Are buyers touring your house but not making offers? Or are buyers not visiting your home at all? Either way, you’ve got a problem.
Trulia says there are Six Things that may be preventing you from selling your home. Professional Home Staging directly addresses four of the six, and indirectly addresses the other two!!
1. You’ve priced it too high.
Your real estate agent can provide you with a fair price for your home based on the current market. They take into consideration other properties similar to yours that have sold recently and their sales price. If you are dead set on a higher price, they can tell you the upgrades your home needs or whether you need to wait for an up-tick in the market. Having your home professionally staged also helps you get top dollar.
2. No one knows it’s for sale.
Just putting up a “for sale” sign doesn’t cut it today. 90%+ of today’s home buyers do their home searching on line. That means you need your home listed on major real estate sites and on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), used by realtors and brokers. You’ll also want to ensure your online listing includes plenty of high-quality, well-staged photos. Professional home staging will help to ensure that the house has that wow factor your potential buyers are looking for.
3. It’s got glaring issues.
It could be a big issue (like a failing roof, obvious drainage issues, or slanting floors), or it could be small but obnoxious issues that buyers just can’t get past (like your beloved wall-to-wall orange carpeting or the bright blue living room paint). Either way, the fact that your home isn’t selling means buyers are consistently finding something wrong with it.
Most buyers today want a move in ready home and are immediately turned off by any area that will need work after they move in. Some buyers are willing to accept a lower price or credit for a home with a sticking-point issue, but often want double or triple the amount it would take to actually fix the issue.
Your professional home stager will provide you with a list of things that may detract from best showing your home and how to fix those issues.
4. It doesn’t show well.
It is a very good idea to have a Home Staging Consultation BEFORE you put your home on the market. You want to make sure that when prospective buyers tour your home, there’s nothing stopping them from falling in love with it. A home staging consultation will help to identify all the things you can do to best present your home. Additionally they will give you little secrets for showing your home. For example, open those blinds and curtains to let the natural light in, turn on all the lights when showing the home and put lamps in areas that are especially dim.
5. Buyers can’t picture themselves living there.
The more you enable buyers to picture their own life in your house, the more likely they’ll be to make an offer. Home stagers can identify the things in your home that are preventing your potential buyers from seeing themselves in the home.
This may mean removing clutter or putting away those overly personal items like family photos along the stairway and your kids’ artwork on the fridge. Or, if you have already begun to move your furniture and the home feels bare, you may need help with furnishing the home. Or perhaps you need to add some accessories and artwork to help give your home that Wow factor buyers are looking for. Your professional Home Stager can help with all of these scenarios.
6. You’ve neglected the curb appeal.
More than one buyer has pulled up to a house whose listing they liked, taken one look at the exterior, and driven away. It doesn’t matter ho gorgeous your home is on the inside; if buyers aren’t willing to step in the door, then you’ve lost them.
A few simple fixes can make your curb appeal irresistible. Weed and mulch the flowerbeds, trim the hedges, clear the walkways, and repaint any flaking siding. Consider adding some “homey” touches like a wreath on the door or a bench on the porch. You
don’t need to spend a ton on landscaping; just making the outside look presentable and welcoming can make all the difference.