Are you wondering how you missed the previous 10,114 Reasons?

Well, it is never too late to start reading my blog posts!

Ready for it? Wait....wait.....ok....

Another BIG reason that Professional Home Staging in a property for sale works is that you are simply casting your net as wide as possible. You are ensuring that ALL buyers in your target markets (buyers interested in your particular type of dwelling, location, price-point) will be seeing your property in its BEST light.

Sound cliched? Maybe. But, it is the simple, brutal truth. 

You are marketing a PRODUCT for sale. It needs to be effectively merchandised for a successful sale! Accentuate the property's assets, polish and shine every nook and cranny, minimize attractive distractions, and eliminate visual obstacles!

WRONG!

There is a common misconception among consumers that Home Staging services come along with an enormous price-tag.

Most of us now realize that the benefits of Home Staging when selling Real Estate are endless. We have all seen and heard the statistics, or at least know someone who has experienced success from hiring a Home Stager.

The problem is that between television shows and the pricing across the U.S., we are left with a general impression that one needs to invest at least $5000 to hire a Professional Home Stager.

In fact, it is simply understood, in the U.S., that one needs to anticipate spending approximately 3% of the sale price of their property on Home Staging services. WHOA!!! That means, on a $400,000 property, a seller should be expecting to pay a Professional Home Stager about $12,000.

I bring great news. No way in heck will you find a Home Stager in Canada who charges anywhere near 3% of your listing price.

Home Staging is GUARANTEED to cost you less than the amount of your first listing-price-reduction.

You may have heard this stat before. But, I will break it down for you. It has been proven over and over again that un-Staged listings and vacant properties do take at least double the amount of time to sell. This translates into more time on the market. Most sellers get anxious after that first 30-day period when there have been no offers. AND, if the property is vacant, more times than not, carrying costs are also adding up.

So, they ask their REALTOR® for suggestions.

And, way too often, the suggestion ends up being a reduction in listing-price. How much?

The first listing-price-reduction typically falls in the range of $5000-$15,000.

This is an age-old technique thrown out there in order to grab renewed interest in a listing, or perhaps grab the attention of buyers only searching for properties within specific price-ranges. Oh, and sure, once you lower the price of a property to below market value, of course it will sell! But, what does that also mean? The seller has lost $5000-$15,000! And, the REALTOR® has also lost income.

I absolutely cannot fault REALTORS® in the Alberta Real Estate industry for jumping so quickly to reduce price. Home Staging is still a fairly new and growing industry in Alberta. And, the truth is, how can one suggest a service that they know nothing about?

Cold Hard Fact: All properties WILL sell....for the right price!

Second Cold Hard Fact: Buyers need to see that the value in your property is a close match to the asking price before they even consider making an offer. A poorly presented property (cluttered, dated, dirty, in need of repairs) usually tells a buyer you are asking too much for it. Even though the value may very well be there, poor presentation blinds a buyer.

Quick Example: One does not usually attempt to sell a dirty, cluttered car with flat tires if it actually runs like a dream.

So, what do the various levels of Home Staging services actually cost, you ask? I will tell you what Revealing Assets’ pricing looks like, and you can be assured that the majority of other Home Stagers out there are charging very similarly.

“Basic Guidance Home Staging Package” - $225.00 plus GST

This is the most sought-after package amongst sellers and REALTORS® alike. It is perfect for the DIY’ers out there who would simply like to be given detailed instructions on how to best present their property for selling. This is completed in occupied properties only, and we work with the furnishings/decor you already have in your property. We spend up to 2 hours with you in your home, fully assessing all nooks and crannies. We discuss with you all tasks that should be completed prior to listing and having your property photographed for listing. We address which items should be packed up, furniture re-arrangement for optimal flow and optimization of available floor-space, accessory/artwork placement, de-personalization required, curb appeal, etc. We will also address any suggested upgrades/repairs/renovations that could be done for a high ROI (return on investment). We don’t want to see sellers wasting any time or energy on things that simply will not bring them any return, or won’t make a difference in the buyers’ minds. We also give you feedback on areas in which you have already excelled with presentation. Within 2-5 hours after your appointment, you receive a full summary of our visit, in the form of an itemized, space-by-space To-Do list.

“We Do It All for You Home Staging Packages” - $395 plus GST (4 hours) and $692 plus GST (8 hours)

We come into your property and transform it into a perfectly show-ready and photo-ready property utilizing only your existing furnishings/decor. We start work on your major buyer-impact areas and work our way through your property, completing all we can in the amount of time we have been hired for. The tasks we complete can certainly be tailored to your preferences, and can include de-cluttering/de-personalizing/furniture rearrangement/packing boxes/moving all excess items into pre-designated storage area/re-purposing of furnishings and decor throughout home/etc. These packages are great for sellers who simply lack the time and energy to prepare their homes for sale on top of their hectic daily schedules.

“Vacant Property Staging/Showcasing” –

$1300-$3000 Monthly (30 days) Furnishing/Decor Rental plus one-time fee of $600-$900 plus GST for Staging Fees

Your actual total investment, of course, all depends on the type/size/structural features your property has to offer. For example, condos will be at the bottom end of these ranges. To determine your actual proposed investment, we come out and walk through your property (1/2 hour), and create for you a Promise for Investment. This process is absolutely FREE of charge and NO obligation to you. Once you decide to go ahead with our services, we head over to a 4000 sq. Ft. Warehouse full of amazing furniture and decor, and choose all of the perfect pieces to highlight the features of your property. We then schedule in the freight company, and can usually have your property Staged within 4 business days of when you decide to go ahead.

So, as you can see, it is TRUE!! Home Staging is GUARANTEED to cost you less than your first price reduction. And, because Home Staging is going to dramatically reduce your time on the market, your stress levels are reduced. Also, Home Staging ensures that buyers are easily able to see the full market value of your home, both in the listing photos, AND in person. So, when you hear that Staging is guaranteed to make you 7-10% more money on your sale, this is where that stat comes from. Buyers do not have x-ray vision, and therefore, cannot see past clutter, dated decor, etc. So, the monetary value they place on your property includes the entire vision, yes, even those doilies.

WHOA, HORSEY!! This blog post discusses the seller’s knee-jerk reflex when it comes to “low-ball” offers on their properties.

If you have ever gone into a car dealership to purchase a vehicle, chances are you looked at the sticker-price and automatically KNEW that you would not be paying that full amount!

The first thing I will point out is that I am a Home Stager, so pricing, negotiating, or any part of the sales process is simply not within the scope of my profession. This HAS to be left up to the Professionals.

The reason I am writing this is that I run into the following situation all the time. Most recently, I had a client for whom I had provided Staging services, e-mail me just yesterday.

Their vacant century-character-home here in Edmonton, Alberta, had been sitting on the market for 90 days with no offers and very few showings. I went in at that point and Staged it for them, had new listing photos taken, and updated the listing.

Here we are now, at 23 days post-Staging, and my client receives a “low-ball” offer over this past weekend. The house is listed at $409,000. The offer she received was $370,000. She e-mails me after speaking with her Realtor® to request my opinion “off the books”.

My immediate response to her was to ask if her Realtor® is confident in the pricing. Her answer was, yes. So, I respond to her and firmly explain the reason that I cannot provide her with anything but pure market observations and soft suggestions.

I explained to her that we have to step back and take a very deep series of breaths when we receive a low offer. In the following paragraph, I will outline what I pass on to all of my clients who ask for my opinion.

North America is a huge melting-pot of very culturally diverse communities. Our population is a conglomerate of humans who lived a large part of their lives in other countries. As a seller in North America, we have to open our minds to the fact that the perfect buyer for our property may be coming to you from years of living inside a culture composed of VERY different societal norms.

For example, there are many cultures across the world in which bartering/dickering/negotiating for absolutely EVERYTHING they acquire on a daily basis is EXPECTED. It is a way of life. This even applies to things such as produce, clothing, jewellery, etc. So, when they are making a huge purchase, such as a home, they expect some negotiation as well.

There are also simply some people out there who LOVE the negotiation “game”. They literally get a high from the adrenaline-pumping back and forth of the offer/counter/offer/counter...and so on. The endorphins racing through their veins can actually be quite addictive.

These can be the same type of people who regularly gamble, attend auctions, or bet on horse races.

Of course, there will always be the “bargain-hunter” who throws really low offers out there to determine which sellers are extremely motivated to sell. They will do this over and over again until they find a smoking “deal”.

No matter how you slice it, the majority of buyers are not aiming to offend the seller when submitting a low offer. They are simply feeding their adrenaline addictions, habitually following their hard-wired customs and norms, or are testing your waters.

The truth is that buyers usually only go to the trouble to submit an offer if they have decided they LOVE your property. So, most of them will play the game until you have received a satisfactory offer.

And, if in doubt, simply counter their offer to reflect you have intelligently set your listing price.

The client I was referring to above did just this, and ended up countering the buyer’s offers until they came up to $398,000. So, she managed to bring the buyer up by $28,000 from where they started. The property has officially SOLD!!

Over the past few years, we have seen a rising trend of buyers seeking out the “Move-in-Ready” properties. This is largely due to the fact that people are becoming more and more time-deprived. But, also, due to large amounts of inventory on the market at all times, buyers can simply be a lot more selective.

I have, however, come to a conclusion regarding the evolution of buyers, and have been witnessing a new, and growing, group of buyers for this coming year.

A new breed, if you will.

Throughout my daily work as a Professional Home Stager, I am in constant contact with buyers, sellers, and Realtors®. I also watch Real Estate activity like a hawk.

Today’s savvy, proactive, and educated buyer not only does their homework regarding market activity, but they also diligently watch Real Estate/Home Improvement/Home Staging television shows.

What does this mean?

Introducing the new face of the average buyer for 2011:

The buyers are seeking the “Move-in-AND-ENJOY-Ready” properties.

They have raised the bar on expectations, and are no longer satisfied with the “Move-in-Ready” properties. They want to see that the seller is merchandising an attractive lifestyle. The new buyer does not want to have to put forth any effort in order to envision enjoying their lives, daily activities, and personal interactions in their new “home”.

This means that it is no longer enough to simply update flooring, paint, and windows. The buyer will no longer tolerate being left to wonder what the space should be used for.

Vacant/empty spaces, and spaces filled with room-role functionally confusing furnishings and items simply frustrate buyers. Buyers today are making home-purchase decisions based on emotions and visualization.

Buyers simply do not have the time or patience to brainstorm over hidden-potential in properties. They want an absolutely finished product, not a product that “could be beautiful with a little bit of investment or elbow-grease”.

The buyer craves a warm and inviting vignette within differing spaces.

They require that all guess-work is removed from the equation. Help the buyer immediately see the intended purpose of each space, but go further and create a practical, yet calming and inspiring vignette that captivates them.

The electronic age we are living in allows buyers to sift through listings far quicker than ever, which helps them be incredibly choosy and selective. They will literally keep on clicking past listings until one captivates their senses, lures them in, and inspires them to dream.

How do sellers keep up with the growing demands of buyers?

How are sellers supposed to create these welcoming vignettes in their homes?

This is where Home Staging is now a necessary tool when selling a property. Professional Home Stagers are trained, experienced, and educated on what the current buyers in your specific target market(s) are longing to see and feel when viewing a property, both in photos and in person.

Or are you quick to realize that more efficiency comes from doing it the other way around?

Do you pull on a door that is sporting loud signage stating “Push”?

Do you walk backwards downhill?

Do you paint expansive walls with a brush rather than a roller?

And my favourite, do you choose to drive a nail into a stud by hand when there is a perfectly good hammer sitting right in front of you?

No, we don’t do any of these things.

Why?

Humans logically assess situations and choose the path of least resistance.

We look for options that dictate that we expend the least amount of energy and time as possible. In other situations, we also decide which route will financially cost us less in the long-run.

Of course we also choose methodologies that should produce the absolute outcome for us.

The same should be true of all Real Estate transactions.

Remember that old adage, “One needs to spend money in order to make money”?

This couldn’t be more accurate in the land of Real Estate, where the ultimate goal is to put a product on the market that is merchandised in its true best form.

Take a much smaller ticket item for some perspective, such as a pre-owned car. When we list our cars for sale, or prepare to use it as trade-in at a dealership, what steps do we take? At the very least, we ensure it is spotless. ($5-$50) We should assess whether there are any major or minor repairs to bring it up to insurance standards. ($100-$2000) Maybe the tread-depth on the tires is less than 40%. We should probably at least throw on a new pair of all-seasons for the new owner. ($300-$600).

These dollar amounts do start to add up. But, we don’t give much thought to the investment when we are selling a car. It is really just second nature.

Now, to put this into scale, we will usually sell a used car for $500-$15000, depending on the year, make, and model. We will typically invest $50-$3000 to bring that car up to a point where it is seen by buyers as valuable. We are merchandising it for sale, and will readily spend 5%-10% of the sale price on preparation for listing.

We will sell our home/property for $90,000-$3,000,000 (certainly not an all-inclusive range). If we were to follow the same logical process and spend 5%-10% of that sale price on the preparation for listing it for sale, we should be prepared to spend $4500-$150,000. Even if we brought down that preparation investment number down to 1%, we should be looking at investing $900-$30,000.

But when it comes to Real Estate, there are still only a very small number of sellers who are willing to adopt this idea. And, it is that small group of sellers who invest the time and money into cleaning, completing repairs, upgrades and renovations, and Home Staging whose properties stand out like a pleasantly sore thumb amongst their comparables on the market.

This small group also end up selling quicker and for maximum value.

Because Home Staging is fairly new, there are many people who can see the value in it, but just aren’t ready to jump in and experience the benefits. These are the people who are of the “let’s just put it on the market as-is, and we’ll see how it goes. If we get limited response, then maybe we will consider Staging at that point” mind-set.

At this point, we are putting the cart before the horse. When selling a property, the goal is to cast your net as wide as possible. If your property is not being presented in its most attractive light from the start, you are automatically missing out on appealing to potential buyers during that time-period.

The bottom line is that precious time and money is being wasted if you don’t have your home Professionally Staged from the start. If Staging is an after-thought, your listing will essentially have to be re-done by your Realtor® with new listing photos. Your property will have sat longer on the market, so you may be facing a pricing reduction. And, if you have already moved on to your new “home”, you may also be dealing with mounting carrying costs.

Another bonus to hiring a Professional Home Stager come into prepare your home for sale is that your investment is GUARANTEED to be less than any of the costs mentioned in the last paragraph. Home Staging, year after year, is statistically proven to bring an approximate ROI (return on investment) of 547%.

My hope is that, one day, consumers will realize that having your home Professionally Staged PRIOR to listing it for sale IS ABSOLUTELY THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE for all parties involved.

Professionally Educated Home Stagers are trained to delve into the psyche of the buyer, how to identify specific target-markets for each unique property, and know how to tweak the presentation of each individual property for optimal results.

Let’s think of all the assorted reasons a buyer would be looking to purchase a condo.

*Downsizing due to age and diminishing ability to maintain a larger property.

*Downsizing due to unexpected financial hardship or changes in finances.

*Mandatory life circumstance relocation, only to find geographical lack of listed properties.

*Marital changes translating into smaller family unit.

*Affordability and/or Credit limitations.

*First-time home-buyer beginning in the “ownership” realm.

*Currently selling condo, looking to relocate into condo with differing amenities/benefits.

***A HUGE percentage of our population on the planet right now, especially in North America, are Baby Boomers. They are retiring, selling a home, buying a smaller dwelling in a metro-locale.

Of course this could never be an all-inclusive list of reasons for buying a condo.

There are many life circumstances which may dictate that one HAS to consider only condos in their home-search.

No matter how you slice it, however, more times than not, condo buyers WILL be downsizing in available living/storage space.

My point is that many of the potential buyers in the target markets for all condos are faced with having to leave a dwelling with, perhaps, yards, basements, attics, out-buildings, plenty of storage, and more living floor-space.

Many condo-purchasers are sacrificing a lot of conveniences in a larger home and even having to purge a large percentage of their belongings due to lack of space in their new home. Inevitably, a condo buyer is seeking the most possible space for their investment.

It is a no-brainer that vacant detached dwellings look and feel a lot smaller than they are, both in photos, and in person.

But, vacant condos look even smaller. It is also monumentally more difficult to capture entire rooms inside of condos in photos due to the small scale.

So, when buyers view listing photos of vacant condos on the internet, it is very easy to get quickly discouraged.

I challenge you to sit down and do a search for condos in your area and spend a few minutes viewing vacant condo photos. They truly all start to look exactly the same. Not only that, it is almost impossible to determine which room the photos are of. Forget trying to get a sense of scale within each room when they are empty.

Because condo buyers are typically having to make decisions on which belongings they need to part with in order to move into their new condos, it is even more important for them to see furnished/accessorized rooms. This helps make the buyers’ decision to view the property effortless. Staging the Vacant condos from the start visually tells a buyer, right from the listing photos, that their living room furniture and their bedroom suite will easily fit into the available space.

There are large numbers of vacant condos on the market. They generally sit on the market a lot longer, and bring lower offers when they do sell.

Home Staging in the Vacant condos will not only make yours stand out from the competition, it will inspire buyers to set up a viewing. A Professional Home Stager will choose optimal furnishings/decor for your specific condo to create a warm, inviting, welcoming atmosphere. A Professional Home Stager aims to draw attention to important architectural features, maximize available floor-space, and not overwhelm prospective buyers with attractive distractions.

I have Realtors®, home-sellers, and potential clients ask me consistently.

As a Home Staging Professional, I love to blog on regularly expressed areas of concern or confusion.

Statistics.... If you have been keen on the Real Estate Market for any amount of time, you have seen or heard all of the claims and numbers regarding the efficacy of Home Staging when listing a property for sale.

1. Home Staging sells a property in up to 50% less time, and for 7-10% more money.

2. In 2009, over 98% of buyers stated that they created their “short-list” of homes to view solely on the internet.

3. The most important, longest lasting, first impression is made as the buyer walks through your front door, and is created and solidified all within a mere 4-6 seconds.

4. 8 out of 10, or 80% of people are spatially challenged and cannot determine available floor-space in a property unless there are existing furnishings and decor for a sense of scale.

5. Home Staging provides, on average, a 586% ROI (return on investment).

6. Vacant Homes sit for, on average, double the amount of time on market than Staged Unoccupied Homes.

The list goes on, and on.

Quite impressive.

But, if you are anything like me, we are always scrutinizing published “Stats”, as there are so many factors that can influence the results of any study.

Some common questions I ask about any Statistics are what was the composition of the sample group utilized, which company did this study, how many people were in that sample group, and how do I know if the results have not been skewed based on biases of the group who ordered the study?

Well, I am here to tell you that I would NOT quote these stats or publish them on my website if I was not 150% confident that these statistics are, in fact, quite modest.

As a Home Stager, I work with Home-sellers on a daily basis. Guess what?

All Home-Sellers are also currently Home-Buyers....at the same time. If they are selling their home, obviously, they are also searching for their new home. All of the Home Staging Statistics describe purchasing behaviours of BUYERS, and what moves them to make a healthy offer on a property.

I am literally conducting accurate, up-to-the-minute market research every day as part of my profession. I TALK to my clients. I ask my clients questions. To be successful at what I do, I crave and require information from my clients whom are all Home-Sellers AND Home-Buyers.

I consistently confirm that Buyers WILL pass the Vacant listings by because they all look and feel the same....Cold, empty, and way smaller than they actually are.

I consistently confirm that Buyers WILL NOT make an offer on a cluttered, dirty, dated, or decrepit property.

And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, my own personal Business Statistics prove that properties that have been Professionally Staged do sell in half the time and for at least 7-10% more money.

The world of Home Staging includes many "out-of-the-box" concepts, or abstract ideas.

Home Staging is not solely about preparing a property for sale, and does not strictly deal with pretty presentation.

There is so much more to this profession than most people realize. And, this is precisely why successful Professional Home Stagers are the ones who have had extensive relevant education, training, and experience. Successful Home Stagers are also talented, are incredibly intuitive, and follow the Real Estate Market very closely.

I have heard many Interior Decorators/Designers say that they could do a Home Staging job "any day".

This is so far from the truth, it hurts.

Interior Decorators/Designers are educated and experienced in designing spaces based purely on the personality/flair/tastes/preferences of the client. As you can see from the photo below, jobs completed by Interior Decorators can be VERY architecturally distracting and too busy. I do not know about you, but this dining room does not compel me to settle in and sit down comfortably.

BUT, it probably appeals to the home-owner....

Home Stagers focus on styling spaces that have NOTHING to do with the personality of the Home-owner (or seller). We design spaces that appeal to every single potential buyer in the property's target market(s).

These two professions could NOT be more opposite!

Successful Home Stagers also place a large amount of focus on the actual psyche of today's buyers. We have been educated to do so AND we naturally possess the ability to do so.

Buyers' minds do not operate on usual or "normal" frequencies when there is a large financial decision looming in front of them. Buying a home is most likely to be THE largest purchase a person will ever make in their lives. This is serious business.

Buyers are savvy, have heard Real-Estate horror-stories, and have been watching all of the Real Estate shows on television.

But, most importantly, when a buyer is searching for their new "home", there are a phenomenal number of seemingly small things (or indicators of much larger things) that can break a sale immediately.

A Professional Home Stager knows this list like the back of their hand, and is diligent in eliminating these "small things" for the seller, making it a much less painful process!

The moral of this post is this: When considering hiring a Home Stager to help prepare a property for sale, VERIFY their education and credentials, ask them to produce their physical portfolio (not just photos on-line), and verify their track-record or number of successes!

The Brick...one of Canada’s Largest Furnishing Retailers, right?

How does The Brick suck the buyer in to purchasing more than what they were planning to purchase?

VIGNETTES!

Go to The Brick, and walk around their store, even just for a few minutes. Take note of how their furniture pieces, accessories, and electronics are displayed, or “merchandised”.

Not only are individual items more attractive as part of a grouping, the vignettes give the buyer a greater sense of scale and stimulate realistic visualization within their minds.

These vignettes are set up and styled by professional “merchandisers”, and their goal is to create visual settings that are warm, welcoming, and inviting to all consumers.

How do you feel when you walk past these vignettes?

I know exactly how you feel, because I see you hesitate, back up a few paces, and flop your body down onto one of the plush couches with a relaxed expression on your face.

The Brick has achieved their goal when you feel compelled to sit down on a couch, or sit/lay on a bed. They want you to feel in the moment and be comfortable as if you already own the furnishings.

Retail Merchandising is not at all unlike Home Staging.

Professional Home Stagers creatively determine what a property’s target market is looking for in a home.

Whether a property for sale is vacant or occupied, a Professional Home Stager is marketing a buyer’s dream.

Now, because Vacant properties tend to feel cold and a lot smaller than they actually are, Home Stagers recommend Staging those properties with Rental Furnishings. Sellers NEED to do this in order to stand out from their competition, and to make buyers feel welcome and comfortable in the property.

Buyers crave a sense of scale, and tend to feel more like trespassers in vacant properties. We want buyers to immediately feel “at home” when they view a property.

Buyers make large purchase decisions based on emotions and visualization, which is why

Professionally Constructed Vignettes are so important and effective.

Home Staging in a property creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere that envelops and grabs a buyer and does not let them go.

Professional Home Staging is an art, and we strive to create fantastic first impressions that drive buyers to make an offer.

Are you currently selling, or planning on selling a Vacant/Empty/Unoccupied Property?

From the experienced and trained heart of this Leading Edmonton area Professional Home Stager, pllleeeaaaassseee think twice about listing your property if it is vacant.

Professional Home Staging services in a vacant property sell it much faster and for more money. This has statistically been proven, year after year.

And, now, more than ever, it is very affordable for everyone.

Starting November 01, 2010, we are officially extending a crazy 50% Off Sale on all Rental Furnishings/Decor/Artwork/Accessories/Soft furnishings/Rugs/Lighting/Greenery!!!!

What does this mean for you, the home seller?

It means an automatic savings of between $400-$800!!! This is amazing. And, with the softer market right now.....less buyers and more listings.....Staging WILL make your listing stand out!!

Contact us now for your FREE, NO OBLIGATION, Official Proposal for Home Staging Services in your property anywhere in Edmonton, Alberta and surrounding areas (up to a 200 km radius)!