Home Staging Helps Sellers Bloom this Spring

On your mark, get set . . . sell! The spring months are traditionally the busiest time of the year for the residential real estate market. The weather is more cooperative and many families like to move while the kids are on their summer break. But wait, it's still a buyer's market. What can homeowners do to catch the buyer's eye and get them to make an offer this spring?

Prospective home sellers are trying to beat the days-on-market averages. As the number of unsold homes on the market rises:

* buyers can be pickier about what they choose to buy

* buyers have more room to negotiate price

* sellers are frustrated because their homes aren't selling as fast as they like

* agents are closing fewer deals, so they're looking for a competitive edge too

How can a home stand out from the competition when there are several homes for sale at similar prices in the neighborhood, or worse on the same street? Before you lower expectations along with your selling price, there is a far less costly option to consider - staging the home for sale.

Home staging is simply the merchandising of a house to capture the hearts and bids of potential buyers. The objective: making a good first impression; the purpose: to help make buyers see that the price is right. However, it's going to take more than a fresh coat of paint and a new welcome mat. A buyer's market raises the stakes, and you may need to do more work on your home to get the highest price possible. Cleaning, painting and repairing.

As a homeowner, you may be falling into the trap of complacency. Often we are so used to our own homes that we cannot see them through the eyes of a buyer. It's the Home Stager that can make that leap for you by figuring out how to showcase the best features of each room. Or in the case of a vacant home, a professional home stager can help add that homey feeling an occupied home exudes.

However, do not confuse staging with decorating. Decorating means personalizing your space and staging is about depersonalizing it to make it appealing to any home buyer. I had one client last July whose agent wanted him to cut $50,000 from his asking price after the home had sat on the market for four months without a single offer. For the agent, the reduction in the list price would have been about $750 out of her pocket. For the client, however, that's a loss of $47,000! John called me instead and spent about $1000 and got 98% of his original asking price when he received three offers the following week. Honestly, why wouldn't everyone stage their house with those sorts of numbers and that kind of turn around? I can only imagine what his house might have sold for if he'd had the benefit of a Home Stager's advice when he first went on the market in the spring.

Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould is president of Six Elements and creator of The Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program with 700+ Graduates worldwide. Debra is the author of two home staging guides and offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar. To learn more visit http://www.stagingdiva.com