Today’s home buyers are busier than ever, and they are demanding homes that are ready to move into without investing a lot of time and money on cleaning, updating stale décor, or repainting. Many buyers can’t see the potential in a house when they walk through a cluttered and/or outdated home. And, those that can see the potential often exaggerate what it will cost them to bring the home up to their standards and will lower their offer to you accordingly.

Don’t you want to sell your home quickly and for the best return on your investment? In today’s saturated market, staging your house for sale may differentiate and position your house to be “the” home that buyers are fighting over!

Awareness of staging has grown, in large part due to the popularity of A&E’s Sell This House and HGTV’s Designed to Sell television programs. Mais Oui! Redesign provides real estate staging services . . . though we don’t show up with painters and construction crews or television cameras!

So how does the process work?

Mais Oui! Redesign’s staging services start with a staging consultation. Buyers often make up their mind about a house within the first 15 seconds they are in it. We’ll meet with the homeowner and their realtor and we’ll do a walk through from the front curb to the back yard, looking at the home through potential buyers’ eyes. We’ll make recommendations on cleaning, packing up some of your collections and personal items for safe keeping, painting and obvious repairs (however, this isn’t a home inspection) and rearranging furniture to create more space and better traffic flow. We’ll leave a list of recommendations and, if you request, we’ll give you a proposal to bring in our team to do a staging redesign.

A staging redesign differs from an interior redesign because rather than designing with the items that have personal meaning to you and reflect your family, we work to edit those items out . . . we want the buyers to focus on the best features of your house and not get distracted with your family pictures! You have to pack to move anyway, so you might as well start packing now!

Sometimes how we live in a house and use the space may not make sense to a buyer and that may mean re-purposing how you use the space while you have your house on the market. (The combination sewing room/dining room/office may need to be transformed to a beautiful dining room again!) Occasionally a staging redesign solves the homeowner’s need for more space and style and they decide not to move after all!

The best time to bring us in for a staging consultation is before you put your home on the market. Because perception is value, staging your home for sale should allow your agent to list your house at a higher listing price than a comparable home that isn’t staged. The cost of staging your home is usually much less than the amount of your first price reduction!  And, be sure to ask your accountant whether your staging expenses are tax deductible!