According to the National Association of Realtors, 87% of buyers today shop for homes on the internet, making the way you present your home extremely important in attracting buyers, who often decide which houses they will look at from the photos they see on-line.
If your home does not show case its best features -- very likely considering the way we all live with just too much stuff and not seeing our homes how others see them -- you will lose potential buyers at this very first step. In the current buyers' market, the great impression you will make by staging can make the difference between getting your house sold and not getting it sold.
Once you decide to sell your home, you need to start thinking of it as a product on the market that needs to be "re-packaged" to reflect what the majority of buyers in your target market are looking for. The way you decorate to live in your home and the way you present it to sell are very different.
I consider myself a partner with you and your agent in getting your home sold faster and for more money. However, because your real estate agent will be "on the front lines" with you and all potential buyers, and not all agents are familiar with staging, I will be happy to talk to yours before any staging is done.
Agents who know staging understand it brings your home extra value so they can list it as a "staged" or "recently updated" home to generate more interest. They can also promote it to other agents as being updated and in excellent showing condition. That kind of positive "buzz" -- and the feedback from showings -- will increase traffic as well.