The Daily Ramble - Staging Basics and A Living Room Video
STAGING
By now almost everyone has heard this term. If you watch HGTV at all you are familiar with it. Simply put it is making a room presentable for sale, which may be different than how you would normally decorate to just live in it.
I tell clients that it is akin to making your home Disneyland. There is a fantasy factor that a buyer needs to feel when they walk to a home that makes them go ‘wow” this is where I want to live! This means that your wall of family photographs, no matter how lovingly presented have to go; the stack of 10 year old National Geographics next to the fireplace; the “stuff’ on the coffee table and puce colored curtains just HAVE to go!
You may have heard the term ‘depersonalize the space.” Simply put, you want the buyer to look at the real estate, not your beautiful children (even though we know that they ARE beautiful!)
Depersonalized doe NOT mean sterile; a space should evoke warmth, charm and the reality that people live there, albeit with their personal stamp minimized and managed. Sometimes this is easily achieved; sometimes it will take a major commitment on the part of the homeowner to make it happen. The reality is in the current market, with a lot of competitive product out there, you have to stand out and give the buyer a compelling reason to WANT your property. Price is a major factor to be sure: but if you want the offer, and the most money, the buyer has to feel comfortable with your home. This holds true for a $75,000 studio, or a $5,000,000 home in Bronxville. The buyer has to feel comfortable.
There are countless techniques, books, videos and blather in the blogosphere about staging. Probably 90% of it has some merit. Like so may things staging has a basis in personal opinion, as well as the willingness of the seller to make the necessary changes. Some sellers are smart and do what is necessary, some not so much. But even in those cases there are freebie or low cost things you can do.
In my opinion, there are six basic requirements in staging:
1. You Must declutter. Get rid of the junk!
2. You must declutter some more (less is more!)
3. You must CLEAN your home. Dirt in the corners, odors and those moldy drapes and dirty windows do not cut it.
4. You must clean on a daily basis; the home has to sparkle every time a buyer views your home.
5. You may need to paint. Your home should not look like an operating room. Tastefully applied color evokes warmth and positive emotions. All white or purple bedrooms, well…..
6. Your home MUST be well lit! I cannot tell you how many times I have shown a beautifully presented home or apartment only to be faced with the reality of one light bulb in the living room. Think I am kidding? Its true! Homes like this invariably have a big TV in the living room, and the owners sit in the dark watching it. There is just enough light to find the bowl of popcorn. You would be amazed how many caves, I mean living rooms I have shown.
I would guess that 80% of the time I ask sellers to go and buy lighting for their living room. Sometimes they need two or three lamps. I suggest they purchase nice lighting that they will want to take to their new home. They are more likely to spend the money if the lamp is a keeper.
The difference the additional light makes is amazing. I have had sellers comment that their living rooms are so much nicer just from the lighting that they wonder why they are selling. I always deal with that right away! 
As I mentioned I can blog about staging for hours. So it will be split up over time. To start out the video below from Realtor Magazine is a good one. I will post more in the future. As I mentioned there are many opinions about how to stage, so a broad range of informational exposure is useful and educational. I look forward to your comments; they are helpful not only to me but your fellow readers. Enjoy!
