THE COZY PERCH: ALL DRESSED UP AND READY TO SELL...

Let's face it--trying to sell a home in today's market is not an easy task. The market is saturated with beautiful homes to buy, making it a buyer's market. For the seller, however, it's not quite that simple. With the housing market flooded with properties for sale, it's a much more competitive process than ever before. Your house has to look it's best and stand out in the crowd if it's going to be noticed by buyers today.

Aside from the usual things owners need to do to prepare their homes for the day the "For Sale" sign is placed in the front yard, there is one very important step that should be on the list of final things to do before you show your home to potential buyers. After you have spruced up the yard, repaired those leaky faucets, cleaned out the closets, repainted and made those necessary home repairs to make your home look its best structurally, it's time to dress it up to look it's best. In the real estate and designer business, this is called "home staging"and it's a very effective way to attract buyers and reduce the time your home is on the market.

WHAT EXACTLY IS HOME STAGING?
In a recent article by Elizabeth Weintraub entitled "Home Staging & Staging a House - What is Home Staging", she makes a few statements that we feel are right on target when describing what home staging is and why it's so important to consider when selling a home in today's market.

She describes it as "dressing a house for success."

"It is about illusions. It's how David Copperfield would sell a house. It's beyond decorating and cleaning. It's about perfecting the art of creating moods. Staging makes your house look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loving and, best of all, it makes home buyers want to buy it."

Weintraub goes on to say that "contrary to what you might think, it's about more than preparing the house for sale....it's about adding the small details: the lipstick, mascara and, for simplicity, a stunning, single strand of Tahitian pearls." To read more of her comments on home staging, click here: Home Staging & Staging a House

Statistics for 2011, reported by ASP Home Staging, show that "95.6% of staged homes sold on average in 37 days or less. Non-staged homes were on the market an average of 212 days last year."

With a chance to sell your home in a little over a month versus almost a year of showings without result, it seems that staging your home is worth the time and investment.

If your home is vacant, home staging is an even greater necessity. Dawna Johnson, an Accredited Staging Professional Master (ASP) says "the idea behind staging is to allow rooms to show themselves. She adds, "if your home is vacant, it is soulless. Without home staging, it will probably remain on the market for many months."

A STAGED HOME IN LONGVIEW, TX SELLS IN 4 DAYS....

We recently had the privilege of working with the McCrary family to help stage their home for sale. Having recently built a brand new home, their former home now sat vacant. When it was time to get it ready to sell, they set out to get the home spruced up. They re-polished the wood floors, spruced up the landscaping, repainted and made minor repairs to get the home in tip top shape. With all their preparation done, that's when we were called in to dress it up for sale. Because the home no longer had furniture, the McCrary's realized the importance of creating an atmosphere that was warm and inviting and felt that staging the home was definitely the way to go.

We are happy to celebrate with them that their home went on the market on a Friday afternoon and had a contract on the home on Tuesday. On the market for five days, the cost paid to rent the furniture and stage their home proved to be a very effective tool in getting the quickest sale possible.

Here are a few pictures of the differences home staging made in presenting their home all dressed up and ready to sell...

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HOME STAGING MAKES A DIFFERENCE

With the addition of furniture rented from Lowell Holloway Furniture in Longview, as well as placing accessories and decorating the rooms for added warmth, the vacant home was transformed to allow potential buyers to see the potential for placing their own furniture and accessories in the home.

Home staging could be the one thing that makes the difference between your home sitting for a long time on the market to one that stands out in the crowd and makes a quick sale.

If you are in the market to sell your home, or are planning to purchase a new home soon, give us a call today. We can help get your home all dressed up and ready to make a great first impression--because in today's real estate market, the first impression is the most important.