A rising tide lifts all boats.
Home styling and staging is that tide for your home regardless of its starting point - styling lifts its fortunes in the world.
Styling is not about hiding flaws but it does take the spotlight off of the details of the quality of interior finishings. There are few homes that don't come with some kind of a laundry list of imperfections, and styling can easily be the difference between a buyer minimizing that list or exaggerating it.
Styling creates a visual story for the hearts of potential buyers to connect with, a task every bit as critical as that of engaging their heads. Yes, a home purchase is a significant financial investment and must satisfy on that level, but it is also a home purchase, and there are few things closer to our hearts than the feeling of home and all that that implies.
Styling is about more than just beauty, too - it is also about function and is used to demonstrate the highest use of spaces in your home. This becomes especially important for any aspect of your home's layout that could be perceived as troubling - that awkward space at the bottom of the stairs, the living room that is on the small side, etc...
Styling and staging as a stand-alone service adds $1500 - $5000 to the cost of selling your home. Stand-alone staging companies will usually tell you that this amount is justified when you consider that a first price reduction will likely be $10,000.
And from that perspective, I agree. But how much better would it be if you had access to that service for low or no extra cost to you at all?
I happen to think that styling is such an aspect important aspect of realizing your home's greatest value in the marketplace that I have devised a strategy that allows me to offer this service to all of my listing clients for a fraction of the cost that stand-alone staging companies charges.
And this is true whether your home just needs some artful editing or is vacant and requires a full make-over. In fact, all of the photos to the right come from properties that were almost completely empty of furniture or décor before I styled them for market.
"...I have devised a strategy that allows me to offer a styling service to all of my listing clients for a fraction of the cost that stand- alone staging companies charge."