Who are the House Whisperer's of Real Estate? 
A vacant home appears to the left. On the right, the same home is shown staged. Like Robert Redford's intuitively gifted character rescuing unruly equestrians in the movie, "The Horse Whisperer," Real Estate Stagers are the talented individuals behind the scenes, saving homes from price reductions and stagnation on the market. Stagers know how to finesse a home for it's debut at the open house and showings thereafter. It takes skill and know-how, and is more than just simply decorating -- in fact, in many cases it is "undecorating." The practice of staging, also known as "property styling" or "property enhancement" is continuing to increase in popularity, and may be here to stay for the long haul as an industry standard. With everything house and home related becoming a focus of consumers -- like home decorating to renovating, and flipping and selling -- the media and public just can't get enough. Who would have thought we would have a decorating show on MTV..."Cribs" ... and the continuation of longer running standards like "This Old House?" House awareness is at it's pinnacle, and nowhere is it more defined than in the Real Estate Market. Consumers are impressively house savvy, and now with HGTV's Designed to Sell and A&E's Sell this House... Staging is a mainstay, and stagers, the "House Whisperers" of Real Estate readiness, are here to get the job done.  A stager can picture the home objectively and style it appropriately in order for it to compete on the market. After unlocking the home's potential, the result is a home that will sell up to 6% over the asking price and in half the time, when compared to non-staged homes. This is according to experts at Coldwell Banker, in articles appearing in Parade and USA Today . Other statistics available for skeptics and number-crunchers alike include a report that 85% of staged homes sell within 5-30 days (as sited in Michigan Homes For Sale by Owner) and is recommended by 76% of Real Estate Agents (see the HomeGain survey at RedDoor). Perhaps one of the strongest statistics and reason to stage a home is a report from the UK that over 80% of all house hunters begin their search on the internet. Peek into any staging professional's "before and after" portfolio, and it's obvious why homes that are staged capture the attention of buyers searching on the internet. The verdict is out -- homes on the market benefit from a good staging. The statistics mentioned above are from a wide cross-section of the market. So to answer the question, "When do I need to hire a stager?" Statistically speaking, the answer is always -- well, that is if a seller wants to reap the benefits listed above. Any home will sell if priced "right," but sold for any amount is not the goal of most home sellers. The longer a home is on the market, the lower the selling price goes, so it is important to get the home staged to be a buyer-magnet with the momentum of the open house. Who hires the stager? Both Realtors and the home sellers, including sellers of "For Sale By Owner," and "Lease to Own." Real Estate Staging is an integral part of the home's marketing plan. The home shown below was on the market for five long months with little foot traffic, the homeowners, ready to move on with their lives, re-listed the home with a different realtor, who suggested a home staging. The result, in four days the new realtor who brought in the stagers had two offers for the homeowner, at full asking price. The cost for staging was a fraction of the amount of any proposed price reduction on the home. Before staging (left)...this beautiful home failed to deliver a sale for it's owners. (Staging pictured on the Right) The moral of the story...DON'T WAIT! A Stager knows the secrets of appealing to the mind of the buyer and how to highlight the home's unique selling features. Sometimes, only a light touch is needed to coax the home into it's full potential, while other projects can be strenuous and demanding. The House Whisperers with their Real Estate Staging who are meeting these challenges, know the secrets that sell, and know how to communicate and convey the live-a-bility of a home to future buyers. All interior photography property of Roomspinners Some Related Blogs by this author, Julianna Hind: 10 Things Mr. Rogers Taught Me About Real Estate Staging Home Staged Home - A Before and After Slideshow Lighten-up and Let it Show! |
great photos and good reasons to "stage"
You go girl! Great links providing back up info; beautiful presentation as well. I loved the layout. Curious, did you do this in Publisher? I use publisher a lot to do my graphics and also newsletters. Now I'm going to try it for a blog!
Thx for the great read, Julianna!
Susan and Karen, thank you very much for the kind comments. Karen, I did not use publisher this time, I am glad you like the layout!
FANTASTIC! Looks beautiful too! Would love to know how you have done this. Definite 5!
Great post, great content and all that rot, but what I WANNA KNOW is how you formatted this posting. Man, I can't even get my text to wrap around my
PICTURES!!!!
Everything you do is very professional....I'm impressed all the way!
Cheers from DC!
Jaynee
Julianna, My gosh girl this is wonderful. You are really strutting your stuff now. A wonderful post presented in a fabulous way! Seems some people think we home stagers have been shouting from the roof tops when in reality we have been whispering to the houses. Very well done!
Great information! I think my favorite part was the staged blog - it looks great! :)
I like the softer notion of "coaxing" a house into its full potential. Very nice way of telling people they live messily and they gots to tidy up. Beautifully written and designed post.
Awesome post! Love the layout. I'll await word on what you used as it's super professional looking.
Kathy
Ah, Julianna! Another fabulous post and before and after photos. Thank you for linking the stats. We all need that important info to sell sellers on the importance of Staging, BEFORE going on the market, saving TIME and $$.
Julianna, what a great post. I love what you have to say and how you say it. Your pictures are beautiful. Thanks for posting. Betty
Yes. Julianna...I think we are requesting a blog on the 'dos' of your presentation! It looks great and very professional!! I was happy just to upload photos...(being new at this and all!!) Great article! Regards-Kathleen
Hi friends, Thank you for the kind comments. I have to keep this brief, because I am away on vacation and paying by the minute for internet ;-) Anyway, I can try to attempt a POST on layout, although I have to tell you, the layout on this did take a while I am not particularly technical. I experiment as I go. My favorite tool to make posts look great is v bulletin, but basically, you need some type of HTML generator, and it helps if you can link your pictures from some place else. Ok, I will be back on the 26th, I am sure I will check in before that via whatever internet I can find. Best wishes once again to all.
Julianna - what a good looking blog (almost as good looking as Robert Redford) - and the content was top notch too. Have a fabulous holiday and we will all wait for your return and some insight in to how you did it:)
Stephanie
Julianna, Here you go again. CONGRATULATIONS one more time for your excellent work. You did an excellent job and many of us are waiting until you aren't paying for minutes to tell us your great secrets!
Great Job Julianna!! CONGRATULATIONS!! I will be looking forward to your blog on how to create a FABULOUS looking blog such as you did for the contest!! I LOVED it and wished mine looked as great! Regards-Kathleen
Hi Juliana - what a wonderful post and congrats on your honorable mention place in the staging contest. Beautiful job not only on this post, but on the pictures and the words you used - wonderful all the way around.
Congrats!
Ann
Those are some great statistics on home staging, I can definitly see through your pictures why it is a benefit to do this. Thanks for the info.
I loved your article. Funny, I thought I had made a comment prior to this, but its not there. (I am slowly losing my mind for some reason) Well congrats fellow honorable mention! Great job!
Juliana - this was a really excellent entry into our contest. Your article contained all the necessary elements of an exceptionally written consumer-oriented post. Keep up the stellar efforts!
Thanks for the kudos friends! And BTW, I will just let you know, the post was formatted on an old newsletter post, and it wasn't easy, so I still recommend vflyer for posts or other html editor. I am glad you liked it though!