These are answers to some commonly asked questions. If you have additional questions and would like more information, please send Sophia an email.

Q: What is Home Staging and how can it help sell my house?

A: Home Staging (or House Doctoring) is a series of tried and tested marketing techniques and strategies that ensure that a house sells faster and for the best possible price. A professional Home Stager first determines the target market for your house, reviews your house with the eyes of a buyer and then formulates an "Action Plan" that can either be executed entirely by you or together with the home stager. Home staging is about decorating a home to appeal to a wide range of tastes and preferences within the target market and aims to create an atmosphere that house hunters can instantly fall in love with. Home staging emphasises your home's best features and draws attention away from any flaws without purposefully hiding them. Other techniques applied include improving the traffic flow of your home, eliminating clutter and depersonalising, editing and arranging furniture and accessories, and enhancing your home's "curb-appeal" to attract the maximum number of viewers and ensure that the main photo on the estate agents' listings attracts lots of viewings. Keep in mind that house hunters shop with logic and buy on emotion. Home staging right now is more important than ever because of the shift in the balance of power from sellers to buyers. The key to boosting demand for a particular house is to generate excitement and a perception that the property may not be available for long.

For more tips and information on Home Staging your property you might want to read Sophia's article for FrenchEntree.com here.

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Q: Why would I spend money on a property that is for sale? It seems such a waste as we're leaving anyway.

A: First impressions are everything. Most house hunters decide whether or not they are interested in buying a home within the first few seconds of stepping inside the door. A professionally staged home will make them want to see more. The way you live in your house is very different from the way a prospective buyer looks at it. A Home Staging expert will review your property through the eyes of the most critical buyer and will create a home that house hunters can instantly fall in love with, what the French call a "coup de coeur". We all know this feeling when we see a house that we "want". Our list of requirements flies out of the window and suddenly we can compromise, even though we had been determined not to. The lovestruck house hunter will then assume that others feel the same about your house and will quickly make an offer to beat the perceived or real competition. Staging your home therefore is an investment rather than an expense because you very likely will see a big return on your money when your house sells.

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Q: Not many people in this area prepare their home for sale, so why would we? Our friends always comment on how beautifully decorated our house is.

A: You are right that Home Staging is a relatively new concept in France. All the more reason to prepare your home for sale! That way it can stand out from the crowd even more. Although most people realise the importance of having photos that present their property at its best, reality shows that many do not prepare their house before the estate agents come to assess and photograph their property. Not many people live in a prefectly presented house all the time! But Home Staging is not about the way you live normally, it is about MARKETING your property for sale. The moment you decide to put your house on the market it should become a PRODUCT, and this product should not only be PRICED right, but also be PACKAGED correctly for its target market. Your friends may love your house, but they are not buying your house. A Home Stager is unbiased and has been trained to look through the eyes of house hunters in your target market. It is all about appealing to the maximum number of buyers. A Home Staging consultation costs only a few hundred euros and can increase your selling price by thousands of euros. Staged houses tend to sell twice as fast as unstaged houses. So what are you waiting for?

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Q: Why would I need to hire a professional home stager? I have seen the House Doctor on TV and can do it all myself.

A: You can indeed make a good start on your own and we encourage you to do that. There however are three essential attributes that a professional Home Stager adds to the equasion:

• First, a Home Stager will bring objectivity by assessing your home as if looking through the eyes of a buyer. She will identify the key selling points and features of your home, as well as which areas need improvement. You have lived in your home and have made personal choices about how it looks; it feels like home because you have personalised it to your taste and style. A buyer may find your things distracting. Familiarity makes one blind and a Home Stager's objective eye will help you see what needs to be done to make your home appealing to the broadest group of buyers possible.
• Secondly, Home Stagers are trained decorating professionals. A Home Stager can quickly and easily come up with a plan to create the look that will appeal to as many buyers a possible as well as arrange the necessary resources to get the project completed quickly. Their expertise is invaluable as they will be able to determine how best to use what you already own and make recommendations for what is needed to complete each room.
• Thirdly, a home stager can save you a lot of time and "time is money"! There are so many stressful details involved in selling a house, including finding a new home, getting a mortgage, packing up your belongings, while maybe also managing a full-time job and a family. With all of this to deal with, preparing your home for sale and having it look its best for each viewing will most likely fall to the bottom of your priority list. A Home Stager will help free up some of your time by managing the details of getting your home ready to sell fast and for the best possible price.

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Q: My home is already on the market. Is it too late to have it staged?

A: It is never too late. You may have missed valuable opportunities to sell your home because it wasn't properly prepared to sell; however, you may also have gained useful information from house hunters or your agent as to why your house isn't selling. If your property has been on the market for some time, it might even make sense to take it off the market, have it staged and then put it back on the market as a fresh new listing. The new photos will possibly look so different that buyers won't realise this is the same house they've rejected before at first glance!

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If you have additional questions or would like to book a consultation, please send an email or call Sophia on 0565 31 62 90.