Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Part Seven, DRAMATIZE

Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Part Seven, DRAMATIZE

Part of my role as a professional home stager is to educate Home Sellers and Real Estate Agents about the realities of Home Staging. Watching home staging programs on TV frequently misleads viewers and does not impart the details of how a professional stager works and how the staging process plays out.

In the Fresno, Clovis and Madera foothill and mountain communities the housing market remains a very strong Buyers market. I have heard many stories of buyers getting homes for 40-50% of the value that was established for them 2-3 years ago. Many sellers are underwater with their loans and need a way out. Home staging can help with these issues.

Professional home staging is frequently misunderstood by many real estate agents and homeowners. Sellers and agents are often fearful of the stager and the process. They often think that it is primarily about decluttering, removing family photos and then adding beautiful items from a stager's inventory or having to buy new furniture themselves.

While those aspects can be important they are NOT the sum total of what a professional home stager can do for you and your home. We do NOT come into a home to demean or berate how the seller lives. As Professional Stagers, our goal is to help sell the property and to make the process as easy on the seller's as possible.

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This is the Final Part of a Seven (7) part series about the ins and outs of real-life professional home staging. You can read Parts 1-6 with these links:

Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, an Overview, Part One

Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Repairs, Part Two

Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Decluttering, Part Three

Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Neutralizing / Depersonalizing, Part Four

Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Updating, Part Five

Sellers and Realtors: Staging Education, Cleaning, Part Six

Adding Drama...DRAMATIZE

Most people think of this final step as adding the WOW FACTOR in a marketed house. Professional stagers will assist with the first six steps but this final step is where we really can make a house shine and set it apart from the competition.

I want to be clear that the goal in this step is to highlight the features of the house AND to show the functionality of specific rooms and spaces. This step is not interior decorating.

A home that has great interior decorating can often use the help of professional stager to make it "buyer friendly".

The goal in interior decorating is to focus on the needs of the family and create a style that is pleasing to them.

In professional home staging the goal is to focus on the house and the target audience of buyers for that house.

Here are a few before and after photos as examples:

In this occupied vacation home the seller's had furnishings but the home had no personality. They had never gotten around to adding those special touches. Dream Interior Redesign and Staging came in with our accessories and artwork. We also swapped out furniture from one room to another to make the house feel alive, welcoming and more visually appealing to potential buyers.

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The next before and afters is from the same vacation home. Colorful accessories made this grand kitchen even more appealing to potential buyers.

THE RESULTS...this home had been on the market for over a year, showing it as it was in these before photos. After we staged the house, a great offer was presented within one week, but the homeowner/seller had fallen back in love with her home (thanks to our work) and she moved in permanently, thus removing it from the market.

Is this step DRAMATIZE, important with all price points of home FOR SALE? Absolutely!

Here is an example of a modestly priced, ranch home. In the before photo, on the left, too many of grandmas items dated the house. Using only the seller's furnishings we neutralized the window coverings, added our accessories and artwork, plus rearranged furniture.

RESULTS....This home sold to the first people that saw it, after it was professionally staged.

VACANT HOMES seriously need PROFESSIONAL STAGING ATTENTION

The majority of home buyers cannot visualize what an empty room will look like with their furnishings. They wonder how they will arrange their items and what type of traffic flow would work in an empty space. Surprisingly, vacant rooms actually appear smaller. Vacant properties usually feel cold, without personality and there rarely is a WOW factor.

This late 70's home had very little appeal when vacant. We helped the home owner with suggestions for updates (flooring & paint in this room), then we added the WOW factor with our furnishings, artwork and accessories.

RESULTS... this was a rental property in a market that was flooded with high-end rental properties. The first applicant rented the house AND purchased much of our furniture, art and accessories because "we gave the house the vibe that it needed." Knowing the target market is crucial and professional stagers make it part of the staging plan.

One additional vacant home example:

This master bedroom was clearly big enough for a king-sized bed and all of the other furniture that one might want in their bedroom. We observed that people were commenting that it was too big to be cozy. The owner painted and we added our furnishings, accessories and art. Now it's a warm and inviting space with an updated ensuite bathroom.

If your house, a friend's house or your listing is languishing on the market without buyer interest, contact a Professional Home Stager in your area to help you make that sale happen.

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Dream Interior Redesign & Staging, by Ginger Foust is a full service, licensed and insured, Professional Home Staging and Interior ReDesign/Decorating company.

Locally serving the California foothill and mountain communities of Oakhurst, North Fork, Coarsegold, Ahwahnee, Bass Lake, Wawona and Mariposa. Also serving areas of, Fresno, Clovisand Madera, California.

Providing Virtual and Conceptual Staging Worldwide.

Click here to see short slideshows with examples of our work. When the first show is over, click on OTHER SHOWS to see more.

Visit our website at http://www.dreamredesigns.com for more information or call 559-877-2442.