Nitty Gritty Benefits of Occupied Home Staging

It’s a delicate balance selling a home with occupants and working around all their possessions. There is a high probability cluttered rooms, ill-placed and dated furnishings, artwork, overstuffed cabinets and closets, plus day-to-day messes exist and they will distract homebuyers, plus look unappealing in photographs. Encouraging buyers to fall in love with an unstaged home becomes a challenge and the home could remain on the market for months on end with multiple price reductions.

Before - Cluttered Living Room with Antler Chandelier

Professionally staging a home is a strategic marketing tool and will provide value to the bottom line. “32% of home buyers are willing to offer more money for a staged home compared to a similar non-staged home.” — National Association of Realtor’s 2015 Profile of Home Staging

Sellers have misconceptions about staging a home for fear they must live in a sterile home void of personality, and that simply isn’t true. Occupants can live in the home and with a few modifications it can be comfortable, attractive, and affordable. 

The process of staging makes a difference, and yes, there will be changes to attract buyers and capture their attention, especially for photographs, such as:

• Arrangement of furnishings to enhance traffic flow, increase vantage points or show off architectural features.
• Reducing the amount of furnishings or décor in a room to create balance, harmony and showcase room sizes.
• Simplification and organization of collections, décor, paperwork, and closets to reduce clutter and chaos allows buyers to appreciate the home and see the potential.

Additional considerations, include:

• Deep cleaning the entire home, including windows and tidying up the exterior. Cleanliness plays a huge role in welcoming buyers. They don’t want to buy someone’s dirty house.
• Update outdated fixtures, lighting and wall colors attracts buyers wanting a move-in ready home.

After - Spacious and Improved Floor Plan of Living Room

Taking steps to showcase the home before it is listed can increase the selling price and decrease the duration of the listing, which ultimately is the win-win everyone wants. Staging and photostyling the home is a powerful tool before listing and can generate higher offers for sellers!

Getting down and dirty and knowing where to start is daunting. The training and experience of a professional home stager offers to stage an occupied home will help to ease the transition, provide resources and help to transform the home. The home stager is a trusted professional to help you get the most for your home.

Debbie DeMarais is a professional certified home stager with DeMarais | Home Staging + Design and has successfully staged and styled hundreds of occupied and vacant homes in Santa Fe, resulting in beautiful homes receiving fast offers and quick sales. Debbie is a member of Home Staging Resource (HSR), Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), and Allied Member of ASID.

Complimentary Wall Colors Add Value to Home Sales

Experience proves that staging a home adds value to the selling price and garners quick sales, however without the structure of a well maintained home a quick sale may take a little longer than necessary. A home owner may chose to save money and avoid changing their wall color, thinking it is just paint, no big deal. But it is a big deal! When a home has been painted with bold, in-your-face colors, the walls show wear and tear, are dirty, or painted in stark white, home buyers will be turned off and it can be more difficult for you to sell the home. Consequently the home will sit on the market longer and unfortunately lose the potential for a higher selling price.

Zillow.com conducted a study in 2016, of color schemes of 50,000 homes sold during a 10-year period beginning in 2006. The results showed the highest sale of premium homes with kitchens painted in hues of creamy or wheat yellow. These homes did better than those painted white or eggshell, or had no color at all. Other top-performing listings had earthy tones like sage green or dove gray walls.

Now in Santa Fe, NM, opting for sage green walls may not be the choice of color to use especially with our heritage of rich warm tones and new creamy palettes. Instead, consider a warm palette in neutrals that are stylish and clean, and compliments the homes architectural features. Lighting, flooring and additional elements of the rooms will play an important role in selecting the proper color and should be taken into consideration whether the home is for sale or one to live in for many years to come.

Images: the harsh eggplant walls (before image-top) was a hard sale. Lightening up the room with neutral creamy wall colors and staging accessories in complimentary hues (after-bottom image) created a relaxing and cozy master bedroom and an offer received shortly after listing.

At DeMarais | home staging + design we offer color consultations and home staging solutions to help sell homes fast and for top dollar! Contact Debbie at 505.699.4989 today to schedule an on-line consultation. Check out our portfolio or reach us www.homestagingsantafe.com.

Challenges If Not Staging a Home

There are challenges in selling a home that is vacant compared to one which has been staged. For instance, the first thing buyers experience is empty, cold and unattractive rooms, areas of neglect are front and center, even if the rooms have been painted, there is nothing for buyers to connect with visually, and no perspective for the scale and size of the space. The home remains on the market for many months with little or no interest from buyers and their agents and ultimately frustrating the seller. Buyers do find ways to ask for a reduction in price because they see the duration of the listing period and assume that the seller is eager to sell. Empty homes also lose momentum when listed before they are staged. Many sellers think they will save money if they stage it later, however the listing period continues even after staging and each month results in big loses for their return on investment.

The benefits of staging an empty home are enormous! Using a trained home stager, they will work with the home and each room to create strategic placement of furniture, decor and artwork, the home says "welcome" to prospective buyers, and home staging provides intention while giving each room purpose, plus the features of the home are highlighted.

Vacant home before and after images of master bedroom and living room with dining room.

In this example, upon entering the house, in the living room is immediately off the front door,  the couch was placed against the wall to project a larger room size and draw focus to the kiva fireplace, rather than the odd shaped and small room.

Of course the major benefits to home staging is more money in your pocket and faster sales, incredible photos for on-line marketing, which do make a difference, and in most cases staging a home will increase the selling price.

As a trained and certified home stager, I encourage my clients to make the most of their listing and invest in the process of staging their home at the start. This means taking the time to fix and mend those neglected areas, freshen up the wall colors, replace outdated light fixtures, do a deep clean, and hire a trained home stager. Trained home stagers know how to maximize and position the home to sell, they focus on placement, furnishing arrangements and are trained to style the home to attract buyers. Some home stagers are able to use existing furnishings or they have an inventory you can rent.

These little tips will bring in faster offers in a shorter timeframe and the home will stand out against the competition. Buyers are savvy, they do not want to buy a house if it is dirty, unattractive, has a lot of repairs to do (unless of course the house is sold-as is for a lower price), looks a mess and is empty. Buyers want the perception they are getting move-in ready home and one that feels like a five-star hotel when they walk in.

All homes deserve to look their best and this can be achieved through home staging. If you want to sell your home quickly, first step hire a trained home stager, it's a wise investment that gets great results!

Debbie DeMarais is a trained and certified home stager at DeMarais home staging + design, and trained in the field of interior design. She provides full service solutions for occupied and vacant staging, color consultations, and interior design services. She can be reached at 505-699-4989 to schedule a personalized consultation to sell your home faster.

Staging to sell, or leave as is?

Sell a home as is or stage to sell? An awesome transformation to this home in Wilderness Gate, Santa Fe, NM will garner more money now that it's staged rather than if it was left as is.

We removed the center island blocking the amazing views of Santa Fe, painted, cleaned out years of personal belongings, updated the kitchen, and more. This home seller will be able to sell the home for more money with home staging and the updates we recommended. With a complete transformation it is positioned to sell quickly. 

Ready to stage your home, contact me to schedule a consultation.

Debbie DeMarais

DeMarais | home staging + design

Certified Home Stager and Designer

Differences between "Chaos and Calm" when selling a home

Selling a home and retaining an "as-is" presence, because you like how you live, will only hinder your ability to get a home buyer to fall in love with your home and sell it quickly, let alone a real estate agent interested in showing it at all.

In this home the home owners followed our advice to replace the pet damaged furniture, de-clutter and move their many projects and excess furniture out of the living room. We recommended painting a neutral palette on the walls and kiva fireplace, replacement of the tattered rug and furnishings, and other outdated items. In staging and styling the room conversation is encouraged, purpose and connection is provided and incredible views just outside the windows are highlighted. Upon completion the room felt larger and more spacious, home buyers lingered and were able to envision themselves living in this home.

Staging a home and transforming it can speak volumes as it highlights the architectural features and by updating the furnishings and decor it matches the home value. Home buyers expect a home to reflect the appropriate living conditions and decor reflected of the listing price. The decision to not stage a home and leaving it in the original condition will not only turn buyers away but the loss of a potential sale at a high asking price greatly diminishes.

For more before and after examples, visit www.homestagingsantafe.com

Before and After Home Staging