An essential tool is helping many Lexington residents to sell their homes quicker while making a better profit. Home Staging allows buyers to see the real potential in making a house a home. The process of Home Staging however, means that current residents need applicable storage that allows them the flexibility to house their belongings for a period of time.
In February 2015, the Lexington market saw 651 homes sold with a sales total of $110,910,615, compared to 605 homes sold in February 2014, based on information from Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors. According to Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp, a survey found that staged homes spent half the time on the market than non-staged homes and sold for 6 percent above the asking price.
“The buyer needs to imagine themselves in the home,” explains Paul Campbell, Realtor with The Jubilee Team of Rectory Hayden Realtors. “Remove all personal photos and pictures; buyers can easily get distracted. Get rid of furniture that makes the room feel “small.” Consider painting and removing wallpaper. And lastly, if it smells it will not sell.”
Storage providers, like PODS of Lexington, offer homeowners its’ expertise on moving and storing all of their home furnishings to make the process of home staging, seamless.
“From what I’ve seen in the Lexington market, particularly from April to October, people are selling their homes faster than they anticipated by staging their home,” explained Ken Kocon, General Manager of PODS of Lexington. “The flexibility of using a PODS container allows the customer to rent a container from us, empty out their clutter so that their home looks better to potential home buyers and then they can either have the PODS container stored at our warehouse or delivered to their home.”
With the peak buying season already approaching, now is the time for current residents to begin the de-cluttering process and prepare their homes for staging. A 2011 study by The Real Estate Staging Association showed that homes staged prior to listing sold 79 percent faster than those staged after being listed.
“Declutter, declutter, declutter, this is where it’s so important to have a place to put things,” said Campbell.
“So getting your stuff into a storage area like a PODS container, even it’s sitting on the street or in front the house, is by far the best.”
Homeowners are finding they need a “bridge” between staging and moving. Having a PODS container allows them that bridge to store their home furnishings, while allowing them to take their time during the moving process.
“PODS containers can provide that ‘moving bridge’ to customers who need to store their belongings for a period of time between staging their home and moving into their new one, especially if the closing dates do not coincide with one another,” said Kocon. “For my team and myself, we know how to make that moving bridge so the task of moving is easy and seamless.”
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