"Is This a Case of Staging Gone Wild?"

We had one lady that baked cookies and left them out for the buyers to enjoy! It certainly didn't hurt anything! LOL The house (half house/half mobile home - practically doomed) sold! :O)

I am going to check out and comment on his blog, Karen.  I didn't see it the first time around.  Thanks!

Karen, My staging advice is case by case. There are homes that just need "emptying" Trying to stage is like the moving bull in a china closet. There is so much stress during the listing phase, that having a vunerable owner remove all their personal photos could be more detrimental than the loss of a potential buyer.  

Careful about adding those aromas to the home during showings. Allergic reactions are not that uncommon. Allergic to cinnamon? The "apple pie" idea might not work. Same with the floral smells.

Now I will go check out Steve's post.

Margaret

Hi Karen, I will go check out his post, but to comment on yours first, I too have always found it funny that some of the staging tips include removing ALL of the family pictures. I have asked sellers to pack up some pictures but I also know that they live in the home now. In one instance the family had 4 children (they had all graduated and were now in college) the very loving parents had a photo history of each child on one large wall with each years school picture for each child. I suggested that they cut the number down, it was distracting, but very sweet. It got cut way down and the home showed well and sold, but there was still a picture of each of the children for them to enjoy. 

Katen, although the general advice is to depersonalize, I find that buyers want some personality showing thru.  They always want to know something about the sellers and their family.  Somehow, especially for families or those hoping to start one, this promotes warm fuzzies (which I think is a good thing). 

Now I'm off to read Steve's post, which I missed the first go-round.

Karen---I don't think I have once had clients not grab cookies if they were offered.  I have always been told that our clients have to be able to picture themselves living in the home.  While most folks don't seem to have time to bake anymore, cookies are still a nice touch to bring back fond memories.  Everything within reason is my rule of thumb!!

Thank your nice words about our post. You have titled your post aptly - staging gone wild.  It think sometimes agents forget that people buy homes to live in, not to dedicate as museums.  They don't want to buy dirt and need to see the house underneath the clutter, but as long as the pictures and personal touches are removable and within reason, I bet buyers give the owners a little slack. 

At you suggestion, I will address this question in another post, as I was hoping to promote discussion. I really appreciate that the comments were ones of substance. Thanks to everyone who responded.

You allude to a another point. I was hoping this would be featured too, though that is not why I wrote it. It always amazes me that so many good posts go by the wayside.  Makes me wish there were some known criteria for making things featured.