Our Services

Why Home Staging Works

Staged homes typically sell faster than unstaged ones -- 80 percent faster in a 2009 survey. That is amazing! But it's been documented over and over. So what is home staging? First, staging is not decluttering. Nor is it decorating. Partly an art, home staging is designed to achieve one goal: To connect a prospective buyer to your house -- to make him or her want to move in.

Staging highlights the best architectural features of your home, removes distractions and helps the prospective buyer imagine your home as his or hers – living in it, relaxing in it, entertaining in it -- which will lead to a sale. This brief virtual tour will help you see how it works.

Behind the Numbers

Staged Homes Spend 80% Less Time on Market. Why? It’s the Internet!

A 2009 StagedHomes.com survey of over 1000 homes (55% vacant, 45% occupied) that were sold from November 2008 through May 2009 across the US and Canada found that unstaged homes spent an average of 182 days on market before sale, while the 94.8% of staged homes (staged by Staged Homes-trained professional stagers) that sold spent an average of 37 days on market before sale. That's 80% less time on the market for professionally staged homes.

Professional staging works. What accounts for its increasing success rate? Answer: More buyers are searching on-line: 90% of all home buyers used the Internet to search for homes in 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors. In today's competitive market, buyers simply weed out houses that don't look great in on-line photos. Since unstaged homes don’t look as good in photos, unstaged houses just don't get the same traffic. Unstaged homes don't show as well during visits either, so they draw fewer offers. Result: Unstaged homes spend longer on the market – 4 times longer, on average.

Sell Your Home in Weeks

Do you want to sell your home in weeks instead of months? Follow our advice:

1. Prepare your home and have it staged by a rigorously trained professional home stager.
2. Don’t take photos until your home has been staged, to avoid being weeded out when viewed on the web.
3. Make sure your photos are ultra-wide angle, sharp and well-lit.
4. Post your photos everywhere buyers will see them or hire a savvy agent to do it.
5. Even if you don’t list with an agent, pay a commission to buyers’ agents.
6. Price your home competitively based on recent sales of comparable homes.

As a home seller, you are competing against all other homes in your area. You can take advantage of our advice to sell your home ahead of the others whose owners haven't learned about staging. For more on reaping the benefits of home staging, see What is Home Staging?.

Some real estate agents understand these benefits and enthusiastically recommend professional home staging. Whether yours does or not, tell her (or him) that you want your house staged by a professional and photographed only after staging. (The cost of an evaluation is modest, and the evaluation is essential for a fast sale.) Also, ask how she plans to use the Internet to market your home. If you follow our advice, you CAN sell your home fast. Don't let your house sit on the market waiting for a price cut. See Select a Savvy Agent.

What Services does The Staging Prince Offer to Homeowners?

Following our initial home evaluation, The Staging Prince offers these services to homeowners:

• We provide advice on which repairs and updates to make to maximize return -- whether you are ready to sell near-term or planning for the future;
• We can find contractors and handle the bidding process for you ;
• We can recommend a savvy listing agent who is good at marketing houses in today's competitive market;
• We can help with packing and decluttering, even manage a garage sale or arrange for charitable gifts;
• We can stage your home so that a potential buyer can see it as his or her new dream house.
• Many Hudson Valley homeowners also own businesses; as consultants to small business clients, we can handle issues ancillary to a move, including small business renewal, cash flow issues, computer services, even interim management.
• In short, as your advisors The Staging Prince can take the hassle out of preparing to move, from start to finish.

We offer advice to home sellers as well as to homeowners who are planning for the future.

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Q. What does The Staging Prince do?

We advise homeowners on how to present their home and how to maximize the return they’ll get when they sell.

Q. Don’t real estate agents do that?

Not really. The real estate agent’s goal is to market the house so it sells quickly, not to maximize the seller’s equity. So if a house needs some repairs and maybe has dated kitchen and baths, an agent’s advice may be to set the price below comparable homes so it has a chance of selling quickly.

Q. What does the homeowner do about it?

Sometimes the homeowner sets the price low to avoid the hassle of making home improvements and gives away a lot of his or her equity. Sometimes the homeowner, not understanding the marketplace, elects to set a high price "to test the market". He may even choose an agent who recommends setting a high price just to get the listing. The agent knows the house won’t sell at that price but may use the listing to find buyers to show other houses to. Eventually, after there are no offers, he'll recommend cutting the price.

Q. So either way the homeowner loses?! What can The Staging Prince do to help this homeowner?

While we're not appraisers, we can advise homeowners on which repairs to make and, if they like, also find contractors to make them and coordinate their work. The cost is nearly always less than the discount a buyer will demand to make those repairs – because the buyer would need to finance the repairs on top of having just gotten a mortgage.

Q. What's the process that you use to make recommendations?

To assess the homeowner's needs, we would provide an initial home evaluation for a modest fee and then give the homeowner a report that includes our recommendations. We will review them with the homeowner and chart a course of action to implement them according to the homeowner's wishes and budget. The homeowner is under no obligation to implement our recommendations, of course, and may want them purely for planning purposes. Whatever they do, they should take advantage of the opportunity to have their home looked at objectively by a professional staging consultant.

Q. When should a seller contact The Staging Prince?

If homeowners call us early, while making the decision whether to sell or not, they get several benefits. They can use our repair and upgrade recommendations as part of their planning. They can take time to do the repairs and upgrades with less disruption. And they can actually enjoy the upgrades while living in their home. They may even like the improvements so much that they postpone selling for a year or two. So they should call us early if they can.

If they have no time to wait, that's ok. We can often complete repairs and improvements in a week or two, sometimes in a few days. But it is important that the house be properly prepared to sell before the first open house, which brings the most traffic.

Q. Do seniors in Bergen and Rockland have special concerns?

Bergen County became suburban in the 50's after the War and in the 60's after the lower deck was added to the GW Bridge, while Rockland County became suburban in the 60’s and 70’s, spurred by completion of the TZ Bridge and the Palisades Parkway. Many Rockland County residents moved their families from the city and have been here – generally in the same house – since then. Having reached the status of seniors, many longtime Bergen and Rockland residents, as well as those throughout the Hudson Valley, are now selling their homes and moving to warmer climates and to areas with lower property taxes. But many seniors are not in a good situation. If they’ve lost retirement money in the stock market and then have to sell their home at a depressed price, they may struggle during retirement. While homes are selling, it's a challenging environment in which buyers are choosy. The Staging Prince can help downsizing seniors and other homeowners maximize their equity when they sell.

Q. So The Staging Prince is a homeowner's advisor, not just a professional home stager, right? Can you summarize what you do for a Hudson Valley homeowner?

The Staging Prince takes the hassle out of preparing to move. We advise homeowners on readying their homes for market, presenting them to potential buyers through home staging, and maximizing their equity upon sale. We can help homeowners sell their home quickly and at the best possible price.

With our advice, chances are the seller will get more money for the house and also will sell it much faster than if it is left as-is. To learn how staging actually works, see Home Staging.

The Staging Prince is committed to the success of its clients in selling their homes. To arrange a professional home evaluation, give us a call today: 845-875-4561 or 201-505-0005, or click here to email us.