What is home staging?
In general, home staging is a professional skill to make real estate as attractive as possible for potential buyers or tenants in all legal ways. For this, practitioners have already developed a huge number of algorithms that effectively improve the appearance of real estate, thereby helping to sell it faster and for more money.
Staging is aimed at guaranteeing “falling in love” in a particular house and subconsciously convincing him that this is where the desired “dream house” is located. Therefore, staging works simultaneously with all aspects of our psychological perception of space: at the level of form and volume, light and color, smell and sound. In essence, this is a strategy of subtle intuitive seduction, a “realtor pickup”, working to create sustainable internal comfort for a customer when they first become acquainted with real estate.
The effectiveness of staging techniques is determined by open professional statistics: 57% of prepared houses are sold 10-20% more expensive than unprepared ones, and each percentage of funds invested in professional staging brings 8-10% of the profit.
How is home staging different from design or pre-sale home renovations?
The design of the house clearly emphasizes the individuality of its owners, and staging seeks to create a universal, as impersonal space that meets the average desires of typical buyers. The professional home repair will almost never pay off when selling a home, and professional staging can – and should! – pay off at times.
In general, this comprehensive house-building “Photoshop” requires special methods of financial planning. On the one hand, it is necessary to clearly calculate the so-called “depth” of staging, that is, the scale of necessary and sufficient alterations. On the other hand, it is important to correctly calculate the budget so that every dollar invested in the pre-sale preparation of the house really pays off in the final cost of the house. Both that and another is calculated individually, under a specific task of sale, which is impossible without a thorough understanding of the real estate market and knowledge of the psychology of buyers in a particular region.
Are there any general rules for home staging?
For any type of house – from a small apartment to a luxury house follow these 5 simple rules:
“Universally”: the house should be completely freed from things that emphasize the individuality of the owners: from magnets and family photos to the smell of pets so that any buyer can instantly imagine himself living in this space.
“Cleaned up”: general cleaning before putting up a property for sale and cleaning before each show makes any house look more expensive.
“Equipped”: at the time of the show, everything was checked and working in the house: the lamps were screwed in, the locks opened in the doors, and the handles did not fall off the cabinets.
“Moderate”: furniture, things, light and color – everything should be done as simple as possible, but not look cheap.
“Convenient”: the inspection of the house should be as comfortable as possible for buyers because the first impression begins with how easily and quickly they can navigate inside the house.
Conclusion
Presale preparation, even the most minimal, is needed for every home. For sellers, the right approach to this issue is able to bring additional money or time gained on the sale.
It is especially important to prepare the house before taking photos. After all, first, your house will be seen by potential buyers in the MLS database, and only then it was decided to see the house in-person.