Preparing an item for sale is one of those necessary evils. Everybody enjoys the extra money generated by a garage sale, for example, but few of us relish the job of cleaning and polishing all of Granny’s salt and pepper shakers ahead of the sale. Still, if one wants to get top dollar for any item from a used car to camping gear, then preparation and detailing ahead of the sale is critical. When your sale item is a three-bedroom Californian bungalow, the same rules apply. Staging property for sale, though, is not necessarily so labour intensive.
Within the world of real estate sales, a new and formidable force has entered the picture. Today, finding a property staging company is almost as easy as opening your telephone directory. We say almost as easy because house staging companies are sprouting up like mushrooms all over the country. Finding a truly remarkable staging company is a little more difficult and requires some homework.
When the time has come for you to have your home prepared for presentation to prospective buyers, you should choose carefully from among the many styling companies that now crowd the market. How does one find a really amazing property stylist? Here are some pointers:
- Real Estate Sales Experience – Actual real estate selling experience gives a property stylist the edge in preparing a home for sale. Not only does the former selling agent know what excites and pleases buyers, they also know what prospective buyers dislike. Without the actual hands-on experience, the staging results can be more experimental than effective.
- Furnishing Inventory – staging property for sale almost always includes hiring furniture to finish the project and to make the home look its spectacular best. You might imagine that just about any decent furniture would work for this portion of the staging project. Not so. Nobody wants their home to look too contrived but the furnishings throughout the home should at least be singing from the same song sheet.
Additionally, your home will probably benefit from a certain style of furniture, depending on its architectural style. This makes it even more important that you hire a staging company that owns an extensive inventory of furnishings in order to strike the best balance in the staging. Companies who stage their clients’ homes with furnishings they rent elsewhere are liable to mix and match far too often, giving your home a pot-luck look.
- Flexibility – Your ideal property staging company should have a number of plan options so that you can choose a package that matches your budget. Remember that the quality of staging will be well represented in your ultimate sales price, so plan accordingly.
- Reviews – almost every property staging company will have glowing online reviews from “satisfied customers”. Beware. Often these glowing recommendations are ordered online and paid for smartly. Freelance writers from around the world make money drafting positive and rather fanciful reviews for companies whose services or products they’ve never even tried. Always ask the company for names and phone numbers of people in your area who have actually used the service. You’re more apt to get the real answers when you ask real people.
- Comfort Level – When you choose a property styling partner, you are taking on an associate who will play a huge part in this real estate transaction. Never lose sight of the fact that this transaction might well be the largest one you ever undertake in this lifetime. You must feel comfortable and able to communicate with your property stager in order to achieve the best overall results.
Your real estate sales team is part and parcel of success when it comes to selling your home for the best price in the shortest possible time. When choosing the members of that team, do your homework and make the ultimate selection carefully.
To get the best results you must find team-mates who don’t just know their stuff. You also want people on your team who are fiercely proud of their reputations as winners. When it comes to winners in the business of property styling for sale, you can’t do better than Urban Chic Property Styling.