Staging

Staging - putting a house's best foot forward so a seller can sell in a short time and for more money. These notes come from a panel discussion on February 24, 2009 at the Keller Williams Family Reunion in Orlando, Fl.

1. Why stage? Sometimes staging makes the difference in selling a house or not selling it - and in a buyer's market, where competition among sellers is fierce, a seller needs to make their home stand out.

2. How extensive? Fresh paint and good carpet make a difference. Even bank-owned homes are being rehabbed to be competitive not only with each other but with "regular" listings, and bank-owned houses are selling.

3. Just paint and carpet? No. Clean counts. Furniture arrangement counts. Smell counts.

4. Start with curb appeal. Look at the house from the street, just as a prospective buyer would. Would they even stop to look? Make it crisp and clean. Bring patches of color. Dense flowers. Does the front door look new? Where does the buyer focus?

5. Stuff. Inside and outside, is there too much stuff cluttering up the property? Make it go away, if not permanently, by storage.

6. Photos. There is nothing wrong with photos, but too many is a bad thing in that it distracts the buyer from what they are there to do - decide whether this is the home for them. The idea is for the buyer to identify with the house. Can they do that through your family photographs, your diplomas, your collectibles? Not likely.

7. Furniture. Less is more. It is not unusual for scale to be "off." If the furniture is too big for the room, make some of it disappear.

8. Education. There is a 16 minute DVD on staging that may be worth watching: "Staging Your Home for Success." For more info, give me a call: 623.640.1219.