When you look at the pictures of New Listings for House for sale, pay attention if the home was staged or not.
Realtors use staging to play to your emotions and your senses. When done well, staging allows you to easily imagine yourself living working and playing in the home. You’ll long to live there! In short, staging helps seduce you into buying the home!
How does staging play to your emotions? Imagine walking into a home, furnished with spotless new furniture and accessories. There are beautiful paintings on the walls, perfectly complementing the furniture and the colours of the home. Beds are made with striking bedding and fluffy pillows. Elegant place settings help you imagine fashionable dinner parties. Fresh baked cookies or freshly brewed coffee create aromas that stimulate the deepest part of your mind, making you want to linger! Of course you want to live here!
The Need to Be Objective
Remember: most of the things that are stirring the emotional response are not included with the purchase of the home. You are buying the structure, not the decorations!
You must be objective when evaluating a home, in order to find the home that matches your needs. Consider the floor plan, fixtures and fixed-systems (heating/cooling, boiler, AC etc), appliances, age of the roof, condition of the siding, outdoor space. Think about what you need in order to have the lifestyle you want. No home is perfect but you should try to find a home that meets most of your requirements. In other words, look past the staging!
Here are some questions that you might want to think about:
- does the flow of the floor plan meet your needs?
- do you have the easy access to the bathrooms for family needs or guests?
- could you get the groceries to the kitchen quickly and easily?
- is the kitchen large enough to fit more than one person cooking?
- do you have enough storage?
- do you have space to entertain guests?
- do you have room for office or workshop?
- does the house needs updates to meet your standards?
You can get great ideas from a staged home in how to make your home more appealing & warm!
Consider always bringing a realtor with you when viewing new listings houses for sale. Good realtors have considerable experience looking past the staging to the fundamentals of the home, and can really help you determine how good a fit a home is to your own needs.
