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While we appreciate you following our blog, or at least coming by and checking in on them periodically, you could be missing out if you aren’t following us on Facebook and Google Plus. We not only share our own posts, new home staging jobs, and statistics, but we also share other great articles that could help you better market or prepare your listings.

What you might be missing out on by not following us.

If you are in the Indianapolis area, you may be able to get a sneak peek on newly staged listings, giving you an opportunity to have your buyers scoop them up before someone else does.

If you are looking for informative posts then you’ll want to be sure to follow.

Are you a luxury Realtor, or want to become one? Here’s a good way to help begin the conversation with your sellers. Actually this is great advice for sellers of any price range.

The National Association of Realtors has a home staging blog and we regularly highlight some of their best posts.

Other times we share posts that are simply amusing or whimsical – a fun take on the real estate or home staging industry.

If you aren’t following us, then you just might be missing out. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Buyers rarely ask the question, “Do I want to buy this house?” instead, they ask, “Do I want to live here?” This may seem to be a difference in semantics, but really it is a question of envisioning. There are things we buy. We buy laundry detergent. We buy milk. Like clothes or car shopping, we typically buy based on how that product makes us feel.

Buyers need to “feel it” to buy it.

Sometimes when real estate professionals are showing homes to potential buyers they’ll hear buyers say things like, “I’m just not feeling it.” or “This just doesn’t feel like home.” What that means is that the home isn’t connecting emotionally with them. It is still just a house and not a home. Investors buy a house. People who want to live in a property are looking for a home. 

This is why home staging has become more important than ever. Everyone is busy and few people have vision of possibilities anymore. Take a few minutes to tune into shows like Property Brothers for 10 minutes to see what I mean. Even when buyers have a significant renovation budget they just can’t see beyond what-is to what-could-be. What’s worse is that even when a home is move-in-ready buyers can’t see past the plain vanilla box. It’s why builders spend so much money on models.

Home Staging isn’t about picking options, it’s about emotion

The next time you question whether home staging is important, ask if you chose a car simply if it has a leather interior and heated seats or if you want a car that fits your personality. I’ll bet you can find any number of cars that have the features you want, but only a couple will appeal to your eye and emotion. Determine why that is and you might just understand your buyers a little better.

One of the big reasons that home staging works is that potential home buyers get to envision what their lives would like if they bought that home. When buyers can emotionally move-in they are more likely to purchase a home. Agents always know when buyers begin to talk about where their furniture would go that they are very close to a deal.

How home staging details create lifestyle cues for buyers.

When you compare vacant, empty homes with ones staged by Indianapolis based company, Home Matters, the difference is clear. Staging is not only about placing furniture, rugs, and artwork to create size and scale, but it is also about adding lifestyle cues through details placed throughout the home.

Some details help remind potential buyers of the way a home will function in daily life. Others may remind them of holidays, family time, or entertaining.

One of the important things to remember when deciding if lifestyle staging is effective is to remember that nearly all homes are bought on emotion. Buyers determine, during showings, if the house they are viewing feels like “home” to them. Is this where they want to spend the next few years, or decades, of their lives? Do they want to raise a family here, cook dinners, or throw parties?

Can buyers imagine opening the door to welcome friends and family? Coming home everyday, kicking off their shoes and watching TV, or slipping into a bubble bath become major decision makers when the search for HOME is on.

Every detail counts. A basket of fruit on the counter may give them the image of their kids walking by and grabbing an orange. It could make them think of Thanksgiving and a bountiful table of family and friends. It could remind them of fruit trees in the yard, or even something small like more counter space that they don’t currently have.

By adding details throughout the home, we create opportunities for home buyers to imagine their new lives. They look at fixtures and finishes as an event, not as a single object. They look at the property as a home, not a house and let’s face it, that’s what they want to buy.

We regularly get calls from sellers who have been told by their real estate professional that they need to have their home staged – and then proceed to ask if we can do it that week. It’s Tuesday and the photographer comes on Friday. Stop. It is almost impossible for us to accommodate you. We need more time than that. You need more time than that.

A reasonable timeline for Indianapolis home staging

Let’s talk about the process, expectations, and recommended timeline for home staging in Indianapolis. First and foremost, staging should happen before the home goes on the market. The right time to talk to Home Matters is ideally several weeks before you plan on listing your home. It is OK to meet with your preferred Realtor and sign the listing paperwork. You should, however, be sure to post date the market date so that you have adequate time to prepare.

If you are living in your home, you should typically allow about 2-3 weeks to get your home in marketable condition. This will allow appropriate time for you to go through closets, have your carpets cleaned, and any other recommended work completed.

If your home is vacant and in like-new condition, then staging will typically take about 7-10 days from acceptance of contract for us to complete staging. If you may need additional work, then just like occupied homes, you’ll need about 2-3 weeks to allow all of the contractors to complete the work.

Home Matters works with dozens of Realtors and their new listings

Professional home stagers with the expertise of Home Matters are in high demand. We also work with many of the best Realtors in the area, meaning that we sometimes have dozens of market evaluations and quotes to provide in a week.  While we make it a point to visit each seller’s home within 2 business days to provide them with the information they need to begin preparing their home, our schedule does not allow for us to stage the same week as the evaluation.

We recognize that each home is important and allowing appropriate time for preparation will take a lot of the stress out of the selling process. Remember that waiting 2-3 weeks to properly prepare your home for the market may save you 6 weeks or more of lack luster showings and price reductions.

No one goes looking for a house. Potential home buyers are looking for a home. They decide on a home based on whether the home will meet their goals, dreams, and lifestyle not on how many bedrooms or baths at has. Sure, the number of beds and baths needs to fit the need, but there are potentially dozens of houses to chose from. Only one will be a home.

Home Staging helps buyers see their dream in pictures

Four walls, hardwood floors, crown molding, and vaulted ceilings are just features if a buyer can’t imagine their kids opening presents on Christmas morning, having cereal at the breakfast table, or Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room with their loved ones. When a customer gives you their wish list, most Realtors need to know that they are listening for the things that they aren’t saying. They are looking for why the customer wants these things so that they know how to meet all their goals – how to give the customer their dream home.

Home staging is one of the best ways to stir emotion, particularly in a home that is vacant and empty of life. Our staging process is more than furniture, art and accessory rental. It is about the appropriate furnishings that present a lifestyle that translates a favorable experience for your targeted buyer. It is about helping buyers realize a dream, and finding a home, not just a house.