In order to prepare a home for a sale, it's necessary to look at it as though it were completely brand new, something that's easier said than done when you've become accustomed to and embraced whatever quirks it may have. A potential buyer already understands that your home wasn't newly built but they're certainly looking for something that reflects upkeep, value and spotlessness.

Such a scenario necessitates the need to style the home in a way that will impress and appeal to potential buyers, an art better known as home staging. Staged homes generally sell quicker and for a better price than non-staged homes according to industry surveys. Those two benefits more than outweigh the extra expense necessary since they essentially result in more money in your pocket once the closing comes around.

Most real estate agents with a well developed marketing plan already include home staging, something that can be tremendously vital in helping you take an objective look at your home and what steps to take in order to get it ready for sale. To familiarize you with what home staging entails and how you can get a head start in your own home preparation, take into account the following:

When selling Miami real estate, the first two weeks that any property is on the market generally tend to play a crucial role in determining the length of time it will take to sell. Since buyers usually opt to view homes that are newly listed, it's imperative that proper home staging techniques are being employed.

Time has shown that a home with effective staging not only sells within a shorter time frame but also allows the seller to negotiate a higher sales price than an empty home, instantly giving them a competitive advantage. After all, a staged home allows buyers to envision themselves moving into the new property quickly and it also gives them a better idea of what it would feel like to live in the property.

Anybody can place furniture a home but proper staging requires a keen eye for aesthetics and using neutral approaches that will appeal to the broadest range of buyers possible, first impressions are critical during any home showing. This is why it's highly recommended that sellers work with staging professionals who understand how to create an experience that's welcoming and relaxed, allowing the buyer to feel as if they have just walked into their new home as opposed to a new property.

Drive By

Grab a pad and pen, hop into your car, and do a drive-by viewing of your homes exterior. What do you notice first: a haphazard collection of family bikes scattered across lawns and walks, or a welcoming, tidy facade? Make notes on what needs to be cleared away, cleaned up, repaired and repainted.

Inspect

Follow with an interior tour of your home, taking a step back from your usual traffic patterns to note the dominant features of every room, planning touch-ups to make the best shine.

Be Nosy

If you have been home-shopping yourself, do a little research during visits to open houses and model homes. Take note of what's displayed and what's not, the extent of furnishings used and how architectural elements are highlighted.

Clear Clutter

Begin by clearing away the personal clutter, including everything from paperwork to photos to collections. Remember that the potential buyer needs to visualize themselves in the space, and your particular brand of "lived-in" may not match up with theirs (you could also end up making a negative connection by reminding them of the clutter clean-up that awaits them back at their current home).

Check Furniture Flow

Edit furnishings for the kind of just-right balance that would suit Goldilocks. There needs to be enough in place to suggest proper scale and capacity within each room, but not so much that traffic flow is hindered and architectural elements are obscured.

Tone Down

Neutralize walls and floors to create a backdrop for buyer imagination. Replace patterned wall coverings with off-white paint, and install low-grade tan wall-to-wall carpet.

Tidy Up

Clean, clean, clean! Ensure that every inch of your home sparkles for a fresh, welcoming appearance, from ceiling cobweb hideaways to windows to floors. After all, soap is cheap.

Clean Smell

As part of your cleaning program, address and banish odors resulting from pets, cooking, smoking and the like. Anything offensive or even the least bit memorable will override all your efforts in the visual department, so don't underestimate a buyer's sense of smell.

Fix-Up

Touch up interior trim, repair or replace inoperable hardware, and make sure all light fixtures are clean and loaded with brand-new bulbs.

Reduce Art

Limit wall decorations to fewer and larger pieces of artwork, again keeping a subtle, neutral look in mind (this is no time for dramatic artistic statements). Also include a few strategically placed mirrors to expand the space and reflect its best assets.

Accessorize Sparingly

When re-accessorizing rooms with pared-down selections from your collection, remember the rule of threes to create pleasing, uncluttered groupings of items. A few plants placed within main living areas can also add welcome vitality.

Clear Garage

Garages are a big "bonus space" for new home buyers so make sure yours can be seen. Clear away corner cobwebs, sweep floors, dust surfaces and pack up any straggling tools and project materials.

Green Scene

Lush landscaping is one of your homes best exterior assets at selling time, and according to the Professional Land care Network, it can add as much as 15 percent to property value. So get out the mower, fertilize all turf and plantings, weed diligently, and add seasonal color to flower beds.

Gardens

While your in the garden, apply the same staging eye you did indoors to any outdoor accessories. Large, idiosyncratic sculptures can be off-putting, and too many garden ornaments can add up to clutter rather than whimsy. Also ensure that water features are clean and operable, as their look and soothing sound will contribute positively to exterior impressions.

Pack

Stow away all athletic equipment, gardening implements and surplus furniture, and neatly coil and rack hoses.

Touch Up

Touch up trim and other exterior surfaces as needed, and repair any loose or damaged shutters and ornamentation.

Clean Up

Clean windows and operable, sparkling lighting fixtures will both reflect positively on your home, so make sure they're on your to-do list. Soak up any driveway oil stains, and sweep away grass clippings and other debris.

First Impressions

Finally,create a grand and welcoming entrance with a perfectly swept walk, freshly painted door and trim, polished hardware and address numbers, tidy doormat, and a few pots of colorful blooms on the front porch.

 

I'm an Accredited Staging Professional and I can assist
my clients in preparing their home for sale.

WHAT IS AN Accredited Staging®Professional®?

An Accredited Staging® Professional® (ASP®) is a dedicated professional who has studied and learned the proven and powerful techniques of Staging® homes.

An Accredited Staging® Professional® (ASP®) has successfully completed a detailed ASP® course and passed a required thorough examination on preparing homes for sale.

Staged® Homes traditionally present themselves better than the competition by being clean, clutter-free, and ready to show to prospective buyers. An Accredited Staging® Professional® (ASP®) is committed to the principles and practices of marketing properties as Staged® Homes.

 

What is Staging and Why Do You Need an Accredited Staging Professional®?
The moment home owners decide to put their homes on the market the properties they’ve lived in effectively become products. Their real estate agents assess a sales price, devise a marketing plan to get the home sold and prepare to put the listing in the multiple listing service. Especially given today’s market conditions, homes will compete against a huge inventory of available homes. Now more than ever, especially in the current buyer’s market, it’s extremely important to make a listing stand out in the marketplace.
So what can consumers and their agents do to catch the attention of home buyers?

They need to:

  Make the first impression of the home positive and inviting
  Enable buyers to envision themselves living in the home
  Show the full potential of the home
  Make the home visually appealing for online listings

In short, sellers and the real estate agents representing them need to Stage their homes with the assistance of an Accredited Staging Professional®.

Defining Home Staging
Home Staging is professionally preparing homes for sale, so that they appeal to the most amount of buyers and generate the highest price in the least amount of time on market. Staged Homes traditionally present themselves better than the competition by being clean, clutter-free, and ready to show to prospective buyers. Home Staging is NOT decorating, fluffing, interior design or redesign. Instead,

Home Staging is detailing, de-cluttering, depersonalizing and preparing a seller's home to give it a "model home" appearance so that the potential buyer can "see" themselves living in the home.

Introducing the Accredited Staging® Professional®

  Accredited Staging Professionals® are dedicated professionals who have studied and learned the proven and powerful techniques of Staging® homes with two primary goals: sell faster and for a higher price.

  Accredited Staging Professional® have successfully attended and graduated from the ASP® course and have passed a required thorough examination on preparing homes for sale to earn the Accredited Home Staging Professional® Designation.

  Must pass a detailed written examination in the ASP® class. The test is 10 pages in length and created by Barb Schwarz, The actual Creator of Home Staging

  Accredited Staging Professionals® are committed to the principles and practices of marketing properties as Staged Homes

  By their membership and participation in the International Home Staging Association, IAHSP®, ASPs® are held to professional ethical standards as they follow the IAHSP® Home Staging Code of Ethics.

ASPs® are taught to follow the below in the ASP® Course as they earn their ASP® Designation:

  Renew yearly their detailed ASP® License agreement of membership with Stagedhomes.com, the World's Leader in Home Staging Education

  Agree to and uphold the ASP® Code of Ethics

  Agree to and Uphold the ASP® Consumer Foundation of Service Creed

  A Business license for their ASP® Staging Business as an ASP® Stager.

  A Real Estate License if they are an ASP® Real Estate Agent.

  Staging Insurance as an ASP® Stager

  Error and Omissions insurance as an ASP® Real Estate Agent.

  A Sales Tax ID number in the state where they work as an ASP® Stager

  A commercial Checking account for their Business

To continue their education by returning to additional ASP® Courses to stay up to date in the Home Staging Industry and their ASP® Designation.

  Hold current active membership in The International Association of Home 

Staging Professionals®
IAHSP® and the ASP® Designation are the benchmark association and designation and have been established and strongly built over many, many decades of time. This helps the public know that ASPs® are the true proven leaders in the Home Staging Industry as they serve their clients and consumers where they live and work.

About the Accredited Staging Professional®, ASP®, Course
Real estate agents earn the ASP® Real Estate Agent Designation following a two-day course and after a three-day course, students earn the ASP® Home Stager designation. During the second day of training, students will go to a local home currently on the market which they will Stage while guided by professional ASP® Stagers.

The Accredited Staging Professional® Course was created by Barb Schwarz, the Creator of Home Staging®, President and CEO of Stagedhomes.com and the International Association of Home Staging Professionals. Schwarz developed the concept of Home Staging in the early 1970's and has since educated more than one-million people on the subject. She is a nationally known and award-winning speaker, author and trainer.

About Stagedhomes.com
Training one person at a time; Staging one home at a time; and empowering one family at a time through the magic of ASP® Home Staging. We are dedicated to change what worked yesterday for what now excels today, and that which opens the way to tomorrow through the world of ASP® Home Staging and Training at Stagedhomes.com

About the International Association of Home Staging® Professionals®
Foundation, IAHSP®
The International Association of Home Staging Professionals® (IAHSP®) Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Barb Schwarz, The Creator of Home Staging®, organizes the annual World Wide Staging Service Week, when local chapters around the United States and Canada participate in a week-long event to improve the lives of others through the magic of Home Staging. Past benefactors have included improving such places as the Ronald McDonald House, nursing homes, schools, women’s shelters and assisting individuals who may be in need of selling their homes or businesses.