Focus on staging to sell quickly
With the shortage of homes on the market here in Santa Fe, you may be considering putting your property on the market. Keep in mind that when visiting a home for sale, buyers want to be able to visualize the property with their own belongings, relying on their imagination for how they want to design and furnish the property as homeowners.
According to the National Association of Realtors 2017 Profile of Home Staging, 77 percent of buyers’ agents say staging made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. In fact, the profile finds that staging your home before you put it on the market is a great way to impress potential buyers and create an environment that makes it easy to imagine living in.
Staging your home can also put you ahead of the competition, no small advantage in a high-cost housing market like Santa Fe. According to the 2017 Profile of Home Staging, over 60 percent of sellers’ agents say that staging a home decreases the amount of time a home spends on the market.
With so many factors that play into what sells a home and what buyers are willing to pay, staging your home is an advantage that can mean selling faster or at a higher price. Buyers want to be able to picture the home’s interior designs in the easiest way possible. Staging a home with even the smallest touches like new bathroom towels, drapes over the windows or flowers on a coffee table will liven up your property and make a big difference to the buyer.
Here are some simple staging tips from the 2017 Profile of Home Staging that will help you spruce up your home and stay ahead of the market:
Declutter living spaces. It is a good idea to clear all unnecessary objects throughout the house, such as magazines on the coffee table and bathroom items on the sink. In addition, take down magnets and pictures from the refrigerator and remove clothes you do not wear from closets to show a cleaner, more spacious area.
Refresh your walls. Remove and rearrange artwork or photos and then patch and paint interior walls in order to give buyers a better visual of each room. A new coat of paint can brighten up rooms and give the interior a facelift. Something as simple as refreshing walls can affect a buyer’s perception of the home’s value and potentially raise the price.
Personalize spare rooms. Buyers will have different needs depending on family size, and it is wise to stage a spare bedroom based on your target buyers. If you are putting a condo on the market, you might want to stage the spare bedroom as office space for young and single professionals. Make sure the room is comfortable, has overhead lighting, plenty of room for a desk and an area for filing cabinets.
According to the staging experts, by simply following a few of these guidelines, a homeowner can increase the home’s value and help it sell more quickly. A Realtor, a member of the National Association of Realtors, can provide more information on staging your home and share advice about buying or selling a home in 2018.
Rubel “Paco” Arguello is chief executive of the Santa Fe Association of Realtors. Contact him at paco@sfar.com.