2013 Staging Statistics for Rocky Mountain Home Staging

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Sara Garden

In 2013 Rocky Mountain Home Staging had the privilege of assisting hundreds of sellers representing over $73 Million Dollars in residential real estate almost exclusively in Boulder County, Colorado.

Our average days to offer for new to the market listings was 3.7 days. Many sold for over ask in a matter of hours.
Our sellers received a big ROI (over 1000% RETURN) from staging their home with Rocky Mountain Home Staging
We staged everything from a $125,000 condo in Lafayette to a $3.2M custom home near Chautauqua in Boulder.
On average our sellers beat the market by 3-4%, meaning that if the market was doing 98% sales price to list price, our sellers were doing 101-102%. Our sellers did even better though because that 98% market number doesn’t account for ANY price reductions and our numbers do.
55% of our sellers received multiple offers in 2013.

As home stagers we often work on some of the most challenging properties in town, but remember staging can increase the perceived value of EVERY house by visually merchandising and positioning your property. If you or someone you know is selling in 2014, it would be our privilege to help you sell faster and for more money. Call us today at 720-295-0720 for a free estimate.

The 3 P’s of Selling Your Home

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Sara Garden

There are 3 key elements that you can control when selling your home: these are Price, Presentation and Promotion. To get the highest sales price in the shortest amount of time all of these elements need to be maximized. (Now lots of people will tell you that LOCATION is the most important element – and location is very important however, we cannot do ANYTHING WHATSOEVER about your location, we can only reflect it in the price, the presentation and the promotion.)

Maximize the 3 aspects of selling for the highest sales price!

Price: Price is critical and it is an art, a science and a constantly moving target. The selling price of your home sadly, has nothing to do with how much you bought it for, how much you owe or how much you hope to see in net proceeds after the sale. It is based on market conditions, your competition, the size, square footage, number of rooms, improvements and selling features of your home. Good realtors will do a market analysis for you to give you a recommended selling price for your home – please don’t rely on the often highly inaccurate estimate you might see on real estate websites. Your best bet on selling fast is to price your home competitively – not too high and not too low. We recommend listening to your agent – after all, that’s what they are there to help you with and they are experts in this area.

Presentation: How your home looks, feels, smells and compares to others is your presentation. This is where cleaning, de-cluttering, making repairs and simple updates and then staging come into play. Presenting your home in the right way can Continue reading →

Selling While Other Homes Sit in Niwot

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Sara Garden

When the seller of this property first called me, he was unsure about the benefits of staging. But he knew that there were 5 houses for sale on his street and that most of them had been on the market for quite some time. He was concerned that a home staging consultation would basically just tell him what he already knew – like that they needed to do some packing and de-cluttering.

During our consultation he was happy to discover that we covered way more than that – right down to how to arrange the furniture, how to style each room to appeal to their likely buyer and how to make selections for high Return on Investment updates in the home. After a month of doing their post-consult “homework” we were approaching their target listing date and they opted to rent a few pieces of furniture, art and accessories to add a little magic. Continue reading →

$10k Over Ask in 10 Hours in Louisville, CO

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Sara Garden

The Louisville housing market has been brisk this spring but serious sellers are still taking the time to prepare their homes to get the highest possible price. Rocky Mountain Home Staging had the opportunity to help this homeowner prepare to sell. Here is what the seller had to say about the experience.

“Rocky Mountain Staging did such a great job in prepping my house for sale, that I didn’t want to move. Their service came in two key elements. First, there was the consultation where the stager identified a lot of what I could do myself to get the house ready. She even referred me to affordable contractors. I was able to make dramatic, cost effective changes before she did the final staging. The final staging was a knock out and I am sure contributed to my getting an offer for over my asking price within 10 hours of listing in MLS. Continue reading →

Boulder Townhome Sold for Over Ask

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Sara Garden

Rocky Mountain Home Staging recently had the opportunity to help Debra Hensen Real Estate showcase this lovely Dakota Ridge townhome. The place was in great condition and just needed a bit of “staging magic” to really help it come alive.

This property received multiple offers in a matter of days and sold for more than asking price. In fact, in April the average sales price to list price ratio in Boulder County was 99% meaning that the average home sold for 99% of asking price. This property sold for 102% meaning that the sellers made 3% more ($12,750 in this instance) and enjoyed a 1903% return on their small ($599) investment in staging. Plus they sold ten times faster. 4 days to offer versus 41 days in April. Take a look at the photos. Continue reading →

Selling in A Hot Market

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Sara Garden

By now most people know that the market in Boulder County and throughout most of Colorado is pretty hot. In fact, it’s a great time to be a seller and a slightly less great time to be a buyer.

In a market like this, your house will likely sell. It may sell fast too. You might think that means that you don’t need staging. And it’s true. You don’t need staging as long as you don’t care about getting the highest possible price for your home. If you do care, well then staging is just as critical now as it has always been.

Family Room Before Staging

Family Room After Staging

See, staged houses always sell for more money than similar unstaged homes. They look better, feel better, attract more buyers and are the house that everyone wants. This is great for you as the seller. Preparing to sell your home is somewhat like dating. If you had just finished a long days work and you had the opportunity to head out to a spot crawling with hot desperate single girls? Would you hurry up and head straight over after work or would you spend a little time preparing? Maybe take a shower, pick out a nice outfit, fix your hair, brush your teeth, make sure you are wearing good shoes? Wouldn’t it be more fun to show up and be in demand and have your pick? Continue reading →

Cleaning, Decluttering & Packing is Not Staging

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Sara Garden

I’m going to go on a little rant here so please forgive me in advance. I am beyond frustrated by boiler plate tips on preparing your home to sell. They talk about repairs, cleaning, decluttering, organizing – and many of them call it “staging”. Seriously, I could hurl my laptop right out the window it makes me so mad.

There’s no doubt that cleaning and decluttering are important when selling a home but these activities are not staging. They are important “pre-staging” steps. Please allow me to illustrate with photos. Continue reading →

I Wish You Would Have Called Us First…

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Sara Garden

I wish you would have called us before you packed EVERYTHING
I wish you would have called us before you chose THAT paint color
I wish you would have called us before you put that color on all the walls
I wish you would have called us before you spent a bunch of money updating to sell
I wish you would have called us before you spent $$$ upgrading things that don’t matter
I wish you would have called us before you ignored the simple updates that do
I wish you would have called us before you decided to give a Continue reading →

Anatomy of a Staging Consultation

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Sara Garden

Selling a home can be overwhelming and the preparation is often a LOT of work. If you are interested in making as much money as you can on the sale without investing tons of time or tons of money. Consider our home staging consultation. You get prioritized action steps that are specific to YOUR home, YOUR budget, YOUR goals, YOUR price point and YOUR competition. Here is what you can expect:

Prior to getting to your home we research your competition because we want to see exactly what buyers are seeing at that moment. What you need to do to prepare your home to sell has EVERYTHING to do with what you are up against.

We spend 2 hours with you in your home. We talk about Continue reading →

The High Price of “Trying it Out”

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Sara Garden

Lately, I’ve had a couple of sellers tell me that their real estate agent recommended they just “try it out for a few months without staging and see what happens”. Now these were home sellers who were proactive enough to contact me on their own to find out about home staging and wanted my recommendations for their home. Most times, though, it is the seller who wants to “try it out” despite the recommendations of the agent.

Here is what I know: Continue reading →