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Should You Stage Your Own Listing?

By
Real Estate Agent with Better Properties Seattle

Newer townhomes are often the easiest to stage and can be done in just an hour or so.  The owners of this townhome were moving out into the home I just sold them, before the property was going to be listed for sale. 

I asked them to leave those white sofas and and bayberry colored area rug and take everything else out  

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I then bought those throw pillows and afghan to match the rug, the picture on the far wall with berries in the same color and the bath towels.  Keeping things very simple and carrying one color throughout the entire townhome makes it feel larger. 

This townhome sold the first morning to one of the first people who saw it.  Once you have a "set" of items in different color schemes you can use each theme over and over again.  So while the cost of the first staging "set" might be hundreds of dollars, if you can use it ten times, the cost becomes only $50 per property sold.

The newer the townhome, the easier it is to stage it yourself using minimal items you have "in stock".

 

Carol Williams
Although I'm retired, I love sharing my knowledge and learning from other real estate industry professionals. - Wenatchee, WA
Retired Agent / Broker / Prop. Mgr, Wenatchee, WA
Ardell, I just added two assistants to my team.  One has a good eye for design.  I'm going to have her talk with the sellers prior to every listing going active.  I'll tell them the "staging specialist" will come by and give them pointers to preparing their home for showings.  That's for an occupied home, of course.  We haven't really gotten into the staging of vacant homes in Wenatchee yet.  I hope that comes along as an option sometime in the near future. 
Dec 30, 2006 01:52 PM