Staging Your Home to Sell in a Competitive Market

The phrase, "Staging Your Home" has become a hot phrase in the real estate market. In this ever increasingly competitive market - whether it be Omaha or anywhere in the nation - staging has almost become a necessary step in getting your home ready to sell.

What do I mean by staging? Staging is a process where someone with an eye for interior design comes into your home, either brings in items to your home to enhance your home or uses items you already have in a different way. Often I will walk into a home and the first thing I will do is to start rearranging the furniture to give that particular room an illusion of warmth and roominess. Taking items from other rooms in the house, they will be brought to the room you're focusing on and be re-purposed in a way perhaps you'd never thought of and yet it will give that room the "pop" it needs to look put together.

Why staging? Often when a buyer is looking for their next home, their real estate agent will show them sometimes ten homes in one day. You want your home to be the one they remember, because trust me, after looking at 10 homes, you start to get them all confused. You want them to think, "I liked that house that......had the amazing living room....or the cozy kitchen with all that counter space...or....you fill in the blank. It works! It really does!

Lastly, the idea is to spend as little money as possible to stage a home. Often, as a real estate agent, I will shop for my sellers at Goodwill....yes, Goodwill... to find items for their home for the purpose of staging. Another GREAT place to shop is Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. It is filled with everything from doors to windows to appliances to lamps to lighting to......use your imagination......and at a fraction of the cost. Example: I just had a seller completely replace their worn out vinyl flooring in the kitchen for beautiful new tile floors purchased at the ReStore. I've also been shopping for a light fixture for the dining room of another home I'll be listing. I found one for $20 at the Restore. All I need to do is to spray paint it brushed nickel and add some small lamp shades and we have a dining room light for a fraction of the cost.

Landmark Group is sponsoring Landmark Group's Race 2 Re:Cycle to benefit Habitat for Humanity. (Check out the website and sign up to be a part of this awesome event at www.omaharace2recycle.com ). Shopping at the ReStore is another way to benefit Habitat for Humanity while fulfilling a need you might have for your own home....whether it is for your own home improvement or for getting your home ready to sell.

Staging is a service we can offer you, as a seller, if you list your home with Landmark Group. We have proven results. So consider staging AND the Landmark Group when you get ready to sell your home.

"You only get one chance to make a good first impression."

Jennifer Murdoch
Realtor
Landmark Group