What is Home Staging?

Home staging is comprised of using limited funds, practical creativity and expertise to professionally prepare a home to sell. Thus, it becomes infinitely more attractive to potential buyers, sells quicker and for more money.

In Austin and throughout Central Texas, staging is the process of preparing a home that appeals to the largest segment of prospective buyers possible, in our very competitive home sales market. The better a home shows the faster it sells. The only problem is that no one lives in a staged home. Our homes reflect our lifestyle, interests, activities and personal taste. Most furniture is placed not specific to the architecture and flow of the house, rather based upon what the homeowner has and placed according to their lifestyle. Most color choices are those the homeowner enjoys and coordinates with the homeowner's belongings or what the previous owner left behind and was never changed as planned. Homeowners cannot be objective about their own home and identifying taste-specific items. In fact, the more a homeowner loves their house, the more likely the house will have taste specific choices that will detract most potential buyers' attention from the house and its features. Staging a home depersonalizes the house and enables the buyer to visualize their lifestyle in a house.

Another aspect of staging is to eliminate the "to do list" of potential buyers. Today's buyer wants to be able to move in and not have a lot of projects. Austin and Central Texas has a lot of new construction and it can be hard for many older homes to effectively compete. Historically, a buyer will look at cosmetic changes in a house and over estimate the money, time and effort the project actually requires. The potential buyer will begin to deduct those costs from the asking price and if the list gets too long or intimidating the buyer will lose interest altogether. In many cases, the home that does not show well can help sell another home that does show well.

De-personalizing, clearly defining the function of a room, rearranging furniture, strategically choosing and placing decorative accessories are a small part of what Spencer Staging and ReDesign offers today's savvy home seller. Staging time is determined by individual needs and budget available to transform a home to appeal to today's buyer.