As both an interior designer and a realtor, I can help sellers maximize the market value for their home and get it sold faster. My staging and design skills are an added bonus and come in handy when helping a buyer imagine how a home could look.

Over the past 60-days, I managed the renovation of a home located in the Colonial Town area. After the construction was completed, I staged every room, except one bedroom. I researched recent home sales in the area. The owner and I agreed to list the house just under $300 per sq. ft.

Within 48-hours we had eight offers from pre-qualified buyers. The house is under contract and set to close on March 25. Here’s the good news, the final offer went $10,000.00 over the asking price.

Let Me Show You Why Home Staging Works! 🙂

Take a look at some of these before and after photos from the offering of the staged property.

The home is well lived-in and rather dark overall. Not very inviting for buyers to see possibilities easily. Now, check out the results from AFTER my remodeling and staging work:

It all starts with the very first impression…

Bright and cheery, right?

As you can imagine, I see many homes packed to the gills, closets overflowing and cereal boxes stored on top of the refrigerator. It doesn’t show well or let potential home buyers feel there is room for their stuff.

The staging skills I employ have helped my buyers use their imagination to what a home could look like with certain arrangements of furniture or color. I think you’ll agree, the “after” images make a BIG difference. That’s the power of staging.

While there aren’t a lot of us interior designers who are both a realtor and offer home staging, we certainly bring a lot to the table, especially in terms of selling speed and higher prices realized.

The Real Estate Staging Association reports that 90 percent of all staged homes successfully sell within a month of hitting the market.

Also, the National Association of Realtors conducted an in-depth home staging survey a few years ago which showed that 49% of buyers’ agents cited that home staging had an effect on most buyer’s view of the home. It also showed that 21% of respondents stated that staging a home increased the dollar value of the home between 6-10%.

Even a little Home Staging can go a Long Way

My experience has shown me that a little home staging in a listing goes a long way. In most cases, the seller is more than willing to let me enhance their home with the possessions they already have. Decluttering is essential.

Being an interior designer and realtor who offers home staging r cross-pollinates to help me do better as a real estate agent. My education as an interior designer and my work doing home staging helps me establish immediate communication with my sellers. It’s important to have a good rapport with whoever you’re working with, and I’ve found that, professionally, staging and real estate work go hand in hand.

My ability to either use a homeowner’s possessions for staging or using my own inventory or furnishings and accessories to give life to an empty home greatly helps my real estate seller clients.

For those purchasing a home, my resources and discounts as an interior designer help my real estate buyer clients, especially since I make some of my commission available to them for my interior design services.

Home staging is an excellent method of letting buyers see the potential of a home. So many times, I’ve seen typical buyers unable to “see” past an owner’s possessions – there’s a lot of clutter inherent in a “lived-in” home. All that gets in the way of a buyer being able to envision the home as theirs. Buyers today want a move-in-ready home. Staging gets rid of the mess and highlights the focal points of a space.

Also, marketing a staged home becomes a much easier task than one that is empty or cluttered. Photographs can be done with wide-angle lenses to capture everything that is important to buyers.

There are many misconceptions about home staging and redesign. Many sellers, buyers, and agents think that staging is about bringing in furniture. In my experience, it is more about reorganization, deep cleaning, and repurposing.

Sometimes just staging a few rooms can make a big impact. Entry points are most important when home staging a house for sale. The first impression starts at the curb.

Real Estate and Staging is a very Natural Marriage

Staging can often begin with fixing up the porch, painting the front door, planting colorful flowers or a planter, mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes, and putting new lights up, or getting a new mailbox. If people aren’t attracted to the front of the house most likely they won’t be stepping inside the door (unless they are flippers).

As an extension of my interior design work and knowledge, staging goes hand in hand with my real estate practice. While It takes a bit of time to prepare and implement a staging project, real estate and staging is a very natural marriage.

Soho’s home staging brings out the potential of a home while staying as neutral as possible – so that each prospective buyer can imagine the home as they would decorate it. Let’s transform your house into someone’s dream home. Call me at 407-710-9949 and let’s have a conversation. And check out my home staging page on my website at this link.