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As professional realtors, we’re faced with a multitude of questions and concerns from sellers when it comes to listing their home. How much should we list it for? How much can we expect to sell it for? How long will it take to sell? Etc. While all of these are legitimate questions, for most of us; the only legitimate answer we can offer is it depends! The fact of the matter is there are many uncertain variables that affect the sale of homes in current times. it’s literally impossible to give anxious sellers the direct and straight forward answers they want to hear. The honest truth of is (we don’t know!) Sure, we have some great tools to help educate seller on buying trends and market performance but the current housing market has proven as unpredictable as a winter tornado.
Information age sellers and buyers are extremely savvy and for the most part well informed. However, information is only as reliable as its source. Many popular online real estate tools offer sellers general information on factors that may increase the marketability of their homes. But many factors that apply in Long Island,New York or Baltimore,Maryland are often completely different from those in Littke Rock, Arkansas or Memphis, Tennessee. Up-to-date local professional insight remains the key resource when deciding what measures to employ for a quick and profitable sale.
Throughout the ups and downs in the housing market, one of the most consistent and reliable factors contributing to a quick and profitable sell is professional home staging. Home staging has proven most effective because the staging process highlights a home’s best features and helps achieve the sense of comfort and peace of mind today’s buyers are looking for. As buyers employ the professional services of local home inspectors and appraisers to insure they are getting fair value for their investment, savvy Realtors and sellers employ the services of professional home stagers to increase the homes market appeal and bring in better offers.
If fact, professional home staging has proven time after time to be a wise investment for home sellers. In a 2009 Home Gain survey of over 2000 Realtors, it was discovered that home staging typically provides a 586% return on investment. In strong or weak housing markets, staged homes spend 89% less time on the market then un-staged homes. As an extra added benefit, money spent on home staging services and repairs in preparation for the sale of your home are tax-deductible from capital gains (in most states). Also, potential buyers searching the internet spend more time viewing and visiting staged homes and Realtors are more enthusiastic when showing them.
Experience is a great teacher, but we can also learn valuable lesson from others. Using the right tool for the job from the beginning is always the smartest in hindsight. The same applies when employing the services of a professional home stager. Begin your market preparation by employing the services of a local professional stager with a proven track record. The time and money saved and the professional results achieved may prove to be the only certain, in an uncertain market.
By David Dorbin, “The Staging Agent”
