A Better Way to Stage Your Home in 2008

The Green Home Advantage 

Fact - Green Homes Save Homeowners Money

Fact - Green Homes Are More Valuable

Fact - Green Homes Sell Faster

Properly staging a home is a skill good real estate agents never overlook. A well staged home will sell faster, and for more, than a poorly staged home. The goal of staging a house is to make the house “stick out from the crowd” and appeal to all potential home buyers. Traditional staging tips work well, but are you overlooking the “green” headlines and missing an opportunity to impress potential home buyers by adding more value to your client’s home. Home builders are going green [5] and for good reason; these green efforts by home builders are paying off, should you be doing something you haven’t been doing, when staging your clients home?

Traditional Home Staging Tips

1.  Complete all needed repairs.
2.  Depending on the budget, replace flooring and paint rooms that need painting. Make sure rooms are painted with neutral colors.
3. Remove clutter from every room in the home. Trinkets, knickknacks, collectibles etc...  
4. Clean, clean, clean, clean, dust and organize every room in the home.
5. Keep bathrooms bare, and yes, clean by removing or hiding all personal hygiene products,
6. Remove personal “things” from a home before any potential buyers arrive.
7. Mow the lawn(s), trim the bushes and trees, sweep the property, spray down the exterior walls; completely prepare your lawn for every walk-through.

Staging a Home in 2008 – The Green Way

1. Theme the home as a green home by setting up areas in the home for a recycle bin and power savers or power strips (media centers, computer rooms). Appliances on standby waste an alarming amount of energy [2]. Tell potential buyers that the power strips are brand new and that they come with the home.
2. Replace all light bulbs in the home with CFLs that use 80% less energy than standard light bulbs.
3. Make sure all appliances are energy efficient.
4. Paint the home with Low or Zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs)  [1]
5. Tell buyers you will install a tree or two and tell them why. [4]
6. Install water regulating landscaping systems. [1]
7. Install a power usage meter – this device allows home owners to easily see the effects of small energy saving efforts [2]
8. Replace a homes toilet(s) with water efficient toilets that use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush (gdf). If there is a budget, you can purchase toilets that use less, look for the WaterSense label. [3]
9. Replace inefficient shower heads with shower heads that use less water per minute – manufacturers have built shower heads that use as little as 1.6 gallons per minute (gpm) which is a far cry from some older 80 gpm shower heads. [3]
10. Use less water from faucets with a 1.5 gpm aerator. [3]