 Admit it! Don't be ashamed -- you watch HGTV and all those home decorating shows: Design on a Dime, Designed to Sell, Secrets That Sell, Takeover My Makeover, Get It Sold, Curb Appeal, and more.
These shows are all the rage! The facts are that a clean, uncluttered and well-presented home sells in less time and for more money. In today's buyer market atmosphere in Northern Virginia and D.C., sellers need their homes to stand out from the crowd of inventory. When 32 homes are for sale in the same subdivision, sellers hoping to make sure that theirs is the next to go need to consider using the services of a professional stager to prepare their home for sale. It's not as easy at it looks on those HGTV shows! And sellers generally have a hard time staging their home themselves because of their emotional attachment to the home and their possessions. In order to sell a home, it needs to be de-personalized. Decorating is personalizing a home to the owner's tastes. Conversely, staging is de-personalizing the home, because "The way you live in your home and the way we market and sell your house are two different things" So says Barb Schwartz, founder and CEO of Stagedhomes.com. According to statistics from her company, staged homes sell for approximately 6.9% higher prices than non-staged homes and spend 50% less time on the market.  This week I earned the Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) for Realtors designation through Schwartz's program which involved a trip to a house in Oakton, Virginia to stage it for sale. My team of 5 staged the home office.
Here are some before and after pictures of the office. BEFORE AFTER  
 
And here's a photo of me and my staging team: 
This course has sold me on staging! While two days certainly does not make me a staging expert, I understand the value in this service and the hard work that professional stagers put into preparing homes for sale. I work with several professional stagers in the Washington D.C. area who can help stage Virginia and D.C. homes of any size and price range and make them ready for the potential buyers. Feel free to contact me by phone at 703-626-0715 or e-mail at brian@brianblock.com to discuss listing your home for sale and having it professionally staged. Here are some other photos of staged rooms at the house in Oakton, Virginia:  
 
And remember, the investment in staging is always less than a price reduction. To learn more about why price reductions are not a good idea, please read my article: "We can always reduce the price later" -- Price Reductions are NOT A GOOD MARKETING PLAN for Northern Virginia Homes. | 
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