Staging to Sell

Staging to Sell Your Atlanta Georgia Home

Staging to sell will result in a faster closing and better price for your home. Getting your home ready for the Atlanta real estate market is not complicated.  But listing your Atlanta Georgia home for sale is serious business and doing the little things right is important.  Staging your homes appearance will go a long ways towards convincing a potential buyer they have found a home that meets their lifestyle requirements. The key in staging to sell an Atlanta Georgia home is to have a potential buyer be unaware the home has been staged.

First decision: Am I going to live in the house until it sells or do I plan to move out and leave it vacant while I try to sell it.  And either way works!

MOVING OUT AND SELLING A VACANT HOME:

We are listing and selling a lot of vacant homes these days.  Staging to sell a vacant home has special considerations. Buyers are not “shocked” to see a vacant home but vacant homes do look less appealing than homes that are lived in b families with active lifestyles.  If you must move out of your home prior to listing it for sale, there are at least two pretty good options other than leaving it vacant.

Have a “home manager” move in to the house and stage the house with their own furniture.  I use a third party vendor to facilitate staging to sell a vacant home.  The cost to the the seller of the home is zero, nada, nothing.  The seller signs an agreement with the home management company that allows them to rent the property to a third party individual who has nice furniture.

The person living in the house pays a reduced monthly rent to the home management company and agrees to make the home available for showings by real estate agents (VERY IMPORTANT!!!!).  The individual living in the home has full enjoyment of the home for a reduced rent but has to keep it in “show” condition.

 I think of it as an occupied model home except the occupant pays all the utilities, lawn care etc.

My home management company emails photos of the potential renter prior to acceptance of the home management agreement.  This way the seller of  the home is assured the quality of the furniture and decorations matches the price range and lifestyle of the home they are occupying.

When a buyer tours the home, they typically are unaware the sellers do not occupy the property.

Most importantly,

I have had unqualified success with this program.  One house was under contract in a few weeks and closed within 45 days.  The home management company gladly sucked it up and moved the home manager to the next home.  In a full disclosure move, I have one listing where the home manager has lived in the home for over a year.  We now have the home priced at a more realistic level and hope to have it moved out this month.

The second way to overcome a vacant home is to hire a staging company to fill your home with furniture and decorations so that it looks lived in.  I call this the “rent to not own” plan.  The home seller “rents” furniture and expertise form the staging company.   The staging company makes the home look as those a demographically correct family was living in the home.There is quite an art to this process and I trust only a handful of companies to get it right.  This is the model home program applied to the re-sale market.  The last house I had where the home seller put this option to work…..under contract in 30 days.  The cost is a couple of thousand dollars and depends on the size of the home being sold.

LIVING IN THE HOME WHILE YOU ARE SELLING IT

If you need to stay in the home until it sells, we have to move along a totally different track.  Staging to sell your home will entail using your existing  furnishings and decorations.  In a way, this is the most difficult path for many sellers from an emotional standpoint.  We need to move furniture around to make rooms look larger, change up the lamps, pictures, art etc – all with your own stuff.  Home sellers have to let go a bit for this to really work.

De-clutter your home.  You have got to get control of the “stuff” in your home before you can start the process. I suggest garage sales, Goodwill, gifts to family members etc.  Most of us have 50% too much stuff and it needs to be out of sight and out of mind when a potential home buyer is touring your home.  At a minimum, box up your “stuff” and put it ina storage closet, the attic, the garage.  We have to get the “stuff” out of the way.

Paint.  Yes, paint continues to be the number one way to make a home look fresh and inviting.  For a $100.00 investment at Home Depot or Sherwin Williams, you can totally transform the appearance of a room.  If you need up to date color selections – I have them.  Do not rely on your own judgement here.  If need be, hire a designer or did I mention “free” consultations from your agent.

Stage the furniture in your home.  A professional home stager costs a couple hundred bucks and is well worth the investment.  Many agents, including myself, offer free opinions about staging.  All you have to do is ask.

GET READY TO MOVE

After you have taken care of all the above, start making your moving plans.  We are gonna sell your house because any potential home buyers will immediately recognize it is a great place to live!

 

Sally English is an Atlanta Georgia real estate agent specializing in homes convenient to Emory University and The Centers for Disease Control.