Preparing Homes For Sale in Rockland and Bergen

Free monthly newsletter with advice for selling homeowners.

We can help you prepare your home for sale. To sell your house in weeks not months, start with an evaluation by a professional home stager.

Select an Internet-Savvy Agent Who Values Staging

Staged houses sell in less time

According to a 2009 survey of 1000 home sales by StagedHomes.com (November 2008 - May 2009), unstaged houses on average spent 182 days on the market vs 37 days for houses that had been professionally staged.

Surprised? More surprising is that, despite the overwhelming benefit to the home seller of professional staging, not all Rockland and Bergen real estate agents recommend professional staging to their clients. Often, they are afraid that the work that ought to be done will slow down the marketing process, overlooking the fact that an offer will come only if the buyer finds the house appealing. The evidence: Look around at the number of unsold houses in Rockland and Bergen -- virtually all unstaged.

Role of the Internet

What accounts for the success of professional home staging in selling a home faster? 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. As a result, unstaged houses just don't get the same traffic. Unstaged houses don't show as well during visits either, so they draw fewer offers. Result: Unstaged houses spend longer -- sometimes much longer -- on the market.

When a house sits on the market unsold, it is overwhelmingly the seller's loss through extra mortgage payments, property taxes and utilities. But the cost is not the seller's alone. Both sellers and real estate agents benefit from a fast sale. In light of the survey results cited above, every agent should recommend professional home staging (that is, a professional evaluation plus staging implementation) to all their clients.

If your agent tells you your home is "well-enough staged" or "you can do it yourself", your agent is probably referring to decluttering rather than staging. Decluttering is essential but decluttering is not staging nor is decluttering alone what achieved the fast sales cited in the survey.

A home staging evaluation is essential to a fast sale. You will also need to follow the staging advisor's recommendations (some of which you can do yourself) and spring for staging implementation (typically a half-day's or day's work), and you will need to price your house competitively. But without staging advice your house is likely to remain unsold longer -- perhaps much longer -- and you are likely to get less when you sell.

Select an agent who endorses home staging

Home sellers should select a listing agent who enthusiastically endorses home staging and works with a professional stager. An agent who recommends professional staging is an agent who also understands the benefit of posting high-quality photos and uses the Internet to generate traffic. That's a savvy agent. That's the kind of agent you need.

Here's our advice to a serious home seller:

• Hire an Internet-savvy agent,
• Hire a professional stager, and
• Don’t take photos until your home has been staged.

When you select your agent, ask her how she plans to use the Internet to market your home. And tell your agent that you want your house staged by a professional. If you follow this advice and also price your home competitively, you CAN sell your home fast. Don’t let your house sit on the market waiting for a price cut.