St. Louis Real Estate – Home Staging – Eye of the Tiger

Filed under: For Sellers, Home Staging

The Buyer’s Eye by Sue Rector, ASP Stager, HomeStaging Innovations, LLC

The Buyer’s Eye…that is what every home seller wants to attract! Home Staging is all about attracting the Buyer’s Eye.

In all types of real estate markets, but especially in a market as we have currently, home sellers must do as much as possible to make their house stand out from the large competition pool of houses in their neighborhood.  Staging your home, whether occupied or vacant, presents the house in the Best Possible Showing Appearance for internet marketing pictures and most importantly, for the personal showings…that is for the Buyer’s Eye.

ASP Stagers are trained to look at each room and each space within a house as a potential buyer would.  Did you ever realize an area or a room within a house may have a different showing appearance depending on how a potential buyer enters and/or walks around that area or room?

I have found that most home sellers are not able to look at their houses for sale, through a buyer’s eye.  That is not in anyway meant to be disrespectful or condescending to a home seller. In an occupied house, home sellers are emotionally connected to their décor and have looked at their special features for so long that they may not realize what may need to be staged in order minimize clutter and/or to draw attention to the special features.   Home Staging is about selling the house’s spaces and special features and not the décor inside.

When I am invited to conduct a Staging Consultation for home sellers who are attempting to sell an occupied home, I always look at the house through a Potential Buyer’s Eye.  I focus in on the house’s positive attributes such as large rooms, bay windows, a great fireplace, a great view, etc. Once focused into the special features, I make staging recommendations to enhance them and I make sure the home seller understands why I have made these staging recommendations.  I also walk into an area or room within a house from as many different ways that I think a potential buyer would do when touring the house, making recommendations to make the room or area show its best. 

In vacant houses for sale, home sellers typically know that the house would present itself better in terms of space, special features, and function of rooms, if they have at least the key areas of the home staged.  It just comes down to the important decision to make the investment in staging. Placing furniture and accessories within a vacant home, using the same guidelines of looking at the rooms through a Buyer’s Eye, presents the house in the Best Possible Showing Appearance. “A buyer only knows what they see, not what is meant to be”…Barb Schwarz, Creator of the Staging Concept

Generally speaking, the investment in staging a vacant home for 8-12 weeks, which includes inventory usage, staging, de-staging, and delivery/pickup, will be less than the price reduction of the house, if it does not sell. 

Consider using an ASP Stager, a trained professional, who will look at your house for sale, through the Potential Buyer’s Eye. That will give you yet another edge over your competition!

For more information about Home Staging Services, contact us at homestaging@stlouisrealestatevoice.com or visit our website at www.stlstaging.com

Sue Rector, ASP Stager
HomeStaging Innovations, LLC
 

Posted by Doug Aegerter   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   06.06.2008

St. Louis Real Estate – Market Watch May 31st, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

St. Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
May 31st, 2008
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario. Your questions and comments are welcome!

 The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week has hit a “road block” it seems.  Active listings are stagnant, with fewer homes accepting contracts.  Thus, our pending ratio has fallen by one percent this week. 

This could be the the start of another smalll market slow-down, which we predicted some months ago.  If so, this is a new challenge for us at this time of year, when we usually continue to see activity increasing.

 Now, with mortgage rates hovering around 6 percent for a fixed 30 year mortgage, buyer’s excitement has waned a bit.  According to Freddie Mac, growing concerns over inflation has prompted the rates pushing up at this time.  There is also some concern that the Federal Reserve Board may be looking to increase short-term rates by as much as 25 basis points later this year. 

If you’ve been to the grocery store and gas station lately, and who hasn’t, we can certainly see that food and gas prices are fanning the flame of inflation.  The Labor Department issued a report on Thursday that applications for unemployment insurance rose last week also. 

To add more fuel to the fire, a report issued Tuesday claimed that U.S. home prices fell by 14.1 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

REMEMBER-REAL ESTATE IS VERY LOCAL.  In spite of all this new doom and gloom, our statistics, and others in the St. Louis area show that we remain in a very stable marketplace.  Our recent statistics actually show that on an average, St. Louis County is seeing a small increase in average list prices and a small increase in selling prices for homes here.

  For some great information regarding the real estate market and a really cool home-value calculator, check out the report just released by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) at http://www.ofheo.gov/.

Thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Us for a FREE Comparative Market Analysis and additional information tailored to your specific needs.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch May 31st, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson  County  Market Watch May 24th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch May 31st, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report April 2008

The report begins by breaking the market into 17 distinct price ranges. Then we show current listings and current pending listings which creates a pending ratio, which is helpful on a week to week basis to see if activity is increasing or decreasing in a price category. 

The report also shows the last 6 months of results and compares the data to the same 6 months of the previous year. 

The Market Analysis includes data on: 

Number of Active Listings (Current)
Pending Sales (Going to closing)
Pending Ratio (Active vs.Pending)
Sold (Last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)1
Average List Price
Average Sale Price
Average List to Sales Price %
Days on Market (DOM)
Months worth of Inventory (Based on current pending rate)
Buyers Market: > 7 months of listing inventory

Transitional Market: 5 – 7 months of listing inventory (sometimes called a “balanced” market)

Seller Market: < 5 months of listing inventory

Average % Sale Price/List Price (0-30), (31-60), (61-90), (91-120), (120+)DOM
           
Notice that you’re paying a penalty for over pricing. . .hey. .it’s a fact!!  

The Benchmark Report is produced monthly for:

• Single Family Residence
• Ranch Style
• 1300 – 2000 sq.ft.
• 3 Bedrooms
• 1.5 Bathrooms  

Art Wagner can be reached at art@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by Art Wagner   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   06.06.2008