The benefit that home staging offers is all over the news, internet and television. Savvy real estate agents are enlisting home stagers in the sale of their listings and home sellers are seeking out home stager to get their home into tip top shape before even calling a listing agent.

A common misconception is that staging is expensive - that it costs too much - without taking the very real benefits into account. A home staged by a Professional Home Stager has distinct advantages from both the homeowner's and the Listing Agent's point of view. For the homeowner, staging can result in a faster sale, thereby saving them money on the carrying costs (mortgage, maintentance, insurance, etc.) and allowing them to move on to their next home that much sooner. Staging can help generate a higher sales price, by allowing buyers to see the home's potential instead of seeing it only as someone else's home. Also, the longer a home sits on the market, the more likely a price reduction will be necessary in order to get the home sold.

• To read about how staging can result in a faster sale, click here

• For an example of how staging helped generate a higher sale price, click here.
  

For the listing agent, that faster sale translates into less money outlay for marketing, hosting open houses, etc., and less time spent showing the house. A staged home shows better on the MLS and in collateral marketing materials and gives prospective buyers a sense that the home is move in ready. Buyer's agents are more likely to show a properly prepared home beacuse they know it is more likely to be attractive to their clients.

• To read about how home staging benefits real estate agents, click here
  

At the very least, before you put your home on the market, start with a Comprehensive Home Staging Consultation. For less than $500, depending upon where you live, a professional home stager will do a thorough assessment of your home making note of any items that need to be repaired or cleaned, gauging the level of clutter and making recommendations regarding furniture placement. They will also discuss paint colors that can give new life to a room and make your home warm and inviting. An experienced home stager will have a rolodex full of handymen/women, painters, landscapers, cleaning services, moving and storage companies, etc. to help in preparing your home for sale, if you need them. You will then be presented with a written report of the consultation which you can use as a road map to do the work yourself, hire subcontractors to do some of the work, or hire the home stager to complete you project and make your home picture perfect.

• For an example of how a Comprehensive home staging consultation can save you money, click here
  

If your home will be occupied during the time it is on the market, a home stager can help you arrange your existing furniture and accessories so that the architectural highlights of your home are featured. They will also arrange your furniture to make the rooms feel larger and give improperly furnished rooms purpose. Many home stagers have an inventory of accessories they can stage in your home to further enhance your home's appearance.

Before and after photos of an occupied home staging in Arcadia, CA.

If your home will be vacant, a home stager can bring in rental furniture from their own inventory or from a furniture rental company. They will over see proper placement of the furniture along with accessories and artwork. The finished product will look like a model home,charming and full of suggestions about what life could be like if they lived there.

Before and after photos of a vacant home staging in San Marino, CA

As a value added bonus, many home stagers will also provide the listing agent with professional quality photos of the home after staging for use on the MLS and in other marketing materials. Posting photos of your home after staging is one sure way to get more potential buyers through the front door. Photos of staged homes look move in ready and more appealing than other homes on the MLS that have not been staged.

Yes, home staging costs money. All valuable services do. But if a home seller or listing agent wants the best possible outcome, they should consider the cost of home staging as an investment in a faster sale and a better price.

Moving Mountains Design Home Staging is a full service home staging company serving Los Angeles, Pasadena, Arcadia, San Marino, South Pasadena, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz and Silverlake. We were recently featured in the Sunday Los Angeles Times Real Estate section in an article about the benefits of staging a home. Call the Los Angeles home staging company with the experience and track record to get your home sold faster and for the best price. Call us at (626)441-8975 or visit our Los Angeles home staging web site.

Copyright 2008 Moving Mountains Design Home Staging and Michelle Minch. All rights reserved.