Our market has become increasingly more competitive. As a result, buyers not only have more options to choose from, but they also have a more critical eye when viewing houses on the market. Statistics show that within 8 seconds of entering a house the buyer has already decided whether or not they are interested in the house. 8 SECONDS! In order to grab the buyers attention immediately, there must be a WOW factor. The senses of sight, smell, and touch need to be satisfied. To help sellers achieve this desired environment, we offer complimentary staging advice. Working hand-in-hand with sellers, we use the furnishings the seller currently owns to stage the house in the most attractive manner possible.

Key elements to staging your home include, but are not limited to:

• De-personalizing your home. While you don't have to take down all of your family photos, minimize that wall of pictures on your stairwell. The key is to take the emotion out of the process and let the buyer visualize their pictures and items in the house.
• De-clutter your home. When we are showing buyers through a house, most of the time they are noticing all of the "stuff" in the home rather than the features that might draw their interest. (Things like dirty laundry laying around, paperwork all over the place, food and small appliances taking up space on your kitchen counter to name a few.)
• Packing up valuable memorabilia and personal collections. You have valuables and memorabilia that are special to you. Buyers can be distracted by these items instead of seeing what makes your house great to them.
• Minimize! This may appear to fall under the clutter point, but it deals more with furniture in your house. It might be in your best interest to rent a storage space for a short period of time if you don't have room in your basement. The more furniture in a room, the smaller it feels. Buyers want to have a feeling of open space.

For more advice, or to schedule a complimentary staging session, contact Kathy or Zac.