 RISING WOMEN EXPERTS...
How is home staging different from normal home decorating? Do I really
need a stager to help prepare my home to sell?
By Vicky Blaine of Inner Space Home Styling
With the flood of home decorating shows we saw a few years ago, many
people have awakened their inner designer and turned their homes into lovely
expressions of their personal style. But it is important to understand the
difference between decorating to live and staging to sell.
You decorate your home in a certain way because it’s appealing to you. But
when you are getting ready to sell, your home is about to become a “house”;
a product to be marketed. It must appeal to a wide variety of buyers, or
else you could be waiting a very long time for a buyer to come along who is
exactly like you. One of the most important reasons to consider getting the
advice of a professional stager is because you cannot be objective about
your own home.
It is possible for a home to be beautifully decorated, but still not be
appealing to buyers. The majority of buyers are looking for a home for
themselves, and the majority of buyers will make a decision on which house
to buy based on how they feel about it. It is the emotional connection that
is critical to most buyers, and they often cannot make that connection in a
house that feels like it’s someone else’s.
A professional stager brings an objective, neutral “buyers” eye to your
home, and can quickly identify the aspects that make it feel too much like
you. The house needs to feel lived in, but not too particular. Buyers need
to be able to picture themselves living there. They do not want to feel like
they are intruding in someone’s personal space.
You may have beautiful décor, but there is more to staging than just making
a space look good. A professional stager has knowledge of not only design,
but also real estate, psychology and marketing. To get the best return on
your investment, it is essential to understand not only what looks good, but
what sells homes as well.
For more advice on home staging, please contact Vicky at 403.686.7517 or via e-mail
at inner-space@shaw.ca Visit
her website at
www.innerspacecalgary.com
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