Recollections Of A Home Staging Interior Redesigner
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Ideas Behind Home Staging, Interior Redesign & Staging Houses To Sell
From the influence of flea markets, searching garage sales for thrifty treasures, hunting hardware stores through bins and buckets of bolts, studies on color and environment, design, horticulture, lighting, human behavior, art, murals and faux finishes, Marketing, Public Speaking and most recently, Interior Staging, Johanna From helping sellers that are living in their home during the sales process with staging consultations and preparing vacant homes with art, greenery, lighting and furishings, the knowledge and experience allows her the flexibility to be with her family, work from home, maintain contact with her friends and clients, and allows her the ability to put her creative skills to use on a daily basis.
From past projects, StagingHomesBlog and her home staging practice the Look Group, Johanna has enjoyed the accompishment of being published in Colorado Homes and Lifestyles, DIY Magazine, Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post. In the past she worked with Levi Strauss in which she designed and help to brand their call center. She's worked on assignments on several projects with the Denver Junior Symphony Guild Show Homes where her creativity shines as an expert in her field. Johanna is an enthusiastic and entertaining public speaker and teacher. If you would like to schedule Johanna to speak, teach or for an interview, she can be reached at johannawells@lookgroupinc.com.
New Table of Contents
Home Staging Statistics
A staged house sells for more money:
U.S. Housing and Urban Development reports that a
staged house sells, on average, 17% higher than an
unstaged house.
Statistics suggest staged homes sell at an average of
6.32% over what they are listed for. Non staged homes
only average 1.6% over the listed price.
a staged house sells faster:
The New York Village Voice reported that the average
number of days on the market for a staged house was
13.9 versus 30.9 days for an unstaged house.
The cost of staging is very reasonable:
2003 HomeGain survey of 2,000 real estate agents
nationwide found that moderately priced home
improvements, ranging from $80 - $2,800, made in
preparation for sale actually yielded the highest returns
when a house is sold.
did you know:
Only 10% of home buyers can actually visualize the
potential of a home.
A recent study by the National Association of the
Remodeling Industry found that a $700 paint job results in
a 200% recovery of the cost upon resale of the home.
(National Post, Mar. 11/04)
"Think Like a Buyer; Act Like a Retailer"
This jam-packed and provocative book will teach you how to successfully compete in today's real estate marketplace. Learn through deploying multiple successful retail-based strategies that provide what today's customers demand. Learn to leverage the style and design of your home as an experience that buyers enjoy to reach more buyers, increase sales, and improve buyer satisfaction.
What you will learn:
*Incorporate buyer-focused, retail-oriented strategies into your home selling business.
*Differentiate yourself in the marketplace and appeal directly to your prospects' wants and needs.
*Understand the buyer shopping experience and consumer decision-making process, so you can deliver what they need.
*Explore dozens of marketing stragegies, showcasing how leading Realtors today are selling compelling stylishly designed homes, even in small spaces, which increases buyer satisfaction and sales.
*Increase the perceived value of the home you are presenting, through both improved physical product presentation and by communicating product promise.
*Create an elite level buyer experience, to differentiate your company, propel referral sales, and get the buzz out there!!
*Strategies to effectively improve the selection process of buyers in today's marketplace, and maximize home revenue.
*Leverage your home buyer experience, to sell your home faster and for more money.
Learn how to with the "Home Staging Checklist." Or, download the recorded video and watch it at your leisure and as many times as you wish.
What Is A Typical Home Stager
Behind The Scene Home Staging
Many of us have seen shows on the television where a staging crew tackles a home that has design and selling challenges and transforms the home into an emotionally appealing space that buyers are drawn to. We have seen shows in which the staging that is done is either on a very small budget, and shows that depict very large and generous budgets.There are a couple of different approaches to staging a home for sale and the drama of TV fail to reveal all the nuances that go on behind-the-scenes, the labor and preparation put into staging a house. Yikes! All the elbow grease that goes into a home just doesn't' make for good TV.
I would like to share with you what an "typical" stager looks like, along with the different types of services that are generally performed by a staging professional.
There are always exceptions to the rule of what I will write, and I'm always open to suggestion and advice and welcome any thoughts that you might like to share.
So, what does the "typical" staging service look like? My own company is made of one person and the majority of the sellers that I work with find that the do-it-yourself approach works best for them. Only when I am assisting sellers with vacant property do I have a team of generally two movers who assist with the muscle of hauling furniture, art, greenery and lighting from the truck. If I should be working with sellers that don't want the headache of DIY and their homes are in need of repairs or updates, then I would work with a team of painters and handypersons that I recommend to clients. Some stagers have full time employees, others may simply hire assistants that they work with when needed.
When assisting clients that want to do the work themselves, I am generally called in to share my knowledge of what potential buyers are looking for when they are searching homes for sale. I visit the clients home, start at curb, move my way through the house and out the back and side yards, I make recommendations to improve marketability to the broadest range of potential buyers. Advices come in the form of curb appeal, clutter, cleanliness, color, room arrangement, repairs and updates that would make a home more appealing to buyers. Buyers are given enough information from the consultation and report that enables them to complete the smallest details of arranging tabletop vignettes, to dressing the bedroom into a seductive retreat, as well as creating a spa experience in the bathroom with soft towel and textures. After the report is received, generally within 24 hours the client would decide if they want to do the work themselves or work with the team of professionals and myself to get the job done and the home on the market. If remodeling or structural issues are a concern I would refer a contractor or interior designer to get the larger structural work done.
Stagers are often happy to recommend what a client should do as far as far as preparing their home for sale, myself I am very budget conscious and having learned a few things from my grandma I was taught to be frugal and I am very sensitive to the budgets of the clients that I work with. Making recommendations and advices, coming up with solutions to get the home ready for sale is one of my strong points.
Some stagers carry their own line inventory, while others choose to rent furniture or only use the seller's own furniture for staging. Those stagers who do own inventory often have the overhead of storage for a warehouse, and others use the extra space in their homes like a basement or a garage. One of the benefits of having inventory is the ability to provide to their clients very quickly, items that may be lacking in a sparsely furnished home. Whether your stager is a team one or a team of many, it doesn't make them any better then the other and it offers sellers a diversity of services which best meet their needs.
This Is What I Show You If I Feel Like Being A Big Shot
Little Bits Of This and That
I have 10+ years of experience in the art of staging, attracting more potential buyers and marketing your home to sell fast. People buy based on emotional factors. A University of Florida study on emotions and their effects on the buying process, headlined that "Americans More Likely to Let Their Emotions Do the Buying". What does this mean? My training focuses on a buyers emotional hot buttons:
Certified Interior Staging Specialist, I.R.I.S.
Certificate of Completion in Color in the Architectural Space, I.A.C.C
Certificate of Completion in Color-Environment/Human Reaction, I.A.C.C.
Certificate of Completion in Biological Effects of Light/Color Psychology in Depth, I.A.C.C.
Education: Design/Illustration, Commercial and Graphic Art,
Trained in the use of Specialty Architectural Coatings
Horticulture Front Range Community College
Published in Colorado Homes and Lifestyles Magazine, Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post and Do-It-Yourself Magazine
Projects with six of the Denver Junior Symphony Guild Showcase Homes and an assignment with the Parade of Homes
Again%u2026what do these certifications mean?
Certifications offer expertise in the practice of staging homes for sale to appeal to a broad range of potential buyers. The strategies that are applied to your home for sale make use of the emotional factor in how buyers respond to a home. It is unique in its recognition of the critical role that emotion plays and the way people respond to homes they are previewing for sale. The skills that I use allow me to elicit positive feelings that stimulate a purchase response whenever a buyer enters your home for sale.
Favorite Reading For Great Design
More Musings From A Home Stager
- Budget Moving Resources
- Want to save money when moving-this is the place.
- How To Take Real Estate Photos To Sell Your Home
- If you are as flabbergasted as I am whening looking a Real Estate Photos then you should really read this.
Expert Advice From Your Home Staging Resource
- Front Door Updates Just Hardware and Paint
- You can make money be it now or later with some simple techniques. Here we will start at the front door. Let's assume that in the existing economy money is too tight to make the "ideal improvements" needed to sell a home. What's a seller to do, in this case with the front door? Let me explain:
- Budget Moving Resources
- Budget may be the reason that 81% of consumers find that it is sensible and affordable when moving to chose DIY over the services of a moving company, from renting a trailer, truck, moving container or pod, purchasing boxes, packing your home yourself, and unloading your possessions at their new home.
- How To Sell Your Home With Real Estate Photos
- I'm always flabbergasted of how many home sellers and Real Estate agents don't bother to prepare their home before the photos are taken to share in marketing material and include on the MLS. What surprises me the most is that the Real Estate agent takes the picture of the home "as is" and never recommended the seller stage the home prior to photos being taken. I don't know about you, but as for me, I quickly move on to the next listing if the home looks dirty, cluttered or dated (hey isn't that what the buyers do too?).
- Profits That Lie Hidden At Your Front Door
- To People Who Want To Make An Impact At Their Front Door With Buyers And Guests But Can't Get Started
- Window Improvements Finish The Basement As much as 125% ROI
- When you sell a home, it immediately becomes a product that buyers compare with all the other homes they look at and here is where a stager enters the picture. You want buyers to fall in love with your home, and imagine how their things and their family could fit in.
- High Return On Investment Outdoor Improvements
- A Clemson University study found landscaping can result in more than a 100% ROI. According to Clemson University Professor Mark S. Henry in his paper the 3 main ways landscaping and gardening affect the sale price of a house are:
-Quality of landscaping in the neighborhood
-Quality of landscaping on lots adjacent to the house in question
-Quality of landscaping on the lot itself - Front Door Updates Just Hardware and Paint
- You can make money be it now or later with some simple techniques. Here we will start at the front door. Let's assume that in the existing economy money is too tight to make the "ideal improvements" needed to sell a home. What's a seller to do, in this case with the front door? Let me explain:
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Jan 10, 2010 @ 12:07 pm | delete
- Good work keep giving us this kind of information, its very encouraging to find info that can be used to help improve my current position, keep it coming buffet table decorating ideas
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by johannawells
The long and short of it is that I would like to be a reliable resource of info with fresh staging and design help. Dedicated to sharing design ideas,... more »
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