Dear Kari,
My husband and I are going to be selling our home and we are concerned with all the horror stories we hear.
We understand this is a buyers’ market and when we bought our home it was a sellers’ market.
We were wondering if there are ideas you might have with trying to troubleshoot some of the buyer’s objections?
Answer:
First impressions of a home are extremely important. They are just like first impressions with people. This is especially true in our current real estate market. Sellers all want the same thing — the most money and to close the escrow fast with the fewest problems.
The way we live in a home and the way we sell a home are two different things, goes the old adage in the real estate industry. Statistically, a “staged home” will sell faster and for more money.
When staging your home, you are trying to accentuate the positive and minimize the negative so that you will have a better edge over your competition.
The whole idea of home staging is to make your home more desirable than those homes that are currently on the market. The idea is to win this competition.
How do you win and get the best price and the quickest sale? You do this by home staging when you have your home for sale. This is when you need to shift gears and start thinking of the home as a product.
Home staging is different than home decorating. The purpose of staging is to present your home in its best possible light for the quickest sale and the best price.
In addition to making your home look good, staging neutralizes your home so the buyers can see the home for what it is instead of the furnishings. Home staging does not mean that you have to spend a lot of money or time.
The spectrum of staging might range from a simple two hours of rearranging and removing items to a more detailed task of needing new carpet and furniture. Every situation is different.
In order to stage your home, clear the clutter, make the space look larger and depersonalize it by removing family photos and collectibles. This holds true for the interior and the exterior.
For example if there are big trees blocking the home, trim or remove them. When you neutralize or take items away, you allow buyers to better imagine their own items in the home.
If the furniture is too large for the space, remove some of the items temporarily. Wall colors should be neutral or tastefully chosen by a decorator. Ask yourselves what is going to make your home get selected over all the other homes for sale?
When the buyer hits your front door you want to make them feel the very best they can about the home they are about ready to enter. Your Realtor may have talent in staging and if not there are professionals who stage homes as their full time business.
Keep in mind you may want to interview more than one home staging professional.
Don’t forget about staging the exterior of the home and make the yard look larger. You can create ambience and make the buyer want to stay in your yard and not run off to the next 22 homes for sale.
Staging is a small investment compared to the overall cost of your home.
Ask your local Realtor for more information on staging and be sure to get their opinion. Remember you and your Realtor have the same goal — to sell the home quickly and profitably.
Kari McCoy owns the Kari McCoy Group, residential real estate at Lyon Real Estate. She can be reached at (916) 941-9540 or e-mail at sold@karimccoygroup.com.
