Benefits of Staging a Home for sale As a home seller, you want your property to look its best so that potential buyers will be impressed and interested in making an offer. That's where home staging comes in. Home staging is the process of preparing a property for sale by highlighting its best features and making it more appealing to buyers. In this blog, we will discuss why home staging is important for a successful sale.   First and foremost, home staging helps to create an emotional connection with potential buyers. When buyers walk into a property that has been properly staged, they are able to envision themselves living in the space. This emotional connection can often lead to a quicker sale and a higher offer. A well-staged home can also make a property stand out from other listings in the area, attracting more potential buyers and increasing the chances of a successful sale.    See our Top 10 Staging Tips. Another reason why home staging is important is that it can help to increase the perceived value of a property. When a property is staged to perfection, it can make buyers feel like they are getting more for their money. This perceived value can lead to higher offers and ultimately a higher sale price. Home staging can also help to highlight the best features of a property while downplaying any negative aspects. For example, if a property has a small living room, a stager can use furniture and décor to make the space look larger and more inviting. Plants are always a good option to bring life to a room, check out our Best Plants for Home Staging.  By highlighting the best features of a property and minimizing any negatives, home staging can help to make a property more appealing to potential buyers. In addition, home staging can help to speed up the sale process. “ According to the National Association of Realtors, staged homes spend 73% less time on the market than non-staged homes. ” This is likely because staged homes are more attractive to potential buyers and can generate more interest, resulting in a quicker sale. Home staging can also help to make a property look move-in ready. When buyers see a home that has been staged to perfection, they can imagine themselves moving in right away. This can be a huge selling point, especially for buyers who are looking for a property that they can move into quickly without having to do a lot of work. Finally, home staging can help to make a property look more professional. When a property is properly staged, it looks like it has been taken care of and is ready for sale. This can be reassuring to potential buyers, who may be hesitant to make an offer on a property that looks neglected or in need of repair. Read our Top 10 Tips on Home Staging. In conclusion, home staging is an important part of the home selling process.  It can help to create an emotional connection with potential buyers, increase the perceived value of a property, highlight its best features, speed up the sale process, make a property look move-in ready, and make it look more professional. Whether your home is empty or has existing furniture we can work with you to get the best first impression. If you are thinking about selling your home, contact your on the ground Top Madison agents - Jacqueline and Guy at 608 440 1740. Home Valuation 

Preparing your home for sale requires time and effort.  The amount of preparation depends on many things, including: Time in your home How it has been maintained Repairs carried out Updates How rough the home had been used, and of course the size of the home  However, home preparation for sale can be a pretty large project.Preparation sets your home up to enable RealEstateGuy to present it in the best light to get the absolute best money when you sell.  Unless you want to wholesale your home, (and get 70-80% of its worth, you need to prepare it.Our number one recommendation, is to start early.  Allow 6 months.  For example, if you are wanting to sell in April, we suggest starting in September and take the winter to work on it.  Some of Real Estate Guy’s best results have come when our clients work with us and spend up to 6 months preparing. How can this be achieved?   Well as part of our follow up, we identify when a homeowner needs to be selling, and we counsel them on the value of the home stage.  We will often do an in house, or a video consult and help make a plan.  As mentioned, we often suggest taking a whole winter, which in Wisconsin is long and free of all the summer distractions, to concentrate on the chores.  Taking time takes the mad panic out of the process,  enables planning including scheduling contractors to be hired and projects to be done on a logical order, it enables sorting out personal possessions so they can be disposed of, trashed or packed for the move.  This leads to much less stress than a week long intense dash to the listing time. This is not a blog about staging details, however, here are the basics: Repairs: fix what is broken Replace: what is worn or malfunctioning Update: replace older items with more modern an example would be light fittings or faucets Organizing: sorting and paring.  Pare down your personal belongings Renewing: Things like carpet and paint Cleaning: The whole house needs the best clean it ever has Buyers want to see clean Staging: the final touches, arranging furniture, ornaments, rugs, lighting As you can see Staging is just the final step of the home preparation process.  From the start, Real Estate Guy will meet with you and help you make a plan, help you decide what projects should be completed and which ones to nix.  Which ones will give you the best bang for the buck. Then once the bulk of the work is done, we will come back and help with the final preparation.   Please remember the cost of skipping preparaton can be 20-30% of the sale price.  Is that enough to get you to make a plan?   Would it be worth spending $2-3,000 to get this return?   Not selling this year? It is never too soon to start the process.  Just get and keep everything fixed and serviceable.  Don’t accumulate and keep your home updated.