Home staging will fetch me more money. Is this a fact?
There are no guarantees on a timeframe for selling your house and there is no standard cost of a staged home as home staging is just one of many factors in selling your home. As a stager, my primary purpose is to present your house in the best way possible. Other factors such as the market, your realtor, marketing campaign, number of recommendations, maintenance of your home, and the house price are all outside of our control.
Can I still stage my house even though it is already on the market?
Definitely! Consult your Realtor and request a break from viewings while we work with you. We will stage your house to the best standards as quickly as possible and return it back on the market.
Home staging is common sense, isn’t it?
Of course, it is. Most home sellers know the importance of removing clutter and cleaning the house before putting it on the market. However, Prepthishouse Interiors can offer so much more than this. The fact that we don’t live in your house makes us view your house with objectivity. You can ignore the wear and tear and ‘stuff’ in your house, even the smell. We will give you some honest advice that your agent probably won’t give you. As professionals, we know what buyers are looking for in your market. We also know how to give your house a marketing edge and make it stand out from the competition. We can visualize your home’s potential, maximize its strengths, play down its weakness and help prospective buyers fall in love with the thought of living in the house, and making it home. This ‘art’ is way beyond common sense.
I know my house looks great – does it still need staging?
We have no idea how your house looks! However, there are always actions that can be taken to ensure that your house is showing it’s best at sale time.
It could be that your decorating style is a bit personal or colorful and it needs to be modified slightly, or maybe you have some risqué art on your walls or family pictures or even a big sports memorabilia collection which can be a distraction to people. You may have a 4-bed house and live in a family area with no children’s rooms; or it could be that your garage has been taken over by your wood work crazy husband or your home is in pristine condition until you open the cupboards (and yes, people observe that too), or you have a space under the house that is empty and you don’t know what to do with it. Any of these things can be dealt with to make your house, even if it does look great, more attractive to buyers.
How critical will the stager be about my house?
The house you live in and the house you want to sell are two separate entities. The joys of having your own home is that you can have it decorated as you please. If you want a pool table in the dining room you can have it; if you want every room painted yellow, you are free to do so.
Sometimes, life takes over and we end up with hand me downs and half-finished jobs. We will not tell you how to live in your own home or need to live. No one lives in a perfect house – if you came to my house you’d probably have one or two things to say! However, our expertise is selling houses and to sell a house, there has to be an appeal to the majority. Apply a neutral color scheme, stage each room with a clear purpose, carry out repairs, de-clutter the house and clean every room. It’s no longer your home; it is a house that has to be merchandised to prospective buyers.
The goal is to get the house sold and sold for the best price possible. Every recommendation comes from the knowledge of what needs to be done to sell your home and not from a judgment of how you live. There is no need to de-clutter, clean or tidy the house before we come to your house. There will be enough work to do when you get your action plan!
Is there a timeframe for Home Staging?
Ideally, give yourself at least a month to make your house presentable for sale before listing it on the market. In reality, this time frame is often less. The less time you have to stage, the more help you will need. Prepthishouse Interiors will work with you to meet up with deadlines. However, sometimes it is advisable to push your open house back some days, probably a week so that you can be sure you are making the best first impression to buyers.
My house has little furniture in it. Is it advisable to hire furniture?
Has there been a time when as a prospective buyer, you looked around an empty house or have you moved into a new house and it’s empty and without furniture? The faults in a house show up more when it’s unfurnished.
It is difficult to determine where the furniture will go or whether the furniture is going to fit the function of each room. When viewing such property, you are probably in and out of the property in a couple of minutes as there is nothing there to look at. A house without furniture also communicates desperation from the vendor – the assumption buyers make is that the sellers are desperate for cash and need to sell. Buyers tend to tell themselves that buying a house is a pragmatic decision, but in most situations, it is an emotional one. A buyer falls in love with the idea of living in a house and finds it hard to fall in love when the house is uninviting and devoid of furniture.
In a market, there will always be more inviting properties to view. Hiring furniture costs money but if it stands you out from the competition, sell quickly and for a reasonable price, then it is definitely worth the investment.
