You have likely heard the term, “staging” when discussing making your home ready to sell. If you’re not familiar with the term, staging is the process of organizing a home and the décor therein in order to create a sale as quickly as possible, for as much money as possible.  This is done by highlighting the positive features of a home, while camouflaging those which are less so. It is also the art of making your home appealing to the widest range of buyers possible.

Is staging necessary to sell real estate in the Tri-Cities? Absolutely! In fact, review this study supplied by the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) in 2012:

• 89 homes were listed, unstaged. These homes did not sell and were on the market for an average of 166 days.
• These same homes were staged and received their first offer in an average of 32 days.

A separate RESA study reviewed 359 homes that were staged before they went on the market. On average, these homes received an offer 26 days after being on the market and 69 of those homes received multiple offers.

Staging works!  If you are thinking about selling, consider the following first steps for staging your home:

• Stage the whole home, not just certain rooms.  Kitchens and master bedrooms “sell” homes, but there are many more rooms in your home. Laundry rooms, pantries, cabinets, bonus rooms, and even your refrigerator will benefit from special staging treatment.  I recommend removing everything from the space, wiping down the surfaces, throwing away what you no longer need, storing what you don’t need for the next three months, and then putting back what you do in a nice and neat manner at a minimum.
• Don’t ignore the closets and garage.  If your idea of staging is clearing away clutter and putting it in a closet (or your garage), think again.  Rent a storage facility and remove off-season clothing, recreation items, and anything else you aren’t going to use for the next 90 days, and then remove at least a third of what remains.
• Home staging also includes touching up paint and cosmetic defects. Painting corners, wipe down the baseboards, make sure all the light bulbs are in working order, make sure all the drawers and cabinets open correctly, etc.
• Home staging should not be thought of as a cover-up for deferred maintenance or structural problems.  If there are issues you need to address, do that now.  They’re just going to come up on the inspection anyway!
• Staging also applies to the outside of your house.  Pressure washing, pruning shrubs, making sure the paint is touched up outside, and make sure the containers are full of flowers.

Like most things in life, the final steps of staging are often best left to qualified professionals who can look at your home with a strategic eye.  If you are looking to sell this year, take the first steps outlined above, but give us a call for personal guidance.  Call Jennifer at (509) 947-5670 or Jessica at (509) 947-2230.