After completing her home staging business training, as her first project, Staging Diva Graduate Kathy Vernon of Texas-based Staged by Dream Weavers staged a house that had been on and off the market for two years and was attracting no interest.
Like many home sellers who haven’t decorated their homes to sell quickly, the owner of this home was enduring a significant inconvenience by not being able to sell his house. In this case, commuting to and from work required 3 hours in the car every day.
The first couple to see the home after it was decorated to sell ended up making an offer and there was a back up buyer in place in case the first offer didn’t go through. The homeowners were thrilled and relieved that their lives could go on without being stuck with their non-selling house. “As a new home stager, it was wonderful to see that I could use my natural talent to change a family’s life,” said Kathy Vernon.
A professionally staged home speaks to buyers on an emotional level and allows them to picture their lives there. The house Kathy staged hadn’t pick up and moved to a different “hotter” location, and there were no renovations done. If that same home had been staged two years prior it probably would have sold just as quickly (but for a whole lot more) because home staging works.
With results like this, you have to question why a home seller would not invest in home staging to get a quick sale for the best price possible.
Do you have stories similar to Kathy’s to share? If so, please leave a comment and contribute to the discussion.
Congratulations to Kathy Vernon! I love these “success” stories! Sometimes it’s such a hard sell to convince homeowners and agents that staging WORKS! I understand the economy being what it is and the hesitation home sellers have to spend money on staging, but when they consider what they are spending by NOT staging their home and having it sit on the market month after month, sometimes year after year, it costs less to have it professionally staged and SOLD!
Congrats Kathy !!!! I can relate so well to your story. I too a Staging Diva Graduate and into my third of business recall my first success story. A client called me who had their home listed for 75 days with no offers . Their agent had’nt mentioned staging nor did they believe it worked. The client hired me and convinced the agent to take off the market for a few days. After staging we placed back on the market and it SOLD first showing !!!!! I’m proud to say the agent had to eat their words and believes now. Talk about a confidence booster and certainly made the next consultation easier.
Gary Baugher An Eye 4 Change Nashville, TN.
Fantastic Kathy well done! This story proves two things:
1) That it is never too late to stage your home, home staging helps period. It does not matter at what point in the selling cycle you are in.
2) Yes home staging can appear costly when you just look at the figure by the dollar sign but when you consider what you can save in time, money and stress not to mention other personal issues as with Kathy’s client and the commuting.
Now ask yourself is your home worth staging?