's truly amazing how we become blind to the small faults and the clutter in houses we live in every day."
This is not 2000 to 2005, when people were buying houses with no inspections and were willing to overlook all the little things. Think about it. Do you even notice, say, the grubby kid fingerprints on your own front door? But wouldn't those be the FIRST thing you noticed at an open house?
When you get ready to place your home on the market for sale, it becomes a product. Similar to a product on the shelf at your local store, the product has features and benefits, as well as pluses and minuses ... and competition. To compete with the competition in the marketplace you must be priced right and look better than the other products. Your home is no different, it is one of many homes for sale and you must present it, to the buyers, in the best possible light. Staging is the process of preparing any home for sale, regardless of price or location, and it works. Staged homes sell faster and for more money than other homes in the market.
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