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It’s a well-known fact that quality home staging is not cheap. From the original consultations to basic home repairs to paint and light alterations to furniture rentals to minor accessory purchases, a seller who invests in home staging can run up pretty quickly. One expert estimates the average cost of a “full soup-to-nuts home staging for an occupied house” to be between three and five thousand dollars. However, staging is an investment, not an additional expense—one that can translate into thousands of dollars in savings. Take a look at a few of these statistics:

• The U.S. Housing and Urban Development reported a staged home sells for up to 17 percent more compared with a non-staged home.

• According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average staging investment is between 1 and 3% of the home’s asking price, which generates a return of 8 to 10%.

• Staged homes spent 83% less time on the market than non-staged homes. (HomeGain.com)

• In controlled tests selling identical homes, professionally staged vs. those not staged, the non-staged houses sold in 102 days, while the staged houses sold in 45 days. (Real Estate Staging Association)

• A 2009 Home Gain Survey of over 2,000 realtors showed that home staging typically provides a 586% return on investment.

• Professionally staged homes sell in an average of 35 days (compared to 175 days for non-staged homes), according to StagedHomes.com.

Think of it this way: Your home is on the market, and your asking price is $500,000. Most homeowners reduce their price by ten percent after three months on the market—a $50,000 decrease in this example. However, if you invest one percent of your asking price, or $5,000, on a staging investment, and your home sells in the first three months, you save yourself $45,000. 95% of our staged homes sell in 32 days or less. Sounds like an easy decision to me!

A key aspect of selling a home is creating a positive atmosphere for buyers—one in which they feel comfortable and welcome. “Selling a home is like being on stage,” said Barb Schwarz, founder of International Association of Home Staging Professionals. “You have to set the scene for every different act, for every room.” Wall color is one of the first things a prospective buyer sees when he or she enters a room. Below are a few tips to help you, the seller, set a scene that invites your guests to make an offer.

1. Stay away from bold, too-personal wallpaper or wall colors. You might adore your deep purple floral wallpaper, but your prospective buyers won’t necessarily share your personal taste.
2. Pay attention to the psychology of colors:
a. White can seem too cold and uninviting; warm, neutral colors are best for living room/family room areas. Kitchen colors should be bright—everyone loves a bright kitchen.
b. Stay away from darker colors in small rooms such as bathrooms (they make walls jump out and make rooms look smaller).
c. Grey is the new beige—capitalize upon this trend if you are looking to sell to younger, more modern crowds.
3. Make small rooms seem bigger by painting them the same color as adjacent rooms. This creates an ongoing illusion of continuity, giving the impression of larger rooms.
4. Don’t forget curb appeal. Certain colors clash with their environment; the best colors take into account the home’s external surroundings and features (trees, bricks, stonework, neighboring home colors, architectural style) as well as its internal characteristics.

Most importantly, make sure that your prospective buyers can visualize themselves living in your home. For example, your master bedroom should appeal to both sexes—a pale pink bedspread might appeal to a twenty-something female but is more likely to be a turnoff to a middle-aged dad.

Before:

before

After:

after

As we have seen, the housing market is strong, inventory is up, and most importantly, people want to buy. Even millennials—today’s twentysomething generation, often criticized for their perceived lack of interest in homeownership—are increasingly interested in buying. So, give them a reason to purchase your home.

The “success strategy,” your best formula for success, is a triangle: one corner is price, the second is marketing, and the third is appearance. The homeowner and realtor determine the price by reviewing comparable homes, and the realtor also does the marketing, using his or her connections to create interest and bring traffic to your home. Staging, however, is essential for the third aspect of the triangle—appearance. Taking a professional photograph in the right lighting enhances the results of staging. Only when all three are done right does a house have its best chance of selling. Buyers begin their search on-line with photos, so make sure you have an outstanding look. Draw them in. It’s the first step to a sale.

Moreover, for best results, stage your house before it enters the market. According to a recent study by the Real Estate Staging Association, sellers that stage their home before putting it on the market sell 87% faster than those who put their home on the market and then staged.

Good news—the housing market is picking up.  If you were waiting for a safe time to put your home on the market, now is your chance.  But what does this really mean for you, the seller? It’s a buyer’s market, and if you want to get the most money for your home, staging is a great tool.  “In a market with a lot of unsold inventory, staging certainly perks up a property and separates it from a cold, vacant listing,” says realtor David Buck.  “Staging a home greatly improves its showability, therefore making it much more likely to sell.”

As the housing market recovers, inventory levels are also on the rise.  It’s time to get competitive and make your house look its absolute best.  The longer a home sits on the market, the more its price is reduced.  When a home sits on the market for 3-6 months, the next step is typically to reduce the price by 5-10 percent, depending on the market.  At a high price point of, for example, $5 million, this can translate into a reduction of $500, 000.

Stakes are higher in the luxury market, where staging could be the difference between an offer at asking price and an offer that is reduced by hundreds of thousands of dollars.  An investment in Stage to Move, which specializes in the luxury market, costs significantly less.

Happy New Year and welcome to Stage To Move’s first blog! It’s 2014 and we figured its time hop on the social media train…..whether we need to or not!

Selling a home in todays market requires an internet strategy. 45% of the buyers found the home they purchased on the internet. If that’s true, your home better have a great picture and that picture needs to draw you in. It needs to be better than the one they clicked on before. and keep them from clicking onto the next. A buyer is one click away from their next purchase.

How can you get a great internet picture:

• Use the correct lighting and have it a professional  photograph taken.
• Stage it.-
  •  You can work with the items you own or for the best look rent neutral, transitional style furniture.
  •  Edit out as much of the furniture as possible.You want to have “3 hips” worth or space available to move about the room. Meaning room for 3 people, typically a man/woman and a realtor.
  • The pops of color should be in the accessories not the furniture. Accessories should be trendy and rich.
  • Wall colors should be a neutral, sophisticated color palette. Selling is not the time to personalize, you want a broad appeal.
  • Floors should be buffed or clean.
  • Remove personal photos.
• Try to imagine what a high end hotel looks like when you enter it. For example, the bathroom doesn’t have any toothbrushes or dirty towels lying around. The toilet seat is down, the rug is rolled up off the floor and there isn’t a hair or smell to be found. Re-create that look for your buyers.