While searching through all my old staging photos the other day, I came across these pictures from eight years ago. The memory of working with this particular Realtor® and the story of this house flooded back.  It’s worth sharing as an example of exactly how staging can help you sell your house faster.

The homeowners had already moved to their new house in another state and they knew the house didn’t show well enough to put on the market for top dollar. But they understood that if they invested a few dollars in the right areas, they could list at a higher price and possibly yield a better return at the closing table. Plus, they anticipated staging would help sell their house faster and save them both the holding costs and need to suffer through a price reduction.

At first they thought the poor condition of the hardwood floors in their newly vacant house was the most prominent problem. To fix this issue, they were willing to spend $8,000-9,000 to have the wood floors sanded and refinished. Even though sanding and refinishing would have given new life and beauty to the old, worn floors, it wouldn’t address all the other visual deficiencies. And while the house had a ton of positive assets, because it was completely vacant, many of those minor things appeared more glaringly obvious.

The Realtor® convinced the home sellers that staging the entire property and giving potential buyers something beautiful to look at in every room, instead of focusing only on the rustic hardwood floors, was a better use of funds.

You never want to conceal obvious defects in a home. But more importantly, it’s better to play-up the obvious and not so obvious assets in a home. Among these assets is the home’s lifestyle potential. People tend to only see what they see right in front of them; they don’t see what “could be.” Therefore, a stager “sets the stage,” so to speak, and shows buyers the full potential of a home through the placement of beautiful furniture, rugs and décor.

What many sellers and buyers don’t realize is that home buyers are buying more than simply a house; they’re buying the lifestyle the home represents. And when the house you’re selling is staged to represent an appealing and aspirational lifestyle, buyers get a “good feeling” they can’t explain. That’s when you’ll sell your house faster.

In the end, most home buyers purchase based on emotion, not on financial sense or calculations. So, if you want top dollar, don’t take shortcuts. Make the effort to present your home in its best light and stage your home properly.

Tracy Kay Griffin is a member of Express Homebuyers Design Team. She was the Series Designer for HGTV’s “Get It Sold,” a Guest Designer for HGTV’s ” My First Place” and the Lead Stager for Washington DC’s premier staging company, Red House Staging & Interiors.

If you don’t have the funds for proper staging to sell your house faster on the open market, and you’d prefer to sell your house as-is, call Express Homebuyers at (877) 804-5252 for a fast and fair offer. Find out how our easy 3-step process works.

It’s a difficult concept around which to wrap your brain. Your furniture does not convey with the house, but it certainly does depreciate or elevate the perceived value of your house and can hurt or help sell your home.

Of course when you’re living in your house, your furniture is perfect! It’s perfectly arranged to suit you and your life style. However, when you’re selling your house, the furniture and its positioning can have a great impact on the bottom line of your house-sale profits. That’s why it pays to pay special attention to your furniture along with the rugs, art and décor that go with it. Understand that your house is now a product on the market and it has competition. You need to make it shine brighter than the other houses on the market in your area, since these homes are competing against your home for the next buyer.

Getting an objective, professional opinion from a respected Home Stager or a reliable Realtor® is your best option. They will tell you what you need to know. If you choose to keep and use your present furnishings while the house is on the market, they may need cleaning, slip covering or rearranging. You want to keep just enough furniture in a room so a buyer can easily walk around, as well as in and out of, the room with ease.

Additionally, arrange each room to portray one purpose. So you want a living room to look simply like a living room, not a living room/office or a living room/toy room or a living room/trophy room.  Move your extra furniture to an off-site storage location, give it to relatives or donate it to a charity.

Sometimes you can swap furniture from one room to another. I’ve often switched a dining room table with the kitchen table because the table in the kitchen was a better scale and style for the formal living room. I’ve also used extra bedroom dressers as console tables in family rooms, dining rooms and foyers.

In some cases, you may have a room with not enough furniture. In such a situation, borrow an extra piece of furniture from a nearby family member or purchase something. If your current furnishings are outdated or worn, it’s smart to replace one or two pieces, if not the entire room.

It’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed, especially when you don’t have a clear idea of what to keep, rearrange, store or replace. This is why it’s best to bring in a professional stager for a consultation BEFORE you put your house on the market. Stagers are trained to know exactly what every style of home, in every area, and at every price point needs to help sell it quickly.  Whether you need one piece or an entire house of appropriate furnishings, a stager can also bring it in for you and arrange it properly.

So once you have repaired, de-cluttered and cleaned your house in preparation for putting it on the market, remember to address your furniture.  It’s like icing on a cake. If used correctly, your furnishings can actually help sell your home and increase your home-sale profits!

Tracy Kay Griffin is a member of Express Homebuyers Design Team. She was the Series Designer for HGTV’s “Get It Sold,” a Guest Designer for HGTV’s ” My First Place” and the Lead Stager for Washington DC’s premier staging company, Red House Staging & Interiors.

If your home needs more than decluttering, cleaning and a fresh coat of paint to make it ready for sale on the retail market and you don’t have the time, energy or resources to do the work, call Express Homebuyers at (877) 804-5252 today. We’ll make you a fair cash offer on your home, as-is – no repairs necessary.