12 Feb Home Staging

 Home for Sale! Open House 2-4, Sunday February 12th.

908 Jessie, Austin, Texas 78704. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2481 sq ft.

Description: Architecturally striking new home overlooks creek and huge, tropical yard in back. Craftsman style with hardwoods downstairs, granite counters, high-end Jenn Aire appliances, plantation shutters, a large master suite with claw-foot tub, separate shower, sitting area and walk-in closet. *OFF THE CHART QUALITY* The property is located 2 houses from Alamo Drafthouse in S. Lamar shopping center. It’s also blocks to Zilker park & 1 mi to DT Austin. Must See!

Many of you can relate to the “selling a home” experience. It can be awful and disastrous; it can take months maybe even years for your property to sell. You know the drill. Find a real estate agent, get your home valued, place it on the market, and then cross your fingers that someone makes a bid. It has been all too common in this tough economy that selling a home can be difficult for the home owner as well as the real estate agent. Homeowners are left to think: “what can I do to better market my home?” but without the knowledge and resources to answer it.

More often homeowners are now turning to people called “home stagers” (or what some grateful home sellers may call “house savers”). Home staging is a practice that involves an experienced and well-skilled interior designer or realtor, that takes a property and prepares it for a home viewing. Home stagers are skilled in decorating and sprucing up a home that might otherwise be overlooked. By using staging techniques like filling a house with furniture, plants, even a cookbook in the kitchen and towels in the bathroom, a realtor can better showcase a property making it more appealing in the marketplace.

The right accessories can also really step up the presentation of a home dramatically.  Angel Rodenbeck with Spy Glass Realty wanted to do that for this new home they were preparing to list in the coveted 78704 Austin market, so she contacted our studio.

“I was really striving for a more “custom look” and thought of Deborah’s pillows immediately.” 

Angel was looking for a pillow that would make the living room stand out with a more modern look while also adding some warmth to the large room.  We selected this contemporary Limited Edition for its graphic shapes and the warm sunflower color:

The process was simple.  We met at the house, discussed the furniture Angel was planning to incorporate and decided on one unique pillow for the couch.  It added the perfect touch to bring some color and punch to the gorgeous living/kitchen area full of light.

While many companies charge a fee for home staging, which certainly adds value to the home, Angel and her husband provide complimentary home staging services. 

“We feel it is really important to our client to have their home look the best it can be, so that’s an extra service we like to offer. We also enjoy partnering with other home stagers like Deborah Main Designs, so we can provide a more one-of-a-kind accessory for each home.”

While upstairs in the master bedroom Angel and I both agreed that the bed needed a much more personal touch as well. So I suggested this pillow to give a more feminine feel. Angel instantly liked the look which helped make an otherwise rather sterile blank room much more inviting to the prospective home buyer.

Angel had already done all the hard work preparing the home with all the furniture needed.  I helped her put up a mirror in the hallway and voila, Angel had transformed the upstairs into a domestic haven. And with all the trees on the property, a stream running through the back yard, and the many large windows in almost every room of the house, it was easy to fall in love with this beautiful home.

By hiring a home stager, or using a realtor as equiped as the husband and wife team, Angel and Ryan Rodenbeck, of Spyglass Realty, you can create an inviting space that allows the buyer to visualize living there and hopefully inviting them to make an offer on your property.  In fact, in Austin’s hot real estate market, this home looked so amazing that two offers were instantly placed on the house!

Some facts about Home Staging:

According to HamptonRedesign.com, the top reasons for staging a home are:
-Staged homes sell faster reduces time of house in marketplace
-contrary to popular belief staging a home cost less than decreasing property selling price
-staging creates value
-first impressions are important
-more can be viewed in detail here: http://www.hamptonredesign.com/top10reasons_HR.pdf

Interestingly, the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) has done several studies on the correlation between property selling time and home staging. For example, one included 87 vacant, not staged homes and remained on the market for an average of 277 days unsold. After home staging their properties the same homes sold in an average 63 days, approximately 78% less time on the market as the not staged homes. What an incredible time saver and not to mention stress saver!  So before you put that house on the market, you may want to consider a home stager to make it worth your while.