What is a Home Stager?

Unless you have sold a home in the last 5 years, you may not know what a Home Stager is. Home Staging as an industry is relatively new although the concepts of Staging have been around for quite a while. Essentially, homes sell faster and at a higher price when the details, big and small, are attended to.

If you choose to hire a Home Stager, you can expect several things. First, they will go through your home and if you are still living at the property, they will likely ask you to "declutter." This is another word for "take out the majority of your stuff"! When a home is showing, the buyers will want to see more space, they won't want to be distracted by the post-its on the refrigerator, and they do not need to see the piles of paperwork on your desk. The first step in Staging a home for sale is always to edit, remove extra furniture and the collage of framed photos that adorn your stairway.

Next, a Stager will focus on cleanliness. Sometimes when we live in a house for a while, we stop noticing the scrape in the wall, or the big stain on the bedroom carpet. While these are seemingly minor details to you, this may seem like you are the kind of homeowners who aren't detail oriented--and that "type" of person may forget to change the furnace filters, or ignore the leaky faucet. Not "taking care" of a home may indicate that there will be problems for the next owner and buyers rarely like to buy a house that they know--or think--will be a project.
Disclaimer: Knicks in the walls, a broken door handle, or that cracked window pane, probably doesn't mean you are a bad homeowner--it probably means you are busy, that you have a family, a job and a life... but now is the time to fix these things so that it does not reflect on you or the house in an unfavorable way.

Your Stager may suggest things that make you uncomfortable or you feel are out of your budget. Be honest with you Stager, since even though you are selling this house, it still may be your home for several months, and you may need to live here! Starting with the basics may get buyers through the door, and more extreme measures can be taken down the road if you have time to wait it out--but consider that the investment now could save your time and money later.

Finally, the best advice when working with a Stager is to remember that they are on your team. They want to help you sell the home and they know what that will take. If the suggestion about removing your babies' pictures and preschool art from the walls stings a little, it should. But selling a home to a new owner will require a little sacrifice and a lot of de-personalization. Take your treasures and gently tuck them away in a safe, (and out-of the way) storage space to be proudly displayed in your brand new home later. Read more

Posted in Charlotte Homes. Tagged as Home stager.

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