You want to sell your home? Stage it.

Chances are if your house isn’t selling it doesn’t always have to do with the all of “those” people who simply refuse to recognize its beauty. Don’t be quick to take offense I’m not saying your house isn’t beautiful, because of course it is… but you might be able to acquire a couple of tricks that could make your house even more beautiful.

 Ok, honestly, if your house is on the market you have probably already come across the idea of staging your home. However, did you know that home staging costs LESS than your first price reduction? Usually by about Ten percent! You can even do it yourself for about 250.00 with a consultation and report. Even the ASP (Accredited Staging Professional) stats show that the average home sells in 182 days as opposed to a staged home which will sell on average in 37 days.

 Now when I say the words staging, inexpensive, do it yourself, you might think I mean decorating. I do not. I repeat I do NOT mean decorating. Decorating is when you love your home so much that you want to make it look like you love it. Decorating is emotional and personal. Staging on the other hand takes away that emotional element. You might have the false belief that a buyer will appreciate your little tokens of love scattered through out your home. They will not. What the buyer will see is a house which is yours not theirs, a cluttered home, not a future investment. You say, “but its not clutter,” not to you it isn’t but to a potential buyer anything that isn’t theirs is probably going to be considered clutter. No hard feelings. That being said, the trick does not involve emptying your house, you have to create a specific nature to sell. This is what an outside observer can do.

 I know, I know, it seems like you are the Kings and Queens of your home and you know what is best for it (chances are most of the time you do). You might be the all-knowing super-power of your home, but do not make the mistake of assuming you are also the emperor of the people coming to view it. You don’t know them! They could be anyone; a nice home to them might mean an aquarium inside your living room. You never know, and you will never be able to. A stager does not know either but they have a better strategic position to detach from the whole ordeal and move away from, trendy, cute, country, formal, ultra, traditional, or ultra modern and into the wonderful world of GENERIC.

 Good luck! Thanks to Kathy Cinquemani of ASP, Hampton NH for her Sell or Dwell Ideas.