Monday, December 26, 2011

Should a Vacant Home Be Staged?

If you are a realtor with a vacant home for sale, you may not see the point in staging it for potential buyers. Staging is usually a process that involves getting a non-vacant home to a state that makes it appeal to a wide range of buyers. If there is nothing in a home though, there is no reason to stage it – right? Wrong. There are plenty of benefits to staging a home that you can find even if the house is vacant. Here are some benefits you may be able to look into for your staging project.

Creating a Vision

Staging helps people actually put themselves in a home. When they can envision themselves living in the space, they are more likely to buy your house. As a real estate representative, you can sell a home faster by staging it properly because then buyers can see what the house may be like when they move in. Staging helps you conquer the mental barrier that some homebuyers have up because they cannot see themselves leaving the place they currently live. This process will give them a vision of life in a new space, and hopefully they will like what they see.

Providing a Point of Reference

Another reason why you might want to stage a vacant home is because that will help people see if their furniture is going to fit in your home or not. If they have a king size bed for the master bedroom, placing a bed in that room will help them see if theirs will fit. The same will go for their couches, televisions, and other parts of their existing home. By having furniture already in the space, they will have a better idea of how their furniture may work in the home. This will make it much easier to sell a house, no matter where you live.

Showing that You Care

When potential buyers see a fully staged home, they know that you took the time to make it presentable for them. This may cause them to trust you more as a realtor because they can see the passion you have for your work. You don't have to learn how to become an architect to make a house look good. Just insert simple, effective designs and you should be able to gain the trust of people that see the home.

Enhancing the Aesthetics

My husband and I almost avoided renting our current home because it felt dingy when it was completely vacant. That's because we didn't have any furniture in here to balance the dark carpeting and off-white walls. With all of our furniture in here now, the home feels incredibly warm and inviting. You can create that same vibe in a house that you are showing with the right furniture and design accents.

Staging Tips for Savvy Realtors

If you are worried about the cost of staging, don't be. The fact is that you can stage your vacant home for very little money, and you can instantly reduce the amount of time it takes for the home to sell. You can always rent major pieces of furniture, and then you can bring odds and ends from your home that you may not be using. A stage home needs to be free of clutter anyway, so you do not need to have much in there to make it look amazing. Your buyers will be much more excited about the house if it looks like they could live in it.

Think about who will most likely be buying your home. Then you can stage it accordingly. Setting up a home for a small family is much different than setting up one for young professionals. You need to have an idea of your target buying pool so you can stage the right way for a quick sell. The housing market in many parts of the country is thriving at the moment, so you should not have to wait too long for the place to sell. Proper staging will minimize the wait as long as possible.

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