Announcing ONLINE Stage to Sell! Strategy Sessions

Need a quick, cost-effective way to get specific advice for how to best prepare your home for a successful sale?  Feels Like Home Interiors is now offering ONLINE Stage to Sell! Strategy Sessions. 

The process is simple and effective: 

1. You share photos of key rooms/spaces inside and outside your home through an online photo sharing website. 
2. We analyze the photos and determine how you should prepare each space to best appeal to your potential buyers.  
3. We email you a detailed written report that will serve as your roadmap to success in getting your home sold. 
4. And to make sure you understand the recommendations, we also include a 15 minute phone consultation to answer any questions. 

ONLINE Stage to Sell! Strategy Sessions--an economical, convenient and effective tool for savvy sellers!

For more information or to schedule your ONLINE Stage to Sell! Strategy Session, please contact us at 724.884.7148 or mary@feelslikehomeinteriors.com. 

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Feels Like Home Interiors

Maximizing Your Home's Potential

http://www.feelslikehomeinteriors.com/

Professional Staging Advice ~ A Smart Way to Avoid Costly Price Reductions When Selling Your Home

The number of homes for sale making price reductions has increased for the third month in row to 26% according to statistics just released by Trulia.com and reported in REALTOR® Magazine.   This news is not too surprising given the current market conditions.  But you can help avoid becoming part of this undesirable statistic. 

What is an important way to help avoid having to make costly price reductions when selling your home?  Of course your house needs to be properly priced to begin with and your Realtor® will be a huge source of advice on that decision.  And, in addition to proper pricing, it is essential that you make sure your home is properly prepared for sale so that it presents as well as possible to potential buyers. 

What is the best way to make sure your house maximizes its potential when selling?  Get advice and assistance from a home staging professional.  A home staging expert will help you take a fresh look at your home through the buyer's eyes.  A stager's goal is to help you sell in the least time for the highest possible price.  How great to have someone in your corner wanting to make you money and reduce your stress level. 
 
Want to get the biggest bang for your staging investment?  Consult with a Home Staging Expert before your house hits the market.  Remember, you only get one chance to be a fresh listing.  When buyers view a home that is "move-in ready" and makes an emotional connection with them, they will be more motivated to act.  They will be concerned that other buyers will likely be making solid offers on this hot new listing and they will be motivated to move quickly to make your house their home. 

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Looking to sell your house in the Pittsburgh, PA area successfully? Feels Like Home Interiors helps you maximize your home's potential. For more information, contact us at mary@feelslikehomeinteriors.com .

Sooner or Later? A Key Question for Savvy Sellers

Lately, I have been working with a number of clients who decided to seek my professional staging advice--AFTER a stretch of time on the market with no offers and little interest. 

I am happy to work with these smart sellers and Realtors(r) who now understand first hand that they need to package their home properly for a successful sale. We make key changes to the interior and exterior of the home that result in an increase of traffic and finally some genuine interest from buyers.

But I always wish they had called me sooner--long BEFORE the house hit the market.

Why?

Because despite the fact that the changes we make will do great things to help their home appeal to buyers, they can never get those crucial first weeks as a fresh listing back again. Savvy sellers will always get the biggest bang for their staging investment by properly preparing the home BEFORE they list their house.

Sellers often tell me they want to “test the waters” first and if they don’t sell, then they will call me for a Stage to Sell! Strategy Session. But this is a very costly decision by the seller. By the time they realize their “test the waters” strategy isn’t going to work, they have usually have had to drop their price once or twice by many thousands of dollars.

You only get one chance to be a fresh listing on the market. Be smart and invest wisely with both your time and your money in order to assure that you take full advantage of your house’s big debut.
 
 

 

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Looking to sell your house successfully?  Feels Like Home Interiors helps you maximize your home's potential.   For more information, contact us at mary@feelslikehomeinteriors.com.

Pittsburgh PA Home Selling Strategy—Start Now to Sell Well

Every year, more savvy home sellers are seeing the value in properly preparing their homes for a sale, yet just about as many are still confused about when is the ideal time to start getting their home ready for a successful sale. If you hope to be a seller who sells quickly and for the best possible price, then “the sooner the better!” should be your home preparation mantra.

If you are fortunate enough to know that you may be moving in the next year or even in the next two years, there are many tasks that you should start on now that will help you be ready when listing day arrives and at the same time keep the prep process manageable. You may think this seems ridiculously early to be getting ready to sell, but it is not.

The process of getting the home you are living in expertly prepared for success on the market takes a good bit of planning and time. While it can be accomplished with Herculean effort in a shorter period when need be, the best scenario is to be able to break the preparation process down into manageable steps and slowly work away at the steps. Decluttering, depersonalizing, painting, updating, rearranging, sprucing up of curb appeal/outdoor spaces, and other tasks take time to be done well. Making your the most desirable one in your price range is what will bring in quick and strong offers.

So how do you know where to start and what needs to be done? You’ve likely been living in this home for a while now, and it can be difficult to figure out what will be the best way to appeal to the broadest range of buyers. You will benefit hugely by getting expert advice on how to most effectively and efficiently spend your time and budget on getting your home ready for a successful sale. This is why now, several months or even a year or more before you plan to be on the market, is the ideal time to call a professional home stager and set up a strategy session to figure out your game plan for preparing your home to sell well.

Bang for your Buck—Savvy Sellers are Smart Investors

A home staging consultation or strategy session costs only a few hundred dollars and then many smart sellers invest a bit more and bring their stager back in to help with the finishing touches shortly before their house hits the market. And the statistics show that if it is staged before listing, your home will likely sell for 7% to 11% more than it would if you had not staged it to sell.

Let’s crunch the numbers. Let’s say your house would list and sell (eventually) for $300,000 without staging. But being the savvy seller you are, you invest $1000 in a staging consultation and then some finishing touch staging and a $1000 in materials to update your house. Now you sell your home in a short time for between $321,000 and $333,000. So you invested $2000 and some time and elbow grease in preparing your home to sell. And now you walk away with between $21,000 and $33,000 more in equity—a 1050% to 1650% return for your $2000 investment! Not to mention a quick and painless sale.

“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.”
~Thomas Edison

Plan and prepare now to ensure your good fortune when you sell your house!

Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Pittsburgh, PA Real Estate Agents-Staging Benefit #4: Staging MAKES You Money

In this Top Ten List of why home staging pays off for Realtors®, we've already seen:



Reason #1: Staging Saves Time
Reason #2: Staging Brings Traffic
Reason #3: Staging Saves Money



And now we're ready for the next reason Home Staging pays off for Savvy Realtors® - Reason #4: Staging SAVES You Money or "Show Me the Money! - Part 2".

When your staged homes sell for more, you make more - it's just that simple. And staged homes have been shown over and over to sell at higher prices. According to the National Association of Realtors, staged homes sell for 7 - 11% more than non-staged homes.

And when you combine this with the fact that staged homes sell faster and therefore reduce your marketing costs, you understand that, financially speaking, using home staging is a true double-bonus for you as a realtor.







Ok, now for the big question. You're saving money and you're making money thanks to having staged listings. But who's paying for all this staging?

Many savvy Realtors® now include a professional staging consultation for their listing clients. If you choose to offer this service to your listing clients, this small investment will:

1. serve as a great value-added service that sets you apart from other agents (stay tuned for more on this benefit)



2. be deductible as a cost of doing business or marketing expense (consult with your accountant for details)



3. more than pay for itself through both savings and earnings (as already explained).

Another option is to explain the value of staging to your clients and provide them with contact information and marketing materials for the staging professional you recommend and the seller pays the stager for a consultation.

Any hands-on staging services are usually paid for by the home seller since they are the ones who will realize the greatest direct gains from staging. This investment by the seller also helps ensure their commitment to the transformation process.

As a savvy Realtor® looking to continue growing your business, can you afford not to make home staging part of your success strategy?

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Up next in the Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off For Savvy Pittsburgh PA Realtors

Reason #5: Staging Helps You Handle Touchy Topics.

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A savvy home seller or Realtor® in the Pittsburgh area? Looking for expert home staging assistance getting a property ready to show to its best potential so you can sell quickly and maximize your profit? Please visit Feels Like Home Interiors to find out more about how our home staging services can make a difference for your home or listings.

Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Pittsburgh PA Real Estate Agents-Staging Benefit #3: Professional Home Staging Saves You Money

Now we're ready to talk about Professional Home Staging and your all-important bottom-line.

You know--"Show me the Money!"

Reason #3: Professional Home Staging SAVES You Money

Selling homes for a living can be a lucrative business (and hopefully is for you!). But as you know (and we all wish sellers better understood), there are a lot of expenses involved in listing and marketing homes.

And these days more than ever, we need ways to cut expenses while still providing clients with exceptional service. While some of your listing costs are one-time expenses many others (print ads, direct mail, flyers, open houses and of course, the value of the long hours required for you to do this on-going marketing) get higher and higher the longer you carry a listing.

So how do you minimize your marketing costs for your listings and still provide the highest level of service to your clients? You sell your listings more quickly. And what is a great way to accomplish that? Professional Home Staging!

According to statistics released by the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) for 2008, vacant homes spent 85% less time on the market and occupied homes spent 89% less time on the market after staging. And a National Association of Realtors survey found that staged homes sell 49% faster.

So Reason #3 is a "key" bottom-line benefit for you as a Realtor® to use home staging:

Stage your listings and they will sell faster. and bottom-line, you will have MORE MONEY left in your wallet.

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Ok, saving money is nice, but making more money is even better. Stay tuned for the next post in this series, Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Pittsburgh PA Real Estate Agents- Reason #4: Professional Home Staging Makes You Money.

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And just in case you missed the first two key reasons for Professional Home Staging:

Reason #1: Staging Saves You Time

Reason #2: Staging Increases Traffic For Your Listings

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A savvy home seller or Realtor® in the Pittsburgh area? Looking for expert home staging assistance getting a property ready to show to its best potential so you can sell quickly and maximize your profit? Please visit Feels Like Home Interiors to find out more about how our home staging services can make a difference for your home or listings.

Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Pittsburgh PA Real Estate Agents--Reason #2: Staging Increases Traffic for Your Listings

Welcome to the second installment in my series of Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Real Estate Agents. The first post covered how professional home staging saves you precious time. Now for Staging Benefit #2.

Staging Benefit #2: Professional Home Staging Increases Traffic To Your Listings

While traffic on the freeway is literally a pain in the rear, traffic through your listings is absolutely crucial to your selling success. So how do you drive traffic to your listings and get prospective buyers walking through the door?

You start by making the best of your online presentation. These days approximately 90% of buyers start their home search online. And you have only a few short seconds to pique their interest or your chance to sell to them will pass with the simple click of their mouse.

• Cluttered house-CLICK!

• Outdated house-CLICK!

• Confusing house-CLICK!

In order to avoid the "click" and make a potential buyer's "must see" list, you need to make sure your listings look terrific in both MLS photos and virtual tours. What is the best way to ensure your listings look as good as possible online so they will drive traffic to your listings?

Professional Home Staging will be crucial to your selling success.

Uncluttered and Staged Kitchen--Schedule a Showing!

Updated and Staged Entry--Schedule a Showing!

Clearly Defined Dining and Sun Rooms--Schedule a Showing!

Effective home staging will address issues like flow, function, space, clutter, cleanliness, style, odor and animal issues, and curb appeal. A professional home stager will make sure the property appeals to the broadest range of buyers and that its best features are clearly highlighted while minimizing any challenges.

Real estate selling is one time when traffic is a very good thing. The more traffic, the more likely the listing will sell, and sell quickly. It's like the line from the movie Field of Dreams, "Build it and they will come." With professional home staging, Stage it and they will come--and they will buy!

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Stay tuned for the next installment in Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Real Estate Agents-Staging Benefit #3: Professional Home Staging Makes You Money.

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A savvy seller or Realtor® in the Pittsburgh area looking for expert home staging assistance getting a property ready to show to its best potential? Please visit Feels Like Home Interiors to find out more about how our home staging services can make a difference for your home or listings.

Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Pittsburgh PA Real Estate Agents

As you well know, the demands of being a successful Realtor® have grown dramatically over the past decade or so. Technology has skyrocketed, competition has increased, and the market has gone (just a bit) haywire. As a Realtor® you likely feel pulled in a million different directions and it probably seems that there are never enough hours in the day.

So why complicate your already over-taxed life as a Realtor® by trying to also wear the hat of a Home Stager? Can you really afford the time? Do you know the best ways to convince your clients to make the changes you suggest?

If you are a savvy Pittsburgh Realtor® passionate about building your business while providing your clients with the highest level of service, working with a Professional Home Stager offers you an easy, effective and profitable strategy so you can be even more successful in today’s highly competitive real estate marketplace.

The following is the first installment in a series that outlines the logic behind the smart strategy of using Professional Home Staging to further strengthen your Pittsburgh PA real estate business.

Here’s the first reason of the Top Ten Reasons Home Staging Pays Off for Savvy Pittsburgh PA Real Estate Agents:

Reason #1: Professional Home Staging Saves You Time



As you well know, Professional Realtors® must be multi-talented and incredibly hard working. Here are just a few of things you probably do on an average day:

•Explain
•Market—yourself and your listings
•Advise
•Negotiate
•Problem solve
•Oversee
•Coordinate
•Comfort
•Encourage
•Network
•Research
•Refer
•Analyze
•Chauffeur
•Listen
•Entertain

The adage “Time is Money” may be more true for Realtors® than anybody else. Successful Realtors® in Pittsburgh and around the country understand the value of effectively managing their time and building a strong support team in an effort to provide a superior level of service to their clients.

So while you likely know and understand many of the principles of Effective Home Staging, can you really justify the time required to walk each listing client you have through the details of what they need to do in order to effectively prepare their home to sell as quickly as possible for the best price?

Partnering with a Professional Home Stager ensures that your listing clients receive proven and detailed staging advice they deserve while allowing you to dedicate your time to the demanding business of being a Realtor®.

And the time you save by working with a Professional Home Stager is only the tip of the iceberg of the benefits to your business. Stay tuned for Staging Benefit #2: Professional Home Staging Increases Traffic Through Your Listings.


© 2009 Mary Fasnacht, Feels Like Home Interiors - All Rights Reserved

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A savvy seller or Realtor® in the Pittsburgh area looking for expert home staging assistance getting a property ready to show to its best potential? Please visit Feels Like Home Interiors to find out more about how our home staging services can make a difference for your home or listings.

Kitchen Staging Recipe: Four Steps to Stage Your Kitchen and Cook Up a Sale

Check out Energized Seller.com. It is an excellent place for a savvy seller to turn for useful information on selling their home. You'll find blogs from real estate professionals around the country, great short videos about selling your home, and a place where you can ask the professionals your questions.

Feels Like Home Interiors Prep List for the Savvy Seller

You've taken all the right steps before your home is listed. You've decluttered and depersonalized and worked with a professional stager to ensure your house is ready for its big debut. Your photos are stunning and you are excited that listing day is finally here.

You are to be congratulated on all the effort you've made so far. But you're not quite done yet. Remember the goal of selling your home is to get your home sold. I know this sounds incredibly obvious. Yet it's clear from the condition of many homes on the market that not all sellers understand this basic concept.

Keeping your home ready to show is hard work, but the better job you do keeping your house in model home condition while you are on the market, the more you increase your chances of selling quicker and for a better price. Your best strategy is to stay "show ready" so when the call from a realtor comes saying they have a buyer who would like to see your home, you are ready.

This checklist is divided into tasks you need to do every day, every few days, weekly, and anytime before you leave the house. Follow these steps and there will be no need to panic or stress. Just a few last minute touches and your home will be ready to show to its best potential. So be a savvy seller--follow these suggestions, get your home sold, and move on with your life.

Daily Prep:

• Make the beds.


• Get all clothes off the floor and put away or in the laundry.


• Wipe down any showers, tubs, sinks, counters, faucets, toilets and stove tops.


• Rinse dishes, load dishwasher, run dishwasher and empty dishwasher.


• Wash your personal towels daily and put out your "show" towels.


• Sort, file, and discard mail as soon as you receive it.


• Put away all/recycle all reading material including newspapers and magazines.


• Stow all personal items out of sight including, eyeglasses and personal care items such as toothbrush/toothpaste, lotions, bathing products, etc. Remember to keep all bath products in a small plastic bin that you can easily move inside a cabinet after using.


• Empty the trash daily, especially kitchen and bathrooms, and keep all trash containers stored inside cabinets or closets and out of sight.


• Straighten and fluff the pillows on chairs and sofas.


• Clean up any pet areas including emptying the litter box if you have cats, and when appropriate put your animals in the garage, outside, or with a neighbor.

Every Few Days Prep:

• Check on fresh flowers, change the water, and replace if they are starting to look wilted.


• If you have fresh fruit in a bowl in the kitchen make sure it is still fresh.


• Sweep any debris from front porch, walkways, and decks or patios.


• Do the laundry more often than usual so they don't pile up. Get them washed, dried, folded and put away. If you have dirty clothes at the time of a showing place them in the washing machine and close the lid.


• Dust, sweep, and vacuum.


• Wipe down the outside of appliances and polish any stainless steel-a light coat of olive oil on SS appliances will help keep those pesky fingerprints away.


• Water outdoor pots and beds as often as needed.

Weekly Prep:

• Shake out any throw or scatter rugs.


• Do the yard work, including mowing, weeding, and cleaning up any debris.


• Water houseplants.


• Straighten up the garage and any other storage areas.

Before You Leave the House Prep:

• Set the thermostat to a comfortable temperature.


• Turn on the lights to their show ready levels.


• Make sure the house is odor free-avoid cooking foods that leave strong lingering odors while your house is on the market.


• Close all toilet lids.


• Do a quick walk-through to make sure all items are properly stowed and each space looks just the way you want.

(See the post Staying Sane Living Ready to Show for more information about the importance of keeping you house show ready.)

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A savvy seller or Realtor in the Pittsburgh area looking for expert assistance getting a property ready to show to its best potential? Please visit Feels Like Home Interiors to find out more about how their home staging services can make a difference for your home or listings.

Staying Sane Living "Ready-to-Show"!

Living in a show-ready home may seem daunting, but with some planning and a bit of effort you can do it. Remember the better your home shows, the more likely you will sell quicker and therefore need to live this way for a shorter time. You may even come to enjoy living in a serene and clutter-free environment. Once you’ve put in all the work to get your house de-cluttered, effectively staged, and show-ready, it is easier to maintain than you might imagine, and well worth the effort.

Set aside a time everyday to do the necessary tidying tasks. If you are a morning person, get up a bit earlier than normal and take care of your daily to do list. If you are a night owl, work this into your pre-bedtime routine (with the exception of making beds and general picking up after your morning routine).

If you have older children and teens in your household, get them involved in the daily process of staying show ready. Make it easy for them to help by giving them storage baskets and bins to use to gather their belongings and designate a space in their closet or dresser where they can store them. The promise of a family getaway or some other reward when your house sells works well as an incentive. With younger children, make the preparation process a game for them. Children as young as 2 or 3 can help put items in bins and enjoy the fun of using a timer or special clean up songs.

Remember, when a potential buyer sees a spotless and well-organized home, it has a big positive impact on their overall impression of the property. They tend to see the home as well-cared for, more spacious, and easy to maintain—all of which go a long way to getting you from “for sale” to “Sold!”.

Stay on top of the day to day clutter and dirt, have a schedule and a plan, and give yourself and your family "treats" for your extra efforts. You'll be able to keep your sanity and the quick and successful sale of your home will be your well-deserved reward.

Watch for future posts with specific steps to follow daily, every few days, weekly, and anytime you leave the house when your home is on the market.

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A savvy seller or realtor looking for expert assistance getting a property ready to show to its best potential? Please visit the Feels Like Home Interiors website or call Mary at (724) 884-7148 to find out more about how she can make a difference for your home or listings.

MLS Photos--Shoot For Quantity AND Quality

According to a July 2008 study by Point2 Technologies, online home shoppers turn away from listings with no or few photos and spend their time viewing the listings with the most MLS photos.

This study found that listings with no photos had the worst results, getting only a .02 percent of the detailed listing views that the 21 or more photo listings received. The study also indicated that listings with 21 or more pictures received 55 times the number of page views, 27 times the amount of interest and 898 the number of leads as a listing with no pictures.

According to Carey Tufts, Director of Marketing for Point2 Technologies, “Once again the data indicates that online home shoppers want rich content, specifically in the form of more photos, otherwise they tend to move on to the next listing. Especially in today’s market, home sellers and their agents do not have to take this risk. The data sends a powerful message. With more than 80 percent of home buyers continuing to do their research online, agents must attach more photos to their listings for them to stand out and attract more potential buyers.”

While this study makes a strong case for listing agents to increase the number of photos they use with their listings in order to attract interest, it does not address the importance of the quality of all these photos. Clearly, online interest is not enough; sellers need that interest to result in showings and offers. While more photos may bring an increase in views from an online shopper, quality of the staging of the home and the photos themselves will lead to showings and ultimately, offers.

So definitely put more photos with your listings, but make sure the photos do an excellent job of captivating a potential buyer's further interest and helping them make an emotional connection to the home. This means each photo must show an area that is well-staged highlighting the space’s function, flow, and features. And each picture should be taken from the ideal vantage point with the best lighting and then properly finished using a good photo editing program such as www.picnik.com/ .

When it comes to MLS photos helping you get to SOLD, both quantity AND quality will be crucial in generating showings and offers. What's a great way to ensure your photos will have the best impact on prospective home buyers? Enlist the services of a Professional Home Stager to help you get your home show-ready before it hits on the market. The investment in home staging will result in a home that shows well both online and in person.

See the graph below for the detailed results of the Point2 Technologies Study. Click here to read the complete study.

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A savvy seller or realtor looking for expert assistance getting a property ready to show to its best potential? Please visit the Feels Like Home Interiors website or call Mary at (724) 884-7148 to find out more about how she can make a difference for your home or listings.

Bright Idea -- Go Dimmer!

Want an easy, affordable way to improve the lighting in your home? Go dimmer!

Yes, I know you need to have enough lighting from various sources in order to proper illuminate your space. But the sources and quantity of lighting are only part of the answer to creating a warm and inviting atmosphere in your home. Lighting that is too harsh can be a problem just as much as not enough light. Being able to control the light adds greatly to the mood you can set in a space.

A simple dimmer switch costs less than $15 and can be easily installed in just a few minutes using some basic tools. Check out this video from about.com for a short tutorial on how you can install dimmer switches yourself. Make sure you choose the right dimmer for your needs because they vary based on the number of switches you have connected to the light source you want to control.

Take control of the lighting in your home with the simple, affordable addition of dimmer switches throughout your home. Whether you're having a romantic dinner for two, hosting a dinner party, relaxing by the fire, or playing a board game with the kids, you will enjoy being able to adjust the level of light in order to create the mood best suited to your activity. Once you go "dimmer", you'll never go back!

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Mary Fasnacht of Feels Like Home Interiors helps home owners in Washington County, PA and the surrounding Pittsburgh area with their home staging and interior redesign needs. Her Stage to Sell services help sellers prepare their homes to make the best possible impression in today's challenging market. Her Stage to Stay services offer home owners an easy, affordable way to refresh and revitalize their homes. Please visit her website or call her at (724) 884-7148 to find out more about how she can make a difference for your home or listings.

"You had me at hello"--Will Your Home Get the 8.2 Second Look?

Did you know that according to a recent study when a man gazes at a woman for 8.2 seconds or more the first time he sees her, he rates that woman as highly attractive--raising the odds of love at first sight? And on the other end of the spectrum, if the man's gaze lasts for 4.5 seconds or less, it means that the man is not interested in that woman and indicates he did not consider her good-looking enough.

Think a similar theory holds true for prospective buyers checking out your house? Absolutely! Whether it's 10 seconds, 13 seconds or 22 seconds, real estate experts agree you have a very short time to captivate potential buyers and entice them to keep looking. Before the rise of the internet as the primary first search avenue for home buyers, you could focus on your curb appeal to get a prospective buyer in the door. But now that more than 85% of prospective buyers start their home search online, curb appeal is only one part of the complete package you need to sell your house for best price and in the shortest time possible.

The "attractiveness" of your home must be clearly evident in the photos and virtual tour that constitute most buyers' first look at your home if you want to make sure it isn't their last. In a matter of less than 30 seconds, a prospective buyer can view each room of your home and decide whether your home makes the cut or not. If the buyer is looking at your listing, it most likely already meets their basic criteria (location, price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc.). But those characteristics alone will not be enough to ensure your property makes their "must see!" list. Your home will need to make an emotional connection with your prospective buyer, allowing them to see how they can live comfortably and happily in your home.

So what's the most effective way to ensure you're making the most of your home's potential appeal? Investing in professional staging will help you significantly increase the "attractiveness" factor of your property. By helping you highlight your home's best features, maximize the flow through the space, depict each area's function clearly, and evoke a good connection emotionally, a professional stager's assistance will turn your home into a showplace that will captivate your potential buyers both online and in person.

So will your home rate the "8.2 second look"? Make the most of your home's brief opportunity to make that first impression--love at first sight. And that will give you the best chance for a lasting relationship--an accepted offer from a buyer thrilled to be making your house their home. Stage your home to its best potential and your buyer will be thrilled to say, "Oh, yes, you had me at hello!"

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Mary Fasnacht of Feels Like Home Interiors helps home sellers in Washington County, PA and the surrounding Pittsburgh area prepare their homes to make the best possible impression in today's challenging market. Please visit her website or call her at (724) 884-7148 to find out more about how she can make a difference for your home or listings .

To read more about this new male/female attractiveness study go to the March 25, 2009 article by Elena Gorgan, Life and Style editor for Softpedia.