Sell Your Portland Home Fast – Stage it!

Maybe you’re just putting your Portland home on the market and can’t wait to get it sold, or maybe your home has been sitting on the Portland real estate market too long. Hopefully, your Portland listing is in the hands of a good real estate agent with a great marketing plan (see ours here). But even then, there are things you can be doing to help move it along into the waiting hands of the right buyer.

You might read a lot of things online about how to get your home sold, but they all boil down to two things: Lower the price or improve the value. If your home is priced fairly for your market (and your Portland real estate agent should be honest with you about whether it is), improving the value is what you should focus on.

Value has a lot to do with the buyer’s perception of the home. Look at it this way: You could have all new appliances, a new roof, good floor plan and beautiful landscaping, but if your potential home buyer can’t see all that because they’re distracted by what’s going on inside your home, they’re missing all of that value.

Yes, I’m talking about home staging, and it really works. Some sellers like to do their own staging, but I usually recommend a professional home staging service that can really help your home looks its best through the buyer’s eyes. You don’t have to spend thousands to have your home staged right. The best stagers in the North West typically only charge around $200 for a full consultation on how to use your own furniture and decorations to create tremendous buyer appeal. The Portland stagers (I have great recommendations) can tell you what should go and what should stay, and if you are painting or remodeling for the market, what colors and materials you should pick.

The next strategy is to get professional photographs to capture your home’s makeover for buyers anywhere to admire. These days, buyers don’t find homes by driving around neighborhoods or going to open houses – they search Zillow or the RMLS! And if the photos of your home are poorly lit, blurry, or just too few, they might pass right on by. On the other hand, great photos will have them emailing their Portland real estate agent to set up a time to view your home!

The evidence is in that home staging and professional photography really work. According to the Real Estate Staging Association, homes that are staged sell seven times faster in Oregon, and homes on average spend 80 – 90% less time on market when they are well staged. The real estate website Redfin published a report last year about the advantages of professional photography when it comes to selling your home. Homes that were photographed using a high-quality DSLR camera (that doesn’t even factor in the eye and skill of a professional photographer!) sold for between $3,400 to $11,200 more relative to their list prices.

If you’re thinking of selling your Portland home, you’ve come to the right place because as a Full Service REALTOR, my listing package comes with professional home staging recommendations, professional photography, and more. I believe in showing off your home’s best qualities to get it sold faster, for the price you want! Contact me to get started today.