By Angie Kendel
We often see clients who have tried to sell their home with no success. The home sits on the market with little interest and no offers. If clients are building or being transferred, they either have to drop their price or look at other options to help sell their home. In desperation, they turn to home staging rather than dropping the list price.
We always say, “How you live in a home is very different from how you show a home for sale.” Buyers are looking for a space that calls out to them. A space they can easily see themselves in that feels like home to them.
How one family uses a space may not show it to its full potential. That is where your home stager comes in. We look at your space with a fresh set of eyes and see what it could look like — then we make that happen. Staging listings that are occupied can be tricky. Each home is different, and the family habits are different. It is important to have a professional present your space with a design that appeals to the masses.
Odours play an important role in your first impressions. Even if a home looks fabulous but smells bad — it will still leave a bad impression. This also applies to musty or mouldy smells. If you’ve had water damage anywhere in your home, it is a good idea to remove any damaged materials right back to the studs if the damage is bad. Clean with proper mildew and mould cleaner before finishing. This prevents mould from growing behind materials in the wall or under your flooring.
We will never stage a smoking home as the smell will permeate into furniture and accessories and then can leave trace smells of smoking in stock when staging the next non-smoking home. This also applies for homes with other strong odours from pets to mould.
We had a listing in Island Lakes last month. It had been listed for months, with multiple REALTORS® and Brokerage companies. The clients were moving out of province August 1 and had to sell. They had a unique floor plan that was turning buyers off. They contacted us in early July and we staged their home. It had an offer and the sale was finalized in less than 2 weeks. The clients were not sold on home staging but followed the advice of their REALTOR®. However, the results spoke for themselves. They couldn’t believe how quickly the home sold and regretted not calling us sooner.
Consider for a moment the cost of one extra month living in your home. There is the mortgage payment, property taxes, insurance, utilities and any other miscellaneous costs such as lawn care, etc. What does one month cost you in your home? $2000? $2500? $3500? More? When you consider that the cost of home staging is typically between $1500 - $2500, and a majority of our projects sell in less than a month, home staging can actually save you money!
Home staging statistics also tell us that buyers offer higher prices on staged homes, with more staged homes receiving offers closer to list price or over asking price. Home staging helps sell your home faster so you can move on and also helps your home sell for a better price!
In fact, we started our Monday morning this week with a message from a client who was transferred out of province. We staged her home last week. They had an offer the same day the home was staged for full price. The offer was finalized before they finished their drive to Ontario where they were relocating. They were so thrilled that this was finalized, and they were able to move on! In their words, “All because of the amazing home staging!!”
If you need to sell quickly or you have a listing or home that is not getting the interest it deserves, contact your home stager to give you the best chance of selling quickly and for the best price possible. We can be reached at www.maximumimpactplus.com or angie@maximumimpactplus.com