More Questions About Home Staging
FAQ’s About Home Staging and Information About Show Smart Home Staging
What makes Show Smart Home Staging so effective in showcasing homes to sell faster and better?
We understand what makes a home sell in the DC market. With years of successful experience staging homes of all sizes and styles, we recognize that what may be attractive to buyers in Silver Spring will be different than to buyers in Potomac, and we stage accordingly. We have experience targeting the market for a home so as to appeal best to the broadest range of potential buyers within that group.
For example, it works to target single professionals for an historic Capitol Hill Row House, but young families for a suburban single family home in Rockville. We stage the way our professional judgment tells us will help sell a particular property always keeping in mind the architecture of the home in question. And, our excellent track record has proven us right over and over again. For example, some of the properties we staged in May prompted this article…
Home Staging helps two DC properties sell for full price first day …
Contact Patricia today to discuss your project. (757) 619-9789
What is Show Smart Home Staging’s service area?
Based in Rockville, we stage all over the DC metro area, especially…
- Montgomery County-
- The Wisconsin/Connecticut corridors:
- Potomac, Rockville, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring…
- Washington DC-
- Neighborhoods such as:
- Chevy Chase, Glover Park, Upper Northwest, Dupont Circle, Eastern Market, Capitol Hill, Logan Circle…
We have also staged homes in Howard County and across the water in Alexandria and McLean. So, please, if you don’t see your neighborhood, call to check our availability in your neighborhood.
When should I stage my home?
Before anyone sees it…especially online. Whether vacant or loved in, a home goes on the market as simply another product among many others for sale and must look not only its best, but definitely better than its competition and especially appealing enough to get attention and sell. Retail stores do displays, builders do model homes, car dealers detail cars. Home owners Stage for the same reason – first impressions! So, definitely stage your home before the market gets a look at it.
Should I upgrade and repair everything before I put my property on the market?
Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Show Smart Home Staging will advise you which upgrades and which repairs will pay you back when you sell and which ones will not. We know what sells houses.
Does staging come with any guarantees?
There are no crystal balls. If you think about it, no one can absolutely guarantee your house will sell, staged or not. Staging does give you a leg up, though, in beating your competition in the neighborhood, attracting more traffic to your property, discouraging lowball offers for starters. The best looking homes sell the fastest and for the most money. In retail it’s called Merchandising. In real estate it’s called Staging. Investing in Staging and showing your property as beautifully as possible just makes good financial sense in today’s market.
Who pays for staging?
Whoever has the most to gain from the sale of your property typically pays for the Staging of it. That means the home owner. The seller will realize approximately 94% of the sale price. The Realtors all together never get more than 6% of the sale price if they get that, and whatever commission they do make they will end up splitting among many hands as well as spending a substantial marketing budget on your behalf not to mention their time showing your property for you.
In order to do our part, we contribute the initial consultation in the case of a Realtor referral, a substantial benefit to the seller, a boon to the Realtor, and business for us. We also shoot and produce professional photos and Virtual Tour on a complimentary basis for our Staging clients. We will do our very best to make your house Show-Smart!
What is included in the staging fee?
Included in the Staging fee are:
- A unique Professional Design Plan to achieve that Model Home feel in your home..
- Furniture and accessories, including artwork, rugs, linens, plants, and lamps, etc. to make your home look picture perfect.
- The cost of the delivery truck and labor to assist arranging and Staging your home beautifully.
- The cost of the truck and labor to remove all the staging items from your SOLD home.
- Professional JPEG photos for your Realtor to use in print media to market your home.
- A Professional Virtual Tour broadcast to multiple sites across the web.
What is NOT included in the staging fee?
Each property is a unique project and starts with an initial Consultation. The main benefit of the initial Consultation is to determine your expectations and allow us to see the present condition of the property to propose what we estimate it will take to sell your home quickly for top dollar.
The Consultation is typically a two hour working consultation. We will take pictures and measurements of your home and conceptualize a design plan. Due to our broad Staging experience, we can usually formulate an estimate of your Staging fee at that time. As an incentive to Realtors, we offer this Consultation free of charge upon a Realtor’s referral.
During the Consultation, we will also explain any action that we feel needs to be taken prior to Staging, such as decluttering, depersonalizing, minor repairs we know will pay you back, or perhaps doing some painting to freshen or neutralize, for example. These actions are not Staging and not included in the fee, but may or may not be needed to get the home ready for Staging.
Show Smart Home Staging has a number of trusted affiliates to refer you to, or we can represent you in scheduling, overseeing and evaluating the quality of their work for a separate fee.
What other services does Show Smart Home Staging offer?
We are available to stand in for you as an Acting Owners Representative to schedule, coordinate, and oversee trades people, such as painters, floor refinishers or installers, electricians, plumbers, handymen, window cleaners, etc. should these services be needed in case you are out of town or simply too busy to do this important and necessary task yourself. There is a separate fee for this service.
Do you stage vacant homes?
Yes, vacant home staging is one of our specialties. Staging a vacant home allows us to create a persona that buyers will identify with and want. However, we also Stage owner occupied homes as well. Owners are often amazed at how much we can do to update and freshen their home with very few changes and with very little money.
Does Show Smart Home Staging recommend staging all the rooms in my house?
Not necessarily. The decision is psychological and dependent upon multiple factors. We will make a determination of how many rooms in your home to Stage, a determination that reflects our professional expertise in showcasing homes successfully, i.e. they sell!
We will come into your home with buyer’s eyes and decide which rooms and how many rooms we need to Stage to get the property SOLD.
How long does staging take?
Amazing to our clients, the actual Staging takes just a few hours. That is the part you see on HGTV! However, from the initial Consultation to the final design plan, to the gathering and packing of the furniture and accessories to be used, to the scheduling, loading and arrival of the truck and crew onsite at your door may take a few days.
The photos are reviewed and shared with the Realtor as fast as the same day as Staging in order for the Realtor to upload the listing complete with them. Typically from Consultation to Virtual Tour online is four to five days.
Where do all the furniture and the accessories come from?
We have a generous warehouse of handpicked accessories and small furniture pieces as well as some larger pieces. Other, especially many larger furniture pieces we outsource. Limiting what we store allows us to keep our overhead costs low and pass these savings on to our clients. This combination also allows us the freedom and flexibility of a much wider selection of styles, colors, and price levels of furniture to best suit your home.
How do we get started?
Call or email Patricia today to schedule a Consultation appointment. We are waiting to help you sell your home.
Remember: Our goal is to have your home sell quickly and for top dollar!
NOTE:
“169% of a Staging investment comes back,” Property Ladder, TLC, July 2009.
Furthermore, home staging is usually tax deductible as a selling expense. Check with your accountant.