Since creating the “to be continued” blog, I’ve been closing each post with the words “dwell in possibilities.” I must confess that I borrowed this phrase from the great poet, Emily Dickinson. I saw her quote and realized that it summed up what I am doing as a professional home stager and interior designer.

I am most grateful to Ms. Dickinson for her insightful and inspiring phrase.

Regardless of the size or price range of a house, my objective is to find the possibilities in that house. I am looking for those unique features of that house and finding possible ways to accentuate them for the potential buyer. I am analyzing those unusual spaces that buyers find difficult to understand upon first glance and finding possible functional uses for those spaces.

In the end, my mission is to help the potential buyer see how they could dwell in the possibilities of this house!


Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The “Put It on the Market” Myth

On occasion, certain Realtors (not usually the successful Realtors I describe in “to be continued”) will advise their home selling clients to just put the house on the market and then if it doesn’t sell in a month or two, stage the house.  I call this the “Put It on the Market” Myth.

My assumption is that if the seller balks at the cost of professional home staging, then the Realtor offers this wait-and-see advice.  Or, possibly, the Realtor is skeptical about the value of home staging. 

Either way, this advice always baffles me. 

Why suggest that a home seller lose the advantage of impressing every potential buyer?  The maxim that you are never given a second chance to make a good first impression truly applies to the real estate process.  If you want to make this house stand out from the competition, why are you waiting to make that happen?  How many missed opportunities have walked in and turned around never to return?  How many Realtors have seen this house and will be hard to convince to bring their buyers back again?

As every Realtor knows, there is an initial flurry of activity when a house first goes on the market.  This flurry includes Realtor tours, open houses, and advertising.  If this house does not show well during the initial flurry of activity, it is quite likely it will not get shown again.

While I recognize that the cost of home staging can appear to be significant to some sellers, my strong belief is that it is more of an investment to be returned when the house sells quicker and for a good price. 

My guess is that these “Put It on the Market” Realtors do not understand or do not really believe in the value of professional home staging. 

My hope is that those Realtors find ways like “to be continued” to learn more and become believers in the value of home staging.  My plan is to keep proving the value of home staging so that it becomes “the standard” for home sales in our area as it is “the standard” in areas like Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago, Dallas and New York City. 

Every day I demonstrate the possibilities of professional home staging.  It can make a huge difference and usually does.


Dwell in possibilities


Cindy


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