“Now, after teaching over 400,000 agents and decorators
about Staging® all over the United States from 1985 to present time, my term is accepted
and understood nationwide and homes that are Staged® have an immediate advantage in any
market”, says Ms. Schwarz.
Houses that are Staged® should have, “a decluttered, clean,
pared-down, inviting look”, says local Stager® Shelley Wagner. Her consultation fee
is $75/hour. You can either take her suggestions from her consultation and do them
yourself, or hire her to follow through on the changes.
2002 Profile of Buyers & Sellers
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has completed the 2002
Profile of Buyers and Sellers. “Healthy consumer spending propelled the
housing market to record levels...6.2 million total single-family homes sales in
2001—an increase of 69 percent over ten years. Despite strong home price
appreciation, the favorable mortgage rate environment helped keep housing affordable. As a
result, many households were able to achieve the American Dream of homeownership. In 2001,
the U.S. homeownership rate rose to 67.8 percent—an all-time high.”
NAR occasionally conducts surveys of sellers and homebuyers to
“gather information about their most recent experience in buyer of selling a home,
and the role of real estate professionals in those transactions. The survey includes
questions about housing consumers…”
The following represents statistics collected from 2001
Homebuyers:
Over 72 million families owned homes in 2001.
The most important reason for purchasing a home was the “desire to
own a home”.
The typical home purchased was an existing, single-family detached home
located in the suburbs.
The typical home-buying search took seven weeks (where buyers visited
ten homes).
Four out of five homebuyers used the services of a real estate agent as
an important information source and help in the transaction.
Buyers were most likely to learn about the home they eventually
purchased through a real estate agent.
Over 50% of homebuyers first learned about their real estate agent from
either prior experience or referrals.
Eight out of ten homebuyers received recommendations from their real
estate agent about sources for other real estate oriented services/products.
Two thirds of buyers said that they would definitely use the same agent
again in a future transaction.
Of course, the internet now plays an important role in the homebuying
process:
41% of homebuyers used the Internet as an information source.
Homebuying internet users are younger and buy higher-priced homes than
other homebuyers.
63% of buyers said the Internet shortened the search time for their new
home.
The following represents statistics collected from 2001 Home
Sellers:
84% of repeat homebuyers sold their previous home at the same time they
purchased their new home.
Over 50% of home sellers chose their agent based on prior interaction
with the agent or based on a referral from friends, relatives or another broker.
Seven out of ten sellers said that they would use the same agent in
future transactions.
Only 13% of homes were sold by owner directly.
