Top 8 Home Staging Mistakes

Home preparation and staging is a valuable step in building the marketing funnel for the home. After all, a well staged home means awesome pictures, better marketability on the Internet and many more leads of potential buyers wanting to see the home. Compare those pictures to a vacant or un-staged home and you get the picture! Home Staging mistakes on the other hand can lower the buyer appeal. Here are key home staging mistakes to watch out for when preparing your home for sale.  1. Too much furniture A known fact, too much furniture drives away the focus from key focal points and home highlights. Furniture larger than required can make rooms look small. It can spoil the seamless natural walk flow we want to create buyers to have while walking through a home. 2. Too little furniture Yes, of course, that's a red flag too! Even too little furniture, partial staged homes or NO furniture can be a disadvantage. Buyer's don't have a frame of reference in an empty house and may not be able to imagine or visualize themselves in the house. The truth is only 10% of buyers can visualize themselves in a home when it is vacant. Hence furniture layout is a vital part of getting a staged home right. 3. Clutter and untidinessThat's an obvious one, we believe we always tackle but you will not believe how many homes do not deal with it completely. While most home owners do take care of basic cleanliness like flooring, cobwebs and carpet there are some areas we miss. For instance, I have often suggested to home owners (as part of my work at BlueGrape Home Staging) when I notice blinds with dust and muddy patios. While the basic cleaners will clean the rest of the house adding thorough cleaning areas like windows, blinds cleaned and a power wash outside helps. De-Cluttering is also a commonly held staging vital, which includes minimizing things, objects, show pieces and general home stuff which can be distracting for buyers from inferring the actual potential of a home. 4. Monotonous quotient Staging is no longer white colors and monotonous color palette spread across a home. Why will a buyer remember a home they see among many if it does not make an impression that deserves to be remembered?. Yes, the strengths and features of the home do create very important impressions but creative staging will enhance the strengths and make the home brand create a distinct mark on the buyers mind. Without going over the top with design, home stagers bring in style, pop of colors and unique pieces which make the home brand stand out among competition and appeal to maximum buyers. 5. Over the top True that style and design are vital but yet going over the top would be a red flag. The reason is that the buyers need a "comfort" feel and aspirational power that helps them visualize the home as their future home. Home staging is different from interior design and home decorating which is for a single person, the owner and his family. Home Staging requires the home to appeal to many potential buyers in the market. 6. Eye to detail What differentiates a good stager from another besides the core strengths? A good stager will naturally give an eye to detail to make a picture perfect home come together.  Buyer's notice subtle aspects in the home buying process and sometimes the smallest of reasons can be a home turn off. Limp towels versus crisp towels, a poor laid table, you know what I mean. For instance, a non ironed - bed and limp pillows which show in pictures are a turn off. 7. Missing warm fuzzies   I call emotional connections home stagers create warm fuzzies. You know - creating a visual touch point in the buyer's mind. They are often small but forgotten in preparing the home. Making them imagine dishing out a meal in the kitchen or relaxing with a book in a nook, a bottle of wine for the evening, arousing a spa like feel in the bath reminding them of a vacation! These connections strengthen the psychological impact and bring the home alive as a potential home for buyers 8. Downsizing the home's personality Staging is not about completely stripping the home of it's personality by de-personalizing and de-cluttering to an extreme extent. Very often, one get's so focussed on clearing up that we forget we need to build around the home strengths, the focal points and enhance that personality. Home Staging is a combination of a science and an art and the right balance. The ideal strategy would be to stay true to each unique home and not follow a one size fits all formula. Balanced and skilled home staging can help strengthen the marketing proposition and be a catalyst in attracting potential buyers. Happy Staging, Happy Selling. Pramiti Bhargava BlueGrape Home Staging Follow: https://plus.google.com/+Bluegrapestaging/ Like: facebook/bluegrape pramiti@bluegrape.us