01 June 2009

Home Staging Beyond Interior Decorating

By Barbara Jennings

Contrary to what some people believe, a home staging business is nothing like being an interior decorating service. An interior decorator plies their trade by creating room designs to suit the owner or person occupying the space. Many high-end contractors and architects will have an interior decorator they recommend and work with when building a custom home for a client or a corporate facility for a business. The designs the interior decorator proposes and eventually creates in the space reflect the themes of the home owner or for business, the company's scheme. This is almost the opposite of what a professional home stager does.

The entire purpose of home staging is to create a space that is neutral, a blank canvas so to speak, that will enable a prospective property buyer to envision their own theme or design in the room. The objective is to foster an appearance of uncluttered, functional and welcoming rooms in the home or business facility.

With an organized interior and exterior, a real estate agent can lead a prospective buyer through each room and recommend ways that the new owner can personalize the space with their furniture and artwork, for example. Home staging is particularly important for newly listed homes. A staged home provides a positive first impression. Experienced real estate agents know that staging increases the chances of receiving offers on a home.

Many realtors who are experiencing a level of difficulty with sellers who are unable to prepare their home for viewing will engage a professional home stager. The often certified home stager will "depersonalize" and remove the clutter from the home, and create as neutral an environment as possible for the realtor to show. With the current state of the economy and the flat-lined level of property sales, home staging businesses are in big demand. Realtors rely on these home staging companies to create a space that is more likely to result in an offer to purchase.

Even development contractors will engage home staging companies to come in and create welcoming neutral rooms in their model homes. They will often seek the advice of a professional home stager as to the color of walls, flooring and appliances to be used in the model units. A model home that has been professionally staged will attract more buyers than one that is bare. Additionally, smaller contractors who buy and renovate older homes will turn to a home stager when it comes time to list the renovated property on the market.

In a slow housing market, home staging is a major advantage. Professional home staging can be the critical difference between homes that languish on the market and homes that sell in a few weeks. - 2456

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