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By now, if you read our Indianapolis Home Staging blog you know that vacant homes are not the only homes that need a little bit of additional help during the listing process. Recently we even dedicated a blog to showcasing our array of services for lived in homes. Some agents are still surprised to find out that we have a package that allows us to quickly get your occupied homes up and ready for market in very little time.

Our new occupied staging packages

Indianapolis area agents are accustomed to calling us for consultations prior to putting their listings on the market. A common issue has been that sometimes it’s just too long for the seller to complete the necessary work, or that they have no time to do it. Because of this we have introduced a package that allows agents to prepay for not only a few hours of staging work but also include a supply of fill in accessories for the main rooms of the home.

With this new enhancement package, the Realtor can now make it easy for both the seller and themselves by having the main rooms ready to go the same day that the consultation for the remainder of the home is scheduled. Rather than us coming to do a full consultation, we’ll be prepared to move furniture, rehang artwork and accessorize so the listing is ready for its close up in days rather than weeks. Because we know that agents may want to offer this service to their customers as part of their listing services, we’ve kept the fees to a low flat rate. This way it is predictable for your marketing budget.

Why occupied homes need home staging too….

In case you’ve somehow missed our occupied home staging blogs in the past, let me remind you of some of the important reasons to stage your occupied listings.

• Sellers don’t always live in the optimal way the home is designed. EX: Rather than having a breakfast area, some families may opt to make this space a homework station complete with bulky computer desks and electronics.
• Sellers may have decorating taste, both good and bad, that can become a distraction for home buyers.
• Sellers may not be able to think outside of the way they have lived in the space for many years to see the possibilities of flow, floor plan, and function and how it relates to today’s buyer.
• Sellers may be significantly different in age or other demographic than the likely buyer. This could deter buyers from being able to see the potential of the home.
• Clean lines and proper furniture and art placement will help the home to show better in photos, increasing the amount of traffic that it gets when it hits the market.
• Staged homes look better in photos than non staged homes, increasing the online traffic.

For more information about our occupied or vacant home staging options, call Home Matters today!

It’s a common misconception that home staging is about furniture, art, and accessories. Most people think that home staging is about decorating an empty home. The reality is that home staging is about marketing. We change the potential value of a home by changing it’s perceived value.

Home staging changed the perceived value by marketing lifestyle.

Furniture, art, and accessories are only props for the purpose of marketing the potential lifestyle for the home buyer. When the props are added to a home, buyers can more easily see the way their life will fill the home they are in.

Take the home staging at 11385 Woods Bay Lane, Indianapolis. This beautiful home was recently renovated, but still was still lacking interest in the sea of beige carpeting, beige walls, and white trim work. Staging allows buyers to see the way the rooms will be used. It adds color and interest.

In 5307 Channing Road, Indianapolis, the home was older and had not been fully updated.  Home staging was used to make the home feel more modern. With a mix of traditional and contemporary furniture, artwork, and accessories, buyers will be able to see that the home can be lived in today without the need of immediate expensive renovations.

How does home decor change perceived value?

Unlike price reductions, that only discount a home, (And how many people LOVE things that are on clearance?) professional home staging helps buyers to see through the distractions of emptiness or not fully updated. By using colors, texture, and scale, we help buyers focus on the overall home and not on small details that they may not love.

Home staging can also help bring emphasis to features that may sometimes get lost. With careful placement of furniture, artwork, and accessories, we control the way a buyer’s eye moves through the home. This helps them focus on what we want them to see, in the order we want them to see it, maximizing the 10-15 minutes that potential buyers usually spend in a home.

Whether your home is occupied or vacant home staging can help increase the PERCEIVED value of the home, which often increases the ACTUAL value of the home. 

It’s no secret that nearly every home buyer today begins their search online. The National Association of Realtors says that it’s nearly 99% of home buyers. There’s almost no one with access to the internet that hasn’t been on Realtor.com, Zillow, or Trulia to at least look around. When they say, “look around” what they really mean is look at the pretty photos.

The images are everything to a home buyer online.

For those who aren’t actually just taking the time to enjoy the eye candy of photos but are actually looking for a new home, there is nothing more important than the photo. This two dimensional image is what will decide if they pick up the phone or strike an email to their Realtor saying that they want to see THIS home.

Unfortunately when the home looks like the above home it’s chosen far less often than when the home is professionally staged. Four walls, flooring, and windows is not exactly inspiring to most home buyers. Even though Realtors know that many many home buyers prefer new construction over existing homes, leading sellers to assume that non-occupied homes are the gold standard for buyers, the truth is that most new construction homes are sold off of the builder’s STAGED model.

Even when buyers purchase an existing inventory spec home, chances are they previewed one of the community’s models and really loved it prior to looking at the empty one.

When potential buyers are presented with the option of a staged home, there is suddenly more interest in a property. Statistics show that homes sell 73% faster after staging than the same home on the market before it was staged. Simply put, buyers are more able to see their lives in the home. After all, no one buys four walls, flooring, and some windows. What they buy is the life they want to put inside of it.

Linda Barnett, found of Home Matters, LLC, and award winning Indianapolis home staging company, was recently a guest on Indy’s Real Estate Guru’s Radio Show. This was an exciting opportunity to spread the message and benefits of home staging to both Indianapolis Realtors and home owners. The show was approximately 45 minutes, too much for all but the most die hard fans so we’ve decided to break the show into a few video clips that highlight the program.

Home Staging makes your house competitive

As Linda Barnett explains on the show, home staging is a marketing strategy. It is the act of preparing and showcasing residential property on the market for sale.

This conversation discusses the points that a home staging consultation covers and the benefits of home staging.

It is important to note that home staging, while often thought of as decorating, is in fact something very different.  Home staging is about positioning your home so that you can become highly competitive in any market.

While the Indianapolis real estate market, much like the rest of the country, is shifting from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market, home staging is still a crucial element if you want to get top dollar for your home.

Today, more than ever, with home prices on the rise, buyers believe that they will be able to afford the home that they want at a reasonable price. While they are motivated to purchase by declining inventory and increasing interest rates, they still won’t buy unless they find what they want. When they do, they still want to negotiate. The market at this point is not strong enough that buyers will consistently offer full price UNLESS the home has been on the market a very short period of time – usually less than 7 days.

The key to getting interest and multiple offers (the surest way to get highest and best offers) is to stage from Day 1, before home ever hits the market.