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First Impressions - Home Staging and Interior Redesign in Charleston, SC

 


 

Staging Works!
for SC agents
September 2007 - Vol 2, Issue 9
In This Issue
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Greetings!
I can't beleive it is September already! This year is flying by. Kids are back in school. The temperature is actually finally coming down. Before the holiday season is upon us we wanted to clear up the most common issues with agents and homeowners when they think of staging to sell. This is after all, when the market cools off a little & inventory sits a little longer. Don't let this happen to your clients.
43 st margaret
"With listings showing less to more available purchasers each showing counts! Melissa staged a home for us and on its first showing we are on the top of that persons list. Thanks Melissa!"

 
Matt Poole, Agent, Cheryl Hardy Team, Prudential Carolina Real Estate

 
MLS #2726942, 159 Fair Sailing Rd ,Egrets Walk, Dunes West

MLS #2728606, 43 St. Margaret St, Downtown Charleston

 
pink ribbon
First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign announces that all of its Charleston Design Specialists have decided to donate 10% of all staging & consultation fees to Breast Cancer awareness for the time period of September 15th - October 15th, 2007. Thus far over $100 has been raised in this campaign.

 
A special thanks goes to our clients Susan Brock of Keepsake Homes & Rhetta Elser (homeowner) for allowing us to help you make your properties shine in this tighter market & helping us support a great cause! Please let us know if you would like to help support us in this effort.

 
Thank you for your support both now & always! Keep an eye for us at the Race for a Cure walk on October 20th & please be sure to visit both 124 Cotilillion Crescent in Summerville & 2 1/2 Colonial Downtown to view how we helped these sellers!

 
secrets that sell







Staging is all the rave on cable TV these days. While it is great to educate the public on what changes they may need to make to their home more saleable in the current market, this also leads many to believe that they know how to stage their home themselves. While entertaining, and somewhat educational, these shows do not give buyers the whole picture.

 
Painting, decluttering and putting photos away is not 'staging'. Ok, yes, I admit we do these things when we stage. They are baby steps on the pathway. Understanding buyer pschology is key. We need to understand why we make the changes in order to properly make them.

 
When we stage homes we prioritize what needs to be done, what should be done, and what would add that finishing touch to maximize the overall look & feel of lifestyle in a home. For the benefits of clients, agents should focus on selling the property & stagers should help homeowners prepare the home. Homeowners need to understand that these shows are about entertaining the watcher - one of the biggest Secrets that Sell is hiring a full time professional home-stager.

 
thinker
I hear this almost every week. Agents & clients often decide they will 'see how it goes' before deciding to stage. This always makes me feel as if I haven't properly shown the benefits of staging. Budget concious sellers feel that they can 'save money' by not staging if the home sells quickly first. Almost every time this is not the best idea.

 
Staging can add value to a properly priced home by creating warmth & drama, creating a lifestyle image for buyers, showing size, scale & furniture placement & creating an emotional bond with potential buyers. Studies show that buyers will pay more for this. Owner occupied homes tend to sell for more than vacant homes & sell more quickly. Staged homes sell for more money and more quickly than un-staged properties. Even if your home will sell quickly, most of the time the money spent on staging will yeild results significantly exceeding what you invested. (National homegain study shows 176% return on investment)

 
Agents should educate sellers that staging is not an expense but rather an investment. Often these same sellers will admit that if selling a car, they would have it detailed. Why should the same not be true of staging (detailing of the home)?

 
There is one last point I would like to make on this issue. As an agent, I would like you to ponder this question: "If you were a buyers agent & you viewed a property that had been on the market for 6 months or longer, what type of offer would you recommend your client to make?" Most of the time when I ask this question I get the answer, "low ball". So why is it that so many agents will recommend to their clients that they stage ONLY AFTER the market has been on the market for 6 months or more? While staging can help sell homes that have been on the market extended periods of time, the money you saved not staging those first 6 months, you have now lost in equity & offers. Don't take a chance. Since staging is an investment that typically rates returns in excess of 175%, why not stage first?

As always I would like to thank all of you who have helped grow our busines this year. We would be no where without you. I also hope that you hope we've helped you grow your business. Partnerships are what we strive for... WIN, WIN, WIN. See you next month!

 

Sincerely,

 


Melissa Marro
First Impressions

 

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