“It
is my first date. I don’t need to worry
about my clothes or grooming. I will
just show up and he/she will fall in love with me.”
“My college graduation/church directory picture will work just
fine on Match.com. No one pays attention
to the pictures any way.”
“It
is just the initial job interview. I don’t
need to fix the hole in my shirt or have my suit pressed. I will make those repairs after I get the
job.”
Sounds
pretty absurd – doesn’t it. And yet, are
those thought bubbles any different than these?
“We
are going to put the house on the market for a month or two and see what
happens.”
“We
don’t need a professional photographer for our online photos. Our shots are good enough.”
“We
don’t need to replace or clean the damaged carpeting; wash the windows; paint
the red bedroom, etc. We can do that
after we have an offer and are preparing to move”
There
is another set of thought bubbles you can also easily imagine if you are in the
real estate business.
“Not
much to see in these pictures. No sense
wasting our time there. Let’s look at the
next online MLS listing that fits our criteria.”
“This
house does not compare well with the other houses we’ve seen. I think they just put a For Sale sign out and
expected it to sell.”
“Too
many problems, too many repairs. I am
not interested in buying a house with projects.
I want move-in ready.”
When we are getting ready for a date or a job
interview, we make sure that we look our best (that is if we want a second date or the job). Typically, we are properly groomed and
wearing one of our better and appropriate outfits. We want to impress our date or the person
doing the job interview.
Why
should it be any different when we decide to sell our house?
§ Do
we think that our house should not be cleaned and groomed or outfitted as well
as when we get ourselves ready for a date?
§ Do
we not think that the importance of how our house looks is any different than
the importance of how we look for a job interview?
§ Do
we think that potential buyers will overlook obvious repairs and problems just
because you might be willing to fix them later?
The answer to these questions is very simple
–it is very important that our house
look its best when a buyer visits. It
needs to be “show ready”.
Remember – you are never given a second
chance to make a good first impression. If the
house is messy, cluttered, or confusing to the potential buyer, odds are they
will not be back.
In its simplest terms, home staging involves
making sure your house is cleaned, groomed and properly outfitted. When I
stage a house, I make sure that it is ready for its first date with every
prospective buyer.
Remember
to dwell in possibilities!
Cindy
