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Health & Fitness

Staging Maximizes Homes Selling Price: Now Is Time to Sell and Capture Top Dollar Offers

If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now may be the best time to finally list. The current housing market offers homeowners who have been thinking of selling an opportunity to maximize their homes selling price. Increased consumer confidence, steadier employment numbers and still relatively low mortgage rates are driving more buyers to the market. Yet, the most recent housing figures show stronger sales activity being held off by low inventory – which poses a challenge for buyers struggling to find a desirable home and creates a huge market opportunity for sellers.  

As the market improves, sales of staged homes are also increasing -- the lack of inventory giving prospective sellers with an attractive property an advantage. Listings that do appeal to today's buyer preferences priced right and staged to sell, are selling and selling fast. Bidding wars have been reported earlier this spring in other areas of the country, but now realtors in Connecticut are seeing the trend picking up locally.  

Even as housing strengthens, the following market factors will continue to make staging a home to attract buyers one of the most important elements of a successful home selling strategy.           

  • Staging Will Continue To Sell Homes Faster. Staged homes will always have an advantage and are selling even faster than before. Nationally, homes staged by an Accredited Staging Professional are receiving offers in 23 days or less. A home just staged last week by PJ & Company sold in just one day, while two others went to contract in just 3 days.   

  • Today's Buyers More Flexible on Location. Today's buyers are even getting more flexible on location to find an attractive home at a good value -- with 80% of buyers open to neighborhoods they hadn't previously considered to achieve that objective, according to a Prudential Real Estate survey.         

  • Inventory Will Eventually Grow, Creating More Competition For Sellers. Homeowners who have been waiting to get in the game may finally be motivated to list their home for sale. As more listings hit the market, inventory will stabilize giving buyers more options. To beat out competition, sellers will need to offer buyers a move-in condition, updated home to attract showings and offers.   ·        

  • Small Investments Can Boost A Home's Value. Pricing has room for growth, with values still well below highest levels experienced during the housing boom. Sellers who stage and make improvements can boost their home's value more quickly; even small improvements can increase the selling price. Rich Walker, a realtor with Century 21 listed his client's home for $20K more than he expected after the property was staged by PJ & Company, and sold it in 15 days with no negotiations. The chart pictured from HomeGain shows the average return on investment for home improvements and the percentage of realtors that recommend them to sellers.  

PJ & Company Home Styling, LLC, is an interior decorating and accredited home staging firm based in Connecticut.  Patti Stern, PJ & Company's principal, and her team work closely with homeowners to redecorate, renovate or simply refresh their home décor. She also offers comprehensive, turnkey staging services to help homeowners sell their home quickly and for top dollar. Clients include homeowners and realtors across Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Patti has also been featured in Connecticut Magazine, the Hartford Courant and Danbury News-Times and on NBC Connecticut and FOX TV. For more information, please contact Patti Stern at 203-640-3762 or patti@pjhomestyling.com.  Connect with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pjandcompanyhomestyling or Twitter at www.twitter.com/pjhomestyling
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