Home Staging
How to Make Your Tract Home Stand Out in the Crowd
by Jeanette Joy Fisher
Home sellers who wish to market their property in development neighborhoods
face tough challenges. All the houses look similar. All the houses sell for
amounts in the same price range. The market -- whether it's a hot sellers'
market or a cool buyers' market -- largely determines the price, purchase terms,
and length of time to sell.
How do you make your home stand out from the crowd? How can you turn your
property into a "hot" sale, even if the market's lukewarm? Remember the "Three
M's" and apply these Design Psychology strategies as you stage your home for
sale:
1. Magnetism. Because most buyers won't even get out of their car unless
a home shows promise, create an exciting exterior that draws prospective buyers
to your home. Place an interesting focal point in your front yard, such as a
water fountain, a large urn, or a beautiful tree. Enhance your walkway with
enticing plants or light fixtures that clearly mark the path to the front door.
Use color psychology to either paint your front door or its framework a happy,
inviting color, such as Sherwin William's Torchlight (golden wheat) or Rose Tan.
2. Mystery. Most home searchers only spend three to four minutes looking
at the average home. Enchant with mystery as soon as the prospects enter your
home. Make the buyer take a second look by using Design Psychology lighting
tricks. Place a palm tree so that it partially blocks the view of the hallway.
Uplight the palm tree with a canister light that casts captivating shadows on
the walls and ceiling.
3. Memory. Home shoppers look at many houses in a row. Your goal is to
get the buyers to remember your home above all others. Design psychology can
help you do this. Think about your buyers' dream: they want a lifestyle --not
just a house. Make your buyers believe that if they choose your home, they will
have the privilege and right to take a nap in that "fantastic garden hammock,"
read a great book in your private reading nook, or cook a delicious meal in your
gourmet kitchen.
Turn heads with your enticing home. Turn viewers into buyers. Turn your typical
development home into a buyers' dream home using home staging methods that
create a lifestyle delight.
Jeanette Fisher, author of Joy to the Home Journal, Sell Your Home for Top
Dollar--FAST, and Home Staging for Top-Dollar Sales, teaches design psychology
college courses and professional real estate investing seminars. For home
selling tips see:
http://www.sellfast.info For home staging
strategies see:
http://www.homestaging.us