 Warm weather in the mid-South signals more than the beginning of summer—the rising temperatures are ushering in the home sale season. The time of year when many people who plan to buy or sell homes, contact their trusted real estate professional in the greater Memphis metro area, Germantown, Collierville, and Arlington. If you’re planning to sell your home, you’re probably deep in the consultation process with Heidi Ross Design, to get your home ready to be sold; cleaning, making repairs, and packing up what isn't needed.
Personal cleaning, repairing, and packing might be taking place primarily inside your home. But when it comes to listing, curb appeal has a major effect on potential buyers. You may have heard the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but this is exactly what buyers do when looking for a new home. That’s because curb appeal is more than just a trigger for whether a buyer looks at a house and likes it—it’s about whether the exterior of the house inspires confidence, makes them believe that the home is well cared for, and entices them to look further to see if the home will suit their priorities and lifestyle needs. Just think about the times you’ve judged a book by its cover. A dated or worn cover won’t inspire you to read the book—you simply won’t want to spend time with it. But you also might encounter a book with a fantastic cover—but one that suggests a genre you simply aren’t interested in reading. Curb appeal isn’t universal—the outside of your house tells a specific story, and needs to reach your target audience, calling in the buyers likely to come to your area and want your type of home. If the outside of a home doesn’t promote the buyer to start forming an emotional connection to the house, they might not even look at the listing photos or schedule a showing to see the home further. When you’re working with Heidi Ross Design, a professional staging company serving the greater Memphis metro area, they have experience staging houses for real estate sales. A professional stager will assess your home and make recommendations for projects to complete before listing your home with a real estate sales professional. These projects might very well include the outside curb appeal of your house. When you work with Heidi Ross Design, we will assess the features your target buyers are looking for, and the ones that will make your property stand out in your location and neighborhood. What can amp up your curb appeal? Just about anything…fresh plants, mulch and flowers, a new mailbox or front door. Because markets differ based on region, season, and location, there aren’t any rigid or steadfast rules about curb appeal; other than generally speaking, the house and yard must look neat, clean, and well-tended. This alone will go a long way towards inspiring confidence and getting some sales traffic. Some of the most common projects recommended by professional stagers are, a fresh coat of paint on the door, a new walkway, some planters or a seasonal wreath, new entry or walkway lighting, or other necessary updates that will make the street view and entrance of your home look welcoming, friendly, and appealing, to a buyer. Common projects can be small, like pressure-washing surfaces, or larger, like repairing damaged stucco. DIY staging might seem like a good idea as you consider these kinds of projects—after all, you might consider yourself “handy” and like to keep your home and yard looking nice already. It’s only normal to consider whether or not you can afford the expense of professional staging prices. But a DIY staging cost can run much higher in the long-term if the improvement projects are not chosen wisely. It can result in your home sitting on the market longer or worse, not getting your best sale terms. A Heidi Ross Design professional stager has the experience to know what potential buyers like and need, and keep an eye on trends to make sure that your home appeals to your best target market. Good staging is like a great book cover; a great book cover will appeal to the kind of reader interested in the book’s content, and will help them form an emotional connection that makes them want to read on. Likewise, great staging draws a potential buyer in, making them stop and look at listing photos, compelling them to gather additional information from the real estate agent or possibly drive by the home to see it for themselves before scheduling a home tour. Curb appeal can’t totally change a space—for example, when staging a small house, curb appeal can’t make it work for a buyer only interested in one that is much larger—but, like a great book cover, can highlight the fantastic features for those who are looking for one that has the same size as your square footage. At Heidi Ross Design, our Best of Houzz award-winning team helps clients in the greater mid-South—including Millington, Lakeland, and Olive Branch—stage and sell their luxury homes. Best of all? We offer a FREE QUOTE so you can see how our staging and marketing package will help you sell your home. Call Heidi Ross Design at (901) 361-7419 or use our online free quote tool today. Additional value added information can be found in our free FAQ section and online article library. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.
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 Home staging often brings up images of a stager totally stripping a house and reimagining it with different furniture and accessories. Many homeowners trying to sell might be intimidated by this idea—after all, many people are still living in their home until it’s sold. It also might be stressful to imagine paying for and moving all of your possessions and furniture to a storage unit while you wait to sell yours and move into a new house. Heidi Ross Design and Luxury Home Staging, serving the Memphis Metro Area, Germantown, Collierville, Arlington, and North Mississippi, takes this question seriously.
Many people are surprised to learn about occupied home staging; something that Heidi Ross Design and Staging, specialize in offering to their clients. Stagers don’t actually need a totally empty house to work with—in fact, when staging an occupied home, stagers might use the owners own furnishings to achieve a look that flows within the current space and will appeal to many buyers. Here, we’ll break down this process, and let you know how Heidi Ross Design offers the valuable service of occupied home staging. What exactly is occupied home staging? Occupied home staging is exactly what it sounds like—a stager arranges your home to appeal to potential buyers while you’re still living in it. This doesn’t mean that once your home is immaculately clean, it’s ready to be listed, though. While a stager may use your items, staging a house usually involves some paring down and rearranging. Some of your items might be placed in storage, for example, or a stager might bring in a few accessories to supplement or replace yours. This is because home staging isn’t about showing off your home as it currently is—it’s about helping potential buyers form an emotional connection to the house. When buyers can see themselves and their lives being lived in the space, it helps them form that emotional connection that can trigger a decision to make an offer to buy your home. Achieving that look might mean paring down very personal touches that can distract potential buyers, or selecting to use specific furnishings that show off a room’s best features. For example, when staging a small house, a stager might want to remove your very large and especially broken-in comfortable sofa, and trade it out for a smaller one that makes the space feel airy and open. That’s because in home staging, living room spaces are often one of the first things buyers see, and making sure that they see a space’s potential is important. A large, out-of-scale piece of furniture might make a room seem smaller, especially if potential buyers have to pick their way around furniture and furnishings, just to walk through. All of these variables can change the perception of a space. Your furniture and décor can also be used to its advantage. Shifting the placement of furniture and collections, or strategically paring down a love for 20 beloved collectable clocks around your home, to just a special 4 or 5, can help your home achieve the look that helps buyers fall in love with (and your clock collection too), even while you’re still living there. Many homes are sold this way—it just takes flexibility and patience as you keep your home in top-notch condition for showings. If a stager uses my items, why shouldn’t I go for DIY staging instead? When staging houses for real estate, a Heidi Ross Design professional stager puts more than design knowledge to work. A professional stager keeps an eye on market trends and what buyers want, while also doing their part working with the professional real estate broker that is listing and selling the home. The two will work together to make sure the real estate brokers planning and marketing strategy is effective, to get your home sold with the best offer. A Heidi Ross Design stager knows what trends will appeal to your target audience, and has the experience to know what works—something that many homeowners don’t have experience with. Arranging a beautiful home exactly to your liking is one thing, but arranging a home so that many people can envision their own lives being lived in it, is another. Where can I find home staging near me? At Heidi Ross Design, the team puts our training and experience to work for our clients. We help homeowners and work with their real estate brokers in the Memphis area—including Cordova, Germantown, Olive Branch, and Hernando—sell their luxury homes for their best terms. We’ve even been awarded the Best of Houzz 2022 Award—we take pride in making your experience a great one for everyone involved. Heidi Ross—owner and lead stager at Heidi Ross Design—has a RESA-Pro certification from the Real Estate Staging Association, and is a Certified Professional Real Estate Stager. These certifications keep home staging and market knowledge up-to-date, which means that we have the knowledge and experience to make your sale the best it can be. Even better? We offer a FREE quote, so you know what to expect when you work with us. We stick with you throughout the process, from quote to closing. Visit our website FAQ page or call Heidi Ross Design (901) 361-7419 today. Additional value added information can be found in our free online article library. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  With flowers starting to show their color and spring 2022 well on its way in the Mid-South, those who are planning a move in the summer months might be starting to declutter and clean even more thoroughly than just a regular spring cleaning. That’s because a spotless home that has been professionally staged and also looks spacious and well cared for, can be easier for your real estate professional to sell. It can also help your real estate professional secure the sale of your dreams so that you are free to quickly and easily go onto the next chapter in your life.
At Heidi Ross Design, Ms. Ross—our lead designer and stager—spends a lot of time educating clients to help them prepare their home to be listed with their real estate professional. Her advice on ensuring that worn items aren’t devaluing the home, and on the importance of decluttering before listing, can be essential in helping make a sale—and can illustrate one of the main reasons that it’s important to begin to work with a professional stager now, before the time for your move sneaks up on you. It might be tempting to consider DIY staging at this point in the process, using online resources like Home Staging For Dummies or taking inspiration from images on Pinterest. As you look into the costs of a new home, movers, and other expenses, you might wonder ‘why do I need to hire someone just to help me stage my house for sale? Sure enough, this is something that needs to be seriously considered! If you’ve decluttered and cleaned, your home might look great to you—and it probably does look new and improved compared to what it was before…but a home that’s listed for sale has to appeal to a wide range of buyers, with many different senses of style. It has to appear clean, neutral, and roomy—DIY staging rarely hits the mark to accomplish this. And if you find that your DIY staging has not helped you successfully sell your home during the first part of the summer, it might be harder to find a stager with availability during peak moving season—leaving you possibly having to lower your price, struggling with the dates you need to move, and generally be in a less-than-ideal situation. But with an experienced and knowledgeable professional stager by your side, you can rest assured that in everything from kitchen to bedroom staging, your home will be appealing to buyers with different tastes, helping them to make the emotional connection with your home that results in a speedy sale. It might sound like a stager is someone you only need at the end of the process—after all, a home isn’t staged months in advance. But if you’re planning a summer move, this is the perfect time to get in touch with a stager—because a home stager is more than a designer, and their skills can be most useful in the early months preparing to list your home with a real estate broker. A professional stager can also help you find contractors and cleaning services as you prepare your space, and can help make sure that the listing photos are high quality giving potential buyer’s a great first impression of the spaces. A marketing plan to get those pictures out there and get buyers to your home is often also a big part of staging. And if staging will require that some of your furniture or belongings go to a storage locker, having that information now will make it easier to locate a space and ensure you have it available down the road. And, even more than that, a professional stager works hard to help you understand the why and how behind everything that goes into getting your home ready for sale. Ms. Ross ensures that clients understand the reasons for what they need to do—including decluttering their homes BEFORE a sale—and also information ranging from why cleaning is so important to how a neutral color profile can help a space to sell. At Heidi Ross Design, education is a big part of what Ms. Ross and the team offer to their clients.. From free staging quotes and educating realtors in the community to making sure that we stay up to date with credentials and current market trends, we’re always looking to learn and grow—and to help our clients do the same. Ready to get started working with a professional stager? We help clients in Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, and the Greater Mid-South prepare luxury homes for the home sale market. Even better? We offer a FREE quote to explain what we do and how we’ll help you, so you know how your time and money will be used yielding optimal sale results. Give Heidi Ross Design, 2022 Houzz Award Winner a call at (901) 361-7419 and let us help guide you through the springtime home sale preparation. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  As the weather warms, it’s the time of year for many people to break out their spring cleaning supplies—and for many others to start cleaning even more earnestly in preparation for a home sale. That’s because of the 40 million people who move each year in the United States, almost 80% move between April and September—with the “peak season” in June, July, and August, when the weather is better and kids are out of school. When taking into account the planning and work that go into a move, spring marks the season to prepare.
Heidi Ross Design’s owner and lead stager, Ms. Heidi Ross, a certified Professional Real Estate Stager, says that “most people think of spring cleaning this time of year, and I’d like to point out and give tips about how to declutter”. Decluttering and paring down can be one of the most important steps when you’re wondering “how can I get started staging my house for sale?” Ms. Ross also says that decluttering can be easily overlooked or undervalued, both of which could make a home sale take longer. Ms. Heidi Ross points out several common things that can slow a sale. One of these is when a seller keeps unwanted items in their attic, closet, or garage. These corners might seem inconspicuous, but potential buyers want to be able to imagine themselves in the space, something that’s easier with clean and open spaces. This is even more important when staging less-than-spacious areas, such as staging a small kitchen—you can show your space to its best advantage by showing ample storage areas and making it easy for the buyer to see their belongings in available spaces. But it’s not just items tucked away in drawers. Ms. Ross adds that “the most dangerous place is when [sellers] keep unwanted items in the living room, bedroom, and other places inside the home in plain sight”. That includes “items that are worn out and have seen better days or are no longer on trend or in style”. In home staging with fireplace features, for example, you want your potential buyers to see the beauty that a hearth has to offer—not the tired-looking sofa next to it. This can be frustrating for sellers, especially if that sofa was expensive years ago—another common move that many homeowners make. But Ms. Ross says that “just because it was expensive in the past does it mean it is adding value to the home today”. Adding that, “I often tell clients if it’s not valuable to you right now, it’s probably not ADDING value to the home and is often de-valuing the home”. This means that items “like furniture, accessories, or decorative items that are intended to be donated, sold, or trashed when the move happens should be eliminated BEFORE the house goes on the market, not after it is sold”. So when you’re working on that spring cleaning, declutter and clear away the items that you know won’t come with you when you move—and then start to pare down and store some of the pieces that will come with you. Even making lists of items that will stay and that will eventually be stored can help you to envision your space and get a jump start on moving. Clearing away those items can also help you to see your home through a buyer’s eyes—including which areas need even more attention as you begin a floor-to-ceiling cleaning to get your home sparkling fresh and clean in preparation for staging. Ms. Ross says a thorough cleaning is just as important as any home stage design that you do. Modern kitchen staging—whether with light-colored cabinets or a corner highlighted as a home bar or casual eating spot—isn’t much use if potential buyers come away with the feeling that a space is dirty, worn, tired, or cramped—feelings that can arise if they notice dust, stains, or clutter. Another step to take in the spring? Find a professional real estate agent and home stager to work with so that they can help you make a plan for the home sale road ahead. While a real estate agent will guide you through the sale of your home, a professional stager will guide you through the process of home staging—from initial decluttering to needed repairs, photo staging, open house staging, and more. A stager can also educate you on what you need to know about staging to help position your home to achieve its best sale opportunities. At Heidi Ross Design, we help clients in the greater Memphis Metro Area as well as Germantown, Collierville and Collierville stage their luxury homes to achieve their best sale. To help you as you embark on your season of preparation, we offer a free quote—you can find out more about how we’ll work with you, all while being commitment free to help you make the most informed decision possible. Visit our website FAQ page or call Heidi Ross Design (901) 361-7419 today. Additional value added information can be found in our free online article library. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  At Heidi Ross Design, our team specializes in staging luxury homes for sale—but there’s more to what we do than correct color schemes and arrange furniture and accessories to highlight your home’s best features. From keeping an eye on trends to provide the best marketing package for buyers, to educating stagers and agents in the Memphis area, we strive to put our experience to work for our clients, so they can get the best sale terms to fit their needs.
Our team works hard for clients in the greater Memphis Metro Area including Germantown, Colleirville, and Lakeland, and we’re honored to have our work recognized by the Best of Houzz Award for 2022. This award means that we’re rated at the highest level of client satisfaction based on a variety of categories that reflect the work we do. Many sellers—rightfully so!—have questions about the professionals they work with, and here, we’ll break down what this award can tell you about Heidi Ross Design. We’ll also let you know how you can get started working with us. What exactly is Houzz? Houzz is a website designed to help connect homeowners to the professionals they need—whether they’re looking for home stagers, renovators, landscapers, or other home oriented professionals. The site is a major player in helping clients and pros find each other—after all, it can be very overwhelming to locate the best people in your area to help you. Recommendations from friends or Google searches can be helpful, but Houzz offers reviews, photos, contact information, and more. But Houzz can also be overwhelming to navigate, with millions of pros reaching out to millions of potential clients. That’s why the site lets you filter by area—so you can find services near you—and by rating. It’s also why Houzz’s awards matter—these awards help clients to see which professionals do exemplary work, and mark these profiles as top-quality. What is the Best of Houzz Award? The Best of Houzz Award is given yearly to top-rated professionals on the site. The award has three categories—Design, Photography, and Service. The Best of Houzz Service Award—which is what Heidi Ross Design has won every year since 2019—honors pros who have an outstanding record of satisfied client reviews. Professionals from many different home-related fields—like home staging, construction, design, and landscaping—compete for the awards, which are awarded to only an exceptional few. It’s a highly competitive selection process—of 2.5 million professionals on the site, only 3% receive a Houzz Award each year! What does this award tell me about Heidi Ross Design? Clients who post to Houzz rate professionals in three categories—the quality of their work, their communication throughout the process of working with them, and the value of their services. The Best of Houzz Award highlights how Heidi Ross Design’s skill in all of these areas helps our clients to have the best experience possible. When you work with a team that has received this award, you know that you’re getting involved with a highly successful group—not just one that provides great value and quality for your money, but one that will communicate effectively and efficiently with you every step of the way. It’s easy to make promises, but this award lets you know that they’ve held up over the course of time till the completion of services promised since the award is based on reviews of actual clients who reached out to share their experiences. And with the award to back up our claims, you can also read the reviews and see the photos of our past projects showing just some of what we have done for our clients. How can I get started staging my house for sale? At Heidi Ross Design, we help clients in the greater Memphis Metro Area stage their luxury homes for sale. Keeping our eye on the market trends means that we know what current buyers are looking for. We practice strategies and techniques that will showcase your home’s best features—whether we’re staging a small kitchen, staging a small bedroom, or staging a bathroom for sale. Not only are our past clients satisfied with our work, but we understand how difficult it can be for new clients to consider all the factors that go into choosing a home stager—from timelines and needs to staging prices, there are lots of choices to be made. That’s why we offer a FREE quote—commitment-free—to show you the value of our services, and give you all the information you need to make an informed decision. So when you’re ready to get started, give us a call at (901) 361-7419 or use our online contact form to get started today. Additional value-added free information is available at our website online articles link. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  Home staging might seem like a simple process—it’s often thought of as decorating your home to look nice for potential buyers. But savvy sellers, real estate professionals, and professional stagers all know that there’s more to the process than just putting up some stylish accessories—home staging is a process that can begin long before you even start to think about making those strategic decorative choices.
So if you’re wondering where should I start with staging my home for sale, read on—here, we break down a general time frame for the preparation that goes into staging your home for sale, from beginning to end and let you know where we can be found to provide our services to you if you live in the greater Memphis metro-area of Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Cordova, Lakeland, Arlington, Millington, Oakland, Southaven, Olive Branch, and Hernando. As soon as you know it’s time to sell your home~ Once you know that you’re going to be selling your home—even before you hire a real estate agent, look for a new house, or break ground on your first repairs or updates to the home you are selling—there are steps you can take to get your home ready for staging. A thorough purge of clutter will go a long way towards making your home look elegant and welcoming for potential buyers down the road. 3 – 6 months before listing your home for sale~ After you’ve purged some of that clutter, it’s time to look at your home with fresh eyes and see what a buyer might be able to see. Try to see if your landscaping is in need of some TLC, or if there are dated or worn-out fixtures that you’re willing and able to update. If there are big repairs that need to be made—like roof repairs or kitchen renovations—now is the time to schedule those to make sure they get done in plenty of time before your listing goes live. This could be a good time to update your landscaping. Making sure that your house has the curb appeal will help bring potential buyers inside your home. If the outside looks uninviting there isn't much incentive for a buyer to want to go inside. And don’t underestimate small updates—new hardware or a fresh coat of paint on cabinets can go a long way towards setting the groundwork for staging a kitchen down the road. This can also be a good time to contact or research home stagers. While professional stagers may not arrange your house right away, a professional’s guidance on maintenance, cleaning, and repair tasks at this point can help you get things moving quickly down the road. 1 – 2 months before listing ~ Repainting can boost your home’s value—that goes for outdoor paint that makes the home look fresh and new, and indoor paint that can set moods for different spaces. Painting rooms with neutral colors can make the space look fresh and well-cared for and can help to make the home appeal to a wide variety of buyers. This is also a good time to make your plan of attack for deep cleaning your home. A deep clean can add a whopping $2,000 in market value, so this isn’t a time to skimp—make a plan for cleaning everything from baseboards and cabinets to windows and AC units. Hiring a cleaning service can also be a way to make sure you’re hitting all the spots that buyers will see. While you are cleaning, keep reducing the clutter. Taking extra furnishings out of a space and either getting rid of them or moving them to a storage unit can help make your home look larger, cleaner, and brighter—things that buyers are looking for. Several weeks to just-before listing ~ This is the time to make sure your home is the cleanest it has ever been and that it’s pared down to minimum furnishings. The home stager you’re working with can help direct you to last-minute tasks, and can help edit your space down even further in preparation for photos to list online and staging for in-person showings. Make sure your family works out a plan for keeping the space tidy, and be prepared to keep it that way until closing—most stagers recommend keeping the home staged until the last day of ownership. Where can I get help with home staging near me? At Heidi Ross Design, our local home stagers help clients in the Greater Mid-South area sell their luxury homes for their best sale terms—whatever that means for you and your personal sale situation. Staging houses for real estate requires experience and know-how, and we’re here to help provide you with guidance every step of the way—from preparation and education to marketing, staging, and more. Are you looking to sell your home in the near future? We offer a FREE quote! It is commitment-free and designed to make sure you will have all the information you need to make a decision on if home staging is right for you. Give us a call at (901) 361-7419 or use our online FREE quote tool to get started today. Additional value-added free information is available at our website online articles link. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  At Heidi Ross Design, our team has over seventeen years of experience staging homes to help clients in the Greater Memphis area and the mid-South get their best sale terms for their luxury homes. Home staging is an important part of the sale process, and has been for quite some time—in fact, we’re part of a decades-long industry that helps homeowners in a competitive real estate market. How did home staging become so important in the sale process of a home? Here, we’ll break down how our industry came to be—and how we work to fill a need in the Metro-Memphis area of Germantown, Collierville, and Arlington. Barbara Schwarz and the 1970s Home stage design is sometimes described as “setting the stage” for potential buyers. It might also be described as a performance—like a job interview—that helps buyers see the best features of a home. These metaphors actually connect back to home staging’s history in 1972, when Barbara Schwarz, an interior designer and real estate agent with a background in theater productions, developed a new way of thinking about showing a home for sale. At the time, many sellers cut the grass and kept their homes neat and clean, but didn’t “stage” the property as many people do today. Ms. Schwarz used her background in theater to create a way to help buyers envision themselves in the space and to help them form an emotional connection to a home. These techniques—like arranging bedrooms to show how they can fit a comfortable armchair, or displaying how a small alcove can become a breakfast nook—help buyers to imagine the possibilities of a home. Ms. Schwarz began to teach home staging by developing a professional course and by establishing the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, which provides resources for stagers or those hoping to become certified. Other associations began to develop—like the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA)—and in time the field grew exponentially. The Rise of the Internet During the 2000s and the era of the great recession, the real estate market became a buyer’s market. That means that the supply of houses for sale exceeded the demand—a combination of factors that usually drives home prices down. Staging, which had become important for sellers, became even more important as homeowners attempted to get theirs sold and make their homes stand out from their competitors, and demonstrate why they were worth the asking or listed price. The rise of the internet also meant that buyers were able to view houses online before touring. Amature or DIY staging and cell phone photographs can easily make a house look smaller and darker than it really is—and those photos can easily turn a buyer off and stop them from even seeing the house further. The combination of increased internet culture and a buyer’s market made professional staging more important than ever. When homes that were staged caught buyers attention and then in turn, got better prices than homes that weren’t staged, staging became even more important. As a result, sellers wanted to give their home that edge, particularly in keeping up with trends in the market and adding or highlighting features that would attract the fresh buying market. Staging Today With the economic ups and downs of the past years, and with how important staging has become over the past decades, there are many options for those looking to work with professional and accredited stagers today. Industry experience has taught these professionals what buyers look for in a space. While Barbara Schwarz originally focused on decluttering, arranging, and making repairs, potential buyers today expect more as the home sales field and market expectations have grown. In home staging, living room areas are the most important, followed by bedrooms and lastly kitchens. Neutral paint colors, modern furniture, smart appliances, and a pop of tasteful art can help appeal to clients from a range of backgrounds. But nothing can replace a professional stager who knows the local target market of a home. I’m ready to start staging my house for sale—what are my next steps? At Heidi Ross Design, we put our experience to work for clients in Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, and the Memphis Metro Area. Our professional staging approach helps our clients get the best sale terms for their luxury homes. Our services are more than just arranging the space—our marketing package and client education help to make your staging experience quick and seamless. What could be even better? We offer a FREE quote that is commitment-free. Our free quote will show you the value of our services and ensure that you have value added information as you begin to work with your Real Estate Professional. Our commitment free package provides all the information you will need to understand our services and staging prices. Use our online tool or give us a call at (901) 361-7419 to get started today. For more free value added information visit our online website articles. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  When you’re choosing a professional home stager to work with, you have a lot of decisions to make. There might be a lot of information coming at you—from basics about the importance of staging and the difference between professional and DIY staging to the specifics of costs and timeframes for your project.
You might also see a lot of abbreviations—like CPRES or RESA-PRO—and information about the background that various pros have. This can be overwhelming to take in, and you might have some questions—what do these acronyms stand for, and why do they matter? That’s why we’re here to break down what some of these important terms and designations mean, why they’re important, and how they add value to the staging company you choose to work with. What is Heidi Ross’s background in home staging in Memphis, Germantown, Arlington and the greater Memphis Metro Area? At Heidi Ross Design, Heidi Ross herself is the owner, lead stager, and lead designer. She holds a certification of CPRES, or “Certified Professional Real Estate Stager”. In the home staging business, a stager doesn’t need to be certified—the industry isn’t standardized or regulated—but this certification can help home sellers, Real Estate Professionals, and other tradespeople, build trust with a home stager by demonstrating their dedication to and investment in the real estate staging field. The CPRES certification requires that the stager take a training course and pay a fee with a training company like The Decorating and Staging Academy (The-DSA). This course can help a stager refine the skills and know-how that are so central to home staging and includes highlights like hands-on training and regular program updates mean that professional stagers stay in the loop and on top of the current staging techniques and requirements. But that’s not all—these courses put stagers in touch with industry leaders, teach the marketing strategies that make a successful business, and encourage CPRES pros to continue their education—which means that they keep up with all the latest strategies. Heidi also holds a RESA-PRO designation from the Real Estate Staging Association. This designation requires designees to pass the RESA-PRO Ethics Exam, agree to follow the RESA Code of Ethics, and have been in business for at least a year. These practices make sure that professional stagers know the best possible ways to work with clients and their Real Estate Sales Professionals ensuring that clients can trust the stager they are working with. The Real Estate Staging Association also promotes continuing education by offering courses conducted by accredited training providers. How does Heidi Ross Design fill a need in the Memphis Metro Area? While it might seem that stagers only work one-on-one with clients—assessing the best ways to highlight home features like picture windows or interior finishes with accessorizing and furniture placement, or suggesting home improvements—staging actually has a bigger reach within the communities where stagers work. Heidi has used her designations and experience to teach continuing education courses for Realtors. Her three-hour course was approved by the Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC) and by the Memphis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR). These two associations ensure that Real Estate Agents in their local areas are properly licensed and educated about the newest information in the staging field—from laws and ethics to leadership and workplace culture. This course, and courses like it, help Real Estate Agents stay up-to-date and aware of new developments and changes to existing trends and market expectations. Heidi taught this course in the Memphis area twice a year, averaging about 75 to 100 agents enrolled in each course. This outreach helps to keep the field as good as it can be. After the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the scheduled class offerings, Heidi is currently evaluating even more options on how to best contribute to the education of professionals in the real estate field in Memphis and the greater Memphis Metro Area. I’m ready to get started staging my house for sale—what are my next steps? At Heidi Ross Design, our team of local home stagers is here to help you every step of the way as you prepare to sell your home. We help clients in Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, and the Greater Memphis area stage their luxury homes to get their best sale terms. We use our skills in home stage design, understanding of the local home sales market, and our knowledge of the real estate field, to help you as you take this next step. Best of all, we look forward to working with you and your Real Estate Sales Professional as you proceed forward to get your home SOLD. Lastly, we offer a FREE quote—so you can have all the information you need to make an informed decision and its commitment free. There is also lots of FREE high value resource information located in our website blog post library. When you’re ready to get started, give us a call at (901) 361-7419 or use our online contact form to get started staging your home for sale. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  If you’re getting ready to sell your home, and are starting to wonder, “how can I get help staging my home for sale?'', you might have contacted a professional home stager like Heidi Ross Design in the greater Memphis area—and if you did, you’ve made a great decision. While it is possible to stage a home yourself, a professional has the skills, training, and experience in staging houses for real estate that can help get your home sold fast and for your ideal terms.
You might have some questions about the professional practices that stagers use in home stage design and marketing. If staging is new to you, you may have some concerns about the ethics of home staging, and wonder if it’s more smoke and mirrors than anything else. But you’ll be relieved to find that this isn’t the case at all – home stagers have many skills, and among them is the know-how to stage a home so it looks its best, but also doesn’t present anything deceiving or untrue. How can you know if you’re working with a stager who uses the best staging practices (and best virtual staging practices)? A good first sign is when your stager—like Heidi Ross at Heidi Ross Design—is a certified Professional Real Estate Stager with a RESA-PRO (Real Estate Staging Association Professional) designation. This accreditation involves education in the best practices of staging—professionals are committed to a high level of ethics and to continuing their knowledge of the field. What are some of the practices important to a professional stager? Here, we’ll break down just some of them—and how you will see them at work when staging your home. 1. Act with Integrity Professional stagers act with integrity and respect—for coworkers, competitors, clients, and others. That can mean a range of things, from treating others with courtesy to using ethical business practices. A professional won’t make promises they can’t follow through on—such as guarantees about outcomes—won’t take on a project they won’t be able to complete, and will commit to being up-front with the clients and providing them with all the information they need to make the best choices. But most importantly, staging is not a “bait and switch” strategy. While the goal of staging is to minimize the negative and maximize the positive features in a home, staging is NOT a plan to hide problems or issues with a home (such as excessive wear and tear, maintenance issues, or neglect) that may be present. These items should be tended to PRIOR to staging, and it is dishonest to stage over them in attempts to disguise their existence. More on that topic later... 2. Educate Clients and Get Them Involved Being up-front with clients necessitates getting them involved—and that might mean some education on the staging process. A professional keeps clients in the loop and works closely with them—this can range from offering information about staging to emphasizing the importance of depersonalizing and deep-cleaning the home. While it might not be a client’s favorite thing to hear that a beloved bright-colored room should to be painted before it can be staged, or that a clean house needs an even more thorough cleaning, but that’s part of the integrity and commitment to client education that staging professionals bring to the table along with their practical experience and know-how. 3. Use Interior Design Best Practices to Help the Space and Clients A professional stagers practical experience and know-how can take the form of knowledge of interior design best practices, such as the use of strategic mirrors when staging a small house to show off beautiful light, or using carefully chosen furniture and accessories to showcase how an awkward space could become a breakfast nook, small library, or a small home office. This can apply to virtual staging, too—a professional will know how to take photos that show off the full power of a room. A professional’s best practices when staging continue to involve integrity and client education, too. The stager will recommend you which repairs or updates should be made to help your home appeal to the right target market. And a pro won’t hide, disguise, or try to cover up any remaining issues with the house. Painting over damage from an unrepaired leak isn’t what staging is about—a stager will help a potential buyer to see the great potential in a home but also remain honest with the seller about potential downfalls of deferred maintenance. How can Heidi Ross Design help me? At Heidi Ross Design, our professionals help clients in the Greater Memphis area (including Germantown, Collierville, Olive Branch, and more) stage luxury homes while supporting them to sell for the best terms bearable in their specific market location. We know the best practices that will help your home sell—and promote peace of mind for you and for your potential buyers. Best of all, we offer a no-commitment FREE quote that helps you gather the information you need before you make a choice about which professional stagers you will work with. If you have contacted a Real Estate Professional to sell your home, it's also time to contact Heidi Ross Design for your Free Home Staging Consultation and quote. Use our online form or give us a call today (901) 361-7419. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  Staging can cut down on the amount of time that your home sits on the market—staged homes sell about 87% faster on average compared to unstaged homes. This is just one of the amazing benefits of staging, and one that can help you get your ideal sale terms. But it can also lead to some common misconceptions about how long you need to keep your home staged. While many people naturally assume that as soon as you get a contract and your home goes off the market, it’s time to take down the staging, this isn’t the case. In fact, it’s recommended to leave your home staged until closing—and definitely through many of the major milestones that occur between getting that purchase contract you and your real estate professional worked so hard to acquire and the final sale. How long do you need to leave your home staged, then? That depends on the timeframe of your sale, and how quickly some events—like the inspection, appraisal, and final walk through—occur. Here, we’ll break down the importance of leaving your home staged through the duration of these events, and let you know how Heidi Ross Design can help. #1 – The Home Inspection and Appraisal After your real estate professional presents you with a sale offer on your home, it might feel like the most important part of the sale process is done—but this isn’t always the case. A home appraisal and final inspection help solidify and confirm the sale. While timelines will vary, it’s common for an inspection to occur within seven to ten days of accepting a buyer's offer, and it’s important to leave staging in place. That’s because staging helps to support the value of your home. Staging is a great way to show off your home’s best features—so when staging a small house, you won’t be able to let anyone think the house is smaller than really it is, but will be able to highlight beautiful windows, show off its best virtues like maybe a modern kitchen, a stunning view, or any other feature that adds value to your home and makes it look and feel spacious. Emphasizing these can help you to get an appraisal that represents the best value that you know is there and just waiting to be captured, and help reinforce to the buyer the true value they’re getting. #2 – The Contract and Financial Approval As banks or other sources work out lending paperwork with the buyer, it’s important to remember that things can go wrong. If money fails to be sourced or approved for the buyer or something in the inspection report or appraisal makes it impossible for you or the buyer to continue on with the sale, you can find yourself with your home back on the market. This means that if you’ve taken your staging materials down during this period, which often takes a few weeks, you can find that you either have to sell an unstaged home—which takes longer to do—or pay to have your home re-staged, which can slow the process even more. While you might worry about staging prices and the hassle of leaving staging in place, it’s cheaper than having to re-stage your home...it's best practice and a better idea to leave it in place until closer to closing. #3 – The Final Walkthrough Buying a home is an emotional decision. While it might feel frustrating to leave your home staged for the whole duration of the sale contingencies—which sometimes run 30 – 45 days – this is an important measure to take. When buyers tour your home, they feel a connection and make the decision to make an offer—and buyers’ remorse, or cold feet, can occur if buyers lose their connection to a home. This is something that can happen if staging is removed and the buyers have another home tour with additional family or their decorator and find themselves walking through a bare room and can no longer envision their lives in the space—which might lead to backing out of the sale and you’re left scrambling to find a new buyer and re-staging the home. Even photos or virtual staging available for the buyers to see doesn’t replace the home they can see in-person as they take that final walk-through. Leaving staging in place can help them to maintain their feelings and connection to the space, and help you retain your ideal terms throughout the sale process. Where can I find professional staging for sale near me? If you’re looking for local home stagers in Memphis and the Greater Mid-South area—including Germantown, Collierville, Olive Branch, and Hernando— Heidi Ross Design is here to help. Our professionals have the experience and know-how to guide you through the home staging process—whether you’re wondering where to start or debating how long to leave your home staged. Best of all? We have a commitment-free FREE quote that can help you understand the staging process as you and your real estate professional get ready to sell your vacant or occupied home. For answers to common questions about home staging check our FAQ page. Give us a call at (901) 361-7419 to get started today! **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk. |
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