- SellForSure University Home Page
- Module 1: Introduction
- Module 2: Sell By Owner, or With Agent?
- Module 3: Working with an Agent
- Why You Should Use a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your House
- Drawbacks to Using an Agent
- Real Estate Agent Designations
- How to Choose a Real Estate Agent
- How NOT to Choose a Real Estate Agent
- How to Interview a Real Estate Agent
- Questions to Ask your Real Estate Agent
- Dual Agency
- Check an Agent's Work
- Communicating with your Real Estate Agent
- How a Real Estate Agent gets Paid
- Discount and Flat Fee Brokers
- Real Estate Listing Agreements
- Your Real Estate Agent's Job in a Nutshell
- Module 4: Valuing and Pricing your Home
- Today's Real Estate Buyers are Savvy and Empowered
- Real Estate Values and Pricing
- What Matters and What Doesn't in Pricing your Home
- Every Home is Unique
- Three Major Factors affecting Real Estate Values
- Online Real Estate Price Evaluations
- Real Estate CMA or Comparative Market Analysis
- Real Estate Appraisal
- Realtor Property Report (RPR)
- Which Real Estate Valuation should I Trust
- The Real Estate Auction Sales Model
- Overpricing Your Home for Sale
- How to Maximize your Home Sale Price
- The Virtue of Underpricing your Home
- Selling your home with little or no equity
- Inspecting your Home Prior to Selling It
- Preparing a Full Disclosure Package for Home Buyers
- Contents of a Real Estate Disclosure Package
- Making Repairs to your Home prior to Selling It
- Required Retrofits of your Home
- As-Is Real Estate Sales
- Selling as a Certified Pre-Owned Home
- Preparing your Home for Sale
- Enhance your Home's Curb Appeal
- The Cost of Preparing your Home for Sale
- Module 6: On the Market
- When to List your Home for Sale
- Living in a Home vs. Selling One
- Getting the Word out about your Home
- Showings and Open Houses
- When Buyers are In the House
- Make your home Available, but make Yourself Scarce for Showings
- Offers and Negotiations
- Selling a Home that is Tenant Occupied
- Selling your Home in a Tough Market
- Recognizing the Wrong Price for your Home
- Real Estate Price Adjustment Strategy
- How to Sell a Home and then Buy Another
- Moving after Selling your Home
- Module 7: Negotiating and Closing the Sale
- The Residential Purchase Agreement
- What Happens when you get an Offer on your Home
- Negotiating the Sale of your Home
- Top Negotiation Tactics to use when Selling your Home
- The Buyer's Due Diligence
- The Real Estate Closing Timeline
- Delays in the Home Sale Process
- The Buyer's Appraisal in the Purchase Process
- Real Estate Tax Information for Home Sellers
- 1031 Tax-Deferred Exchange
- How much it Costs to Sell a Home
- Module 8: SellForSure System Walkthrough
- Goals of the SellForSure System
- The SellForSure Home Sale System Guarantees
- Traditional Real Estate Marketing Methods
- Active Real Estate Marketing
- Free Home Inspection and Termite Inspection
- SellForSure Pre-Sale Services
- The SellForSure Web Portal Status System
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 1
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 2
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 3
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 4
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 5
- Launching your Home on the Market
- SellForSure System Listing Syndication
- How to Manage Showings on your Home
- Real Estate Open House Events
- The Perfect Home Sale Schedule
- While your Home is on the Market
- The Two Week Review Cycle
- What to Expect Once your Home is Under Contract
- Closing the Sale of your Home
- Module 9: The Realty World Advantage
All the work you’re putting in to your home to get it ready for sale is part of what’s called home staging. The goal of home staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers by transforming it into a welcoming, attractive place. The risk of not staging your home is that only about 10% of buyers can see potential value; for everyone else, you need to show them.
Most people think of “home staging” as employing the services of a professional home staging company or an interior decorating consultant. In fact, many owners do hire a consultant to help with the selection and placement of furnishings, lighting, and other decor. Studies show that this is money well spent. If you have completely vacant home, it may be worthwhile to hire a full-fledged staging company that can rent furniture to you on a monthly basis to provide context for the rooms of your house.
Remember, you won’t have to stage every room in the place, so the monthly cost need not be exorbitant. Investing a small amount of money in properly staging your home can provide greater returns in the bottom line of your home’s selling price.
If you are living in your home while it’s on the market, it’s usually a question of removing or re-arranging furniture, and a staging consultant can help you make the best decisions about that. After you’ve staged your home, take a walk through it. Are there things that catch your eye, but add nothing to the room? If so, it’s advisable to put any such items into storage. If these are things you need while living in the home – kitchen appliances, bathroom hair dryers, etc. – make sure they’re kept out of sight, in cabinets or drawers.
Staging by the Numbers
- According to a HomeGain 2012 Survey, de-cluttering and cleaning alone can yield a 403% return on the cost, home staging yields 196% ROI, lightening and brightening yields 299% ROI, and landscaping yields a 215% ROI.
- According to the Real Estate Staging Association, in controlled tests selling identical homes, professionally staged vs. those not staged, the non-staged houses sold in 102 days, while the staged houses sold in 45 days.
- According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average staging investment is between 1 and 3% of the home’s asking price, which generates a return of 8 to 10%.
Investing just a couple of thousand dollars to make your home look its best will give you a huge return on your investment.