Teri Woods asked:


Designing a home to sell takes special skill in that the interiors must be designed, specifically, to appeal to all potential buyers. To accomplish this one must learn the skill of “attention to details”. As a stager, I always start with a full inspection of the “hard” surfaces of the home. Paying special attention to any repairs that need to be addressed. Hard surfaces are all aspects of the home that are stationary. Flooring, dry wall, windows and fixtures. Moving on to the cosmetics of the home we outline items that must be edited. Next we make note of upgrades that will bring the homeowner a greater profit and enhance the appearance of the home. Upgrades usually consist of new counter tops, carpeting, paint and etc. Once all of the these issues are addressed we move to the actual “staging” process. Staging a home to show in the market is an absolute must! One must know the concept of balance, function and scale as well as styles, color coordination and the application of “focal points” for each room. Professional Home Stagers have the appropriate training in design and staging to ensure that a home is perfectly designed to appeal to all potential buyers taste. Everything is done for the home in the “staging” process. Furniture placement to tablescaping with accessories, hanging art and lighting. Proper staging will appeal to all of the five senses. Sight, sound, scent, touch and taste. All potential buyers that enter into the “staged” home should connect with the home emotionally. Most often they do and this is where multiple offers come into play or an offer that exceeds the asking price. At Home Stages Designs we cater to perfection. Our goal is to “set the stage” for a top dollar sale! We offer individual training ebooks to assist the home seller or home stager at our website. We also offer our Complete Home Staging Training on CD-ROM for those with the desire to enter into the Home Staging industry. No previous interior design degree is needed with this course as we include the basic interior design training you will need as well as our business manual to assist you in the staging process and to develop your own company. We offer certification with the training course so you will not need additional training. This training is all inclusive and will get you started in your own Home Staging business fast. Come visit our site today! We would love to assist you! www.Homestages.com

Home Stages Designs/Home Staging Resource Professionals

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Home Staging

Jerry 71 asked:


The living room ceilings are very tall (12-15 ft). Should the palm trees be about 8 ft tall or should they almost touch the ceiling? Any other thoughts you might have will be appreciated. The staging is for a house for sale and I am the seller.Thanks.
The house is being professionally staged and the realtor and stager are having a disagreement. I just want the straight scoop from the ppl in the yahoo community!

Home Staging

Alice Chan asked:


Copyright (c) 2009 Alice Chan

We all know that Home Staging is the art of decorating a home to sell quickly and for top dollar. It is the most proven way to get the highest selling price for a property as you prepare it for sale.

An important thing for both Real Estate Agents and Home Stagers to remember is that before you start the staging process, you need to do research about whom is most likely going to buy the house, otherwise known as the TARGET MARKET.

Staging is not just about hanging up some art, sticking a tree in the corner and adding pretty pillows to the sofa. This seems to be the misconception sometimes.

Haven’t we all received phone calls from potential customers who tell us, “Oh, there’s not much to be done. Just a few accessories will do the trick”. That’s someone who doesn’t truly understand the psychology behind Staging. It’s part of your marketing plan and should be very strategic.

By knowing who the target market is, you will be able to design a lifestyle around that to appeal to that specific group of potential buyers and the real estate agent can design a marketing plan specifically to attract those same people.

So next time you’re commissioned to transform a property into a marketable showcase, ask yourself (or the real estate agent):

- Who are the prospective buyers?

- What do they like?

- Do they have kids?

- Do they have pets?

- Do their parents live with them?

Here are 5 reasons why you should know who the buyers will be:

1. You can cater the property to them.

2. You can draw immediate attention and instant appeal.

3. You can fix up the property faster and more economically.

4. The house will sell faster.

5. The sellers will save time and ultimately, money.

To elaborate on who the prospective buyers is, you want to know the following:

- Where are they from?

- What is their background?

- What is their ethnic heritage?

Scope out the neighborhood and get to know the neighbors so you learn what type of person is likely to move into the neighborhood. Generally speaking, there is a commonality amongst neighbors.

Visit competing homes for sale to see what those homes have to offer to give you a better sense of the types of upgrades that may or may not be needed. Notice the likes and dislikes of the neighborhood.

Are all the yards well maintained? Are they privacy seekers? Is there a sense of community? It’s important to take their lifestyles into consideration so you can design the right way to market the property to that type of person.

Is this community mostly filled with starter families? If so, staging bedrooms for young kids would be a good idea. Otherwise, if the neighborhood consists mostly of older kids, you’ll need to design more sophisticated spaces.

Are they huge sports fans? Capitalizing on a homey family room with a BIG plasma TV would be ideal for that type of neighborhood.

Is it in a golf community? Perhaps creating a study with a golf theme is just the thing you need or maybe a coastal or beach themed space in a water community or designing a floor plan that takes advantage of fantastic views.

If you’re ever in doubt about how to create buyer appeal that caters to a specific target market, visit new home developments in your area and see how they have designed their model units. Developers spend a lot of time and money doing market research about who their potential buyers will be and relay that information to their model home designers.

The style and décor needs to match the neighborhood, the home, and most importantly, the target market. For example, if it’s a 2-bedroom, 1-bath condo in the city or a more metropolitan part of town, the likely target market is a single person – a bachelor or bachelorette or even a young couple.

The ideal buyer is most likely someone in their 20s. Their lifestyle is going to be very carefree because there are no “family” considerations. Their style is probably going to be more contemporary and edgy. The second bedroom could be staged as a home office because that’s probably what it would be used for. Staging it as a guest bedroom or a nursery is going to be less appealing.

On the flip side, if it’s a 4-bedroom, 2-bath, single family home in the suburbs, this is a classic family home. The potential buyer or “target market” is going to be a couple with a growing family. Their lifestyle is going to be very family-oriented so the family room and kitchen areas are very important as this is where they will be spending most of their time. The décor should be more relaxed and family friendly.

You’ll need to work with the real estate agent to know who the potential buyers are and deliver the perfect house to them. Figure out what they want versus what they need. Remember, it’s not about you or the seller; it’s what the buyers want that will sell the house.

You need a focused design plan to create the results the seller wants. When they learn that your services are more strategic and designed to help them achieve their goals, they’ll be more inclined to refer you and want to work with you. Your goals should always be to position yourself as a value added service, not a frivolous expense.



home staging

Ballerina asked:


We are staging a room in our home that we are selling as a sitting room and were thinking about renting furniture. Rentacenter does not have prices on their website, and we were looking for a ballpark number before we drive out there. We are in PA.

Home Staging

Jade asked:


I am packing everything personal up,cleaning and organizing but I need some simple and elegant ideas to “stage” the home so that it is more appealing to buyers.

Learn Home Staging with Books

Debra Gould asked:


There are so many small things home stagers can do to a property that will dramatically shorten the time it spends on the real estate market while increasing the final sales price for home sellers.

Here are my five favorite home staging tips, so you can help each property you stage sell faster and for more money:

1. Reduce drive-bys

Imagine you’re on a home hunting mission. Your real estate agent has ten properties to show you on a Saturday afternoon. When you drive up to what could be your dream home, you see a rusted-out mailbox, broken handrail and children’s toys strewn across the lawn which hasn’t seen a lawn mower in weeks. You’re probably going to say, “Um, no thanks, let’s move on.”

Curb appeal is so important. If the outside of a house looks like this, a potential buyer is going to think nobody cares about it. You should make sure, no matter what, that lawns are freshly cut, leaves are raked or snow shoveled from the driveway. A potted or hanging plant can make a big difference near the entrance. Repair or replace any obvious defects, often this is cheaper to do than a prospective buyer will imagine. Make sure the walk ways and porches are swept clean and garbage and recycling containers are tucked away at the rear of the house or in the garage. Make sure the exterior gets a good pressure wash and the decks are scrubbed clean. It’s a good alternative to painting and once everything’s clean you might see it doesn’t need to be repainted at all – perhaps just a touch up will do.

2. One man’s junk is not necessarily another man’s treasure, it may be their reason not to buy the house

De-cluttering is essential. Tackle one area at a time so the task isn’t so overwhelming. If you’re doing this with your client, make sure they look at each item carefully before deciding whether it’s to keep or to toss. Each closet will probably have to be gone through more than once to get its contents down to the absolute essentials, but it will be worth it. If the home owner is having a tough time parting with things, recommend they rent a storage locker so they can keep their beloved items, just remove them from the house they’re selling. They’ll have to move it eventually anyway!

3. Avoid wandering eyes

You want to make sure there are no little problems in a room that will have a potential buyer looking from one flaw to another thinking about they work they’ll have to do. You want them to see the bigger picture and imagine themselves living there. For example, do a walkthrough and look for chipped paint on the door frames. These can be filled in with “white out”. Old nail holes can often be hidden behind strategically hung art, but don’t just throw things on the wall where the old nail was (see point 5). Peeling wallpaper should be glued back down. Make sure there are covers on all electrical outlets and light switches, and replace any that are cracked. These little things make a big difference!

4. Color is your friend when it’s time to sell a house

If you have to repaint a home’s interior, or some rooms in a home, try to choose a pleasing color palette that allows each room to flow nicely into the next. All colors should go together. Try to repeat one signature color throughout a home. Maybe it’s the feature color in one room used as an accent in the others, through accessories or throw cushions.

5. Make a big impact with a little art

By strategically using art, you can enhance a home’s perceived value, draw the eye away from tiny flaws, give an otherwise uninteresting space a focal point and replace personal memorabilia.

Position art at eye level and use pieces that are appropriate to the size of the wall. Art with a large frame on a small wall can make the entire area seem smaller. Avoid religious art, or anything edgy that could be offensive to some potential buyers. (For more tips about using art for home staging, visit Staging Diva Art Shop.)

These are only five of dozens of tips that can improve your next home staging project. Check out Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans – an essential guide for every home stager. It’s full of home staging design tips and tricks (as the title suggests) and they’re all brought to life with before and after photos and sample floor plans from my own home staging projects.



Home Staging