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• Update outdated fixtures, lighting and wall colors attracts buyers wanting a move-in ready home.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.

Home Decorating and Staging Special for September

Dreaming of adding pizzazz to your existing home or decorating a new one and would like professional help to create a defined style with decorating, furnishing or space layout? 

Perhaps it’s time to sell the house? Where to start? Receive the expertise, guidance and staging tips you need to stage your house to stand out, sell quickly and for top dollar.

Whatever the reason you may have, now is the time to update the home before the holidays arrive! Schedule a design session or an occupied staging consult during the month of September* and receive five hours, for the price of four!  Contact Debbie today to reserve your customized hands-on session. 

Not in Santa Fe, NM? Interested in staging your home via Skype? Let's give it a try, offer can be split into two sessions for Skype staging only.

*Back-to-School Special - five hours at $375, plus tax, expires 9/30/2016. Offer does not apply to materials and supplies, rental inventory, vacant home staging, delivery, or additional labor. Visa/MC accepted.

DeMarais | home staging + design
Debbie DeMarais | HSR Certified Home Stager, ASID Allied Member
www.homestagingsantafe.com

Home Buyer's Seek Staged Homes

Selling a house today is quite different than it used to be years ago. Today’s home buyers are extremely savvy about what they want in their next home. Marketing a home takes more consideration, time and work. Focusing on the appearance, how a home is presented will contribute to the success of a sale.

81% of home buyers reported staging makes it easier to visualize the property as a future home, reports the National Association of Realtors 2015 Profile of Home Staging. A staged home ‘invites’ the buyer see the potential rather than develop negative objections.

Top five reasons to stage a home:

1.     Buyer’s looking on-line make their decision to view the home in person within 8 seconds.

2.     Staging a home creates a vision of how a buyer aspires to live in your home, not showcasing the actual day-to-day existence.

3.     Buyers focus on positive reinforcement throughout the home rather than negative to consider if it meets their needs.

4.     Buyers will re-prioritize their list, when a house feels like home they can live in.

5.     Leaving a home in “as-is” condition will only help sell the competition. Buyers look for homes with updated fixtures and appliances, and décor.

Staged homes on the average earn more money than a home that hasn’t been staged. A professional Home Stager is trained to know what buyer’s look for and how to get a home sold quickly. Taking the extra steps to prepare a home for sale is the difference between a quick sale or a long-term listing with price reductions. 

For more information visit - www.homestagersantafe.com 

Debbie DeMarais 

DeMarais | home staging + design

Ms. DeMarais is a Certified Professional Home Stager through Home Staging Resource and is trained in Interior Design and Architectural Design. She is a member of RESA and ASID, Allied Member. She provides full-service home staging solutions and interior design in Santa Fe, NM.

Image: This home was staged using the owners furnishings and decor. They received an offer within four-days of listing the home!

Embracing contemporary design in staged home at Parade of Homes tour

This Friday, the annual Parade of Homes begins and runs for two weekends in Santa Fe. This event showcases some of the best homes in the area. If you have an opportunity to tour the homes you'll not only see terrific architectural design work but staged homes plus new offerings in interior design techniques.

I was fortunate to work with the Homewise team at their Tessara home, entry #6, and took the opportunity to highlight the interior and it's finishes by blending interior design elements and principles to create a style that is complimentary, comfortable, with just a touch of contemporary design that everyone can appreciate.

The key to good home staging techniques is providing just the right amount of ambiance to allow a buyer to envision the possibilities of embracing the space as their own while working with the finishes of the home. Hope to see you on the tour. To see more home staging techniques visit www.homestagingsantafe.com.

Selling a Lifestyle through Home Staging

How the interior space of a home is styled says more than you think. Selling a home takes more consideration than just painting the walls or planting flowers outside. Consider the message the interior speaks, does it scream that it needs help?

This living room had some great items to work with. Before we staged the room it was overcrowded and unappealing. The room appeared to be very small and had many focal points. Making a detour around the room to sit down was the entry point. Considering Feng Shui principles, this room represents blocking creativity, flow and keeping your guard up.  Unfortunately, it isn’t very welcoming as the first impression into the home, especially if it is for sale.

Using home staging techniques and interior design principles to maximize the space and highlight the homes features will make this home extraordinary. By removing excessive accessories, eliminating unnecessary and over scaled furniture, plus introducing appropriate décor items we can begin to paint a picture for buyers. One that highlights the occupant’s lifestyle, maximizes the size and functionality of the room, improves the perception and sensibility of the space, plus adds value to the home.

First impressions count and by creating a focal point for each room that is inviting, comfortable and beautiful will increase the on-line viewing and selling potential. Homebuyers can see the potential and possibilities of envisioning their family making the house their own and will be ready to buy.

Whether you live in your home or it is for sale the placement of furniture, décor as well as scale speaks volumes. Does your home reflect the lifestyle you aim for or does it hold you back?

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