| |
8 Tips
for Low Cost Staging
In a tough sales market, staging can
help move a property.
Barb Schwarz, who claims to have
invented home staging in the early 1970s, estimates that about one in four
homes nationwide are now staged.
Julie Dana and Marcia Layton Turn state
in their book, The Complete Idiot's
Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell,
that a seller stands to gain as much as $9,000 on a $200,000 house if it's
staged.
Shelly Wagner, a Detroit-based stager,
estimates that the cost per room for staging is $100 – small potatoes if it
really helps a home sell.
Here are some ideas from Wagner for
effective, low-cost staging:
- Remove scatter rugs and
knickknacks from every room.
- Get rid of everything on the
kitchen counters, including appliances, except for the coffee maker.
- Remove as much as you can
from closets.
- Hire a cleaning service if
necessary to make the house spotless. Scrub floors, walls, and windows.
Pay special attention to the microwave, oven, and refrigerator.
- Focus on the feature rooms,
the living, dining, and master bedrooms. Additional bedrooms are best left
empty or minimally furnished.
- Arrange the furniture to
show off each room’s best features.
- Set the dining-room table
with napkins, plates, and flatware.
- When showing the house, turn
on soft instrumental “buying” music, preferably classical or jazz.
Source: Detroit News, Marge Colborn
(05/03/08)
|
|