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If You Are Serious About Selling, Don't Try Home Staging

Most sellers today will tell you that they are serious about selling. But are they really? Have they done everything possible to prepare their house to make the best impression on potential buyers? In most cases, they have not.

Family room without staging

In many cases, they have not even scratched the surface of what should be done.

This seller believed they had prepared their house for sale. I'm told a lot of stuff had been removed in an attempt to declutter.

This seller had their house on the market for eight months, using this photo on the MLS.

When sellers under estimate what needs to be done in preparation and over value when determining their selling price, Realtors find themselves listing these houses with their hands tied, based on the seller's unrealistic expectations.

"We'll see how it goes" "we'll give it a month" "we will lower the price and see what happens"

then, finally... "maybe we should try staging."

Home staging is often a last resort strategy, used when all else fails. Too many sellers and realtors take a "wait and see" attitude when it comes to staging and it ends up costing them thousands of dollars.

Home staging is not something to be "tried." Home staging is preparation...

To prepare, by definition, "to put in proper condition or readiness," is done first to get the house ready to sell.

If you really are serious about selling and want to make the best impression on potential buyers, get off on the right foot and get serious right from the beginning. Hire a professional stager, prior to listing.

Staging first, instead of trying staging later, could save you a lot of money.

FYI, here is the family room after basic staging, using existing furnishings:

family room after

MLS picture

Here is the photo currently used on MLS

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Posted by Sharon Tara New Hampshire Home Stager on 12/02/2008 11:29 AM

Comments (19)

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19 Comments on If You Are Serious About Selling, Don't Try Home Staging

DEC

Very nice post! Great before and after photos AND you point of PREPARATION is key! It is always tough to come in ( staging, pricing, home inspections, etc ) after the fact...when the home has languished on the market. It is best to BE PREPARED! Thank you.

Hey, liked the post. I just finished writing a couple posts on the same topic. Sellers have to be made aware of stagin. Too many don't give it the importance it deserves. And it always seems that the sellers who don't want to stage are ones who end up being difficult to work with. Hmm. Is there a connection?

loved your pics they really reflect how good a home looks onces it is staged. so unfortunate that all the short sales in the market look like pooh (sorry if that was too rude) it will only make a staged home look that much better.

Makes a lot of difference -- just taking out a few old newspapers does not make it staged does it.

I am an appraiser and I look at the photos in MLS for the comparables I am using. I always wonder why we see so much furniture and not much of the house itself. Why are there pictures of the bedroom - only showing the bed? I want to see photos of the bathrooms, multiple kitchen photos, fireplaces, built-in features and the back yard.

I take interior photos for my appraisals - have been known to move things to get a better photo of the house's features. I recently took a nice photo of a large master bath and had to kick clothes into a closet to get a "good" photo. A kitchen recently had so mush stuff on the counters I had to knell down to catch a floor and minor counter photo.

Early in my career I appraised a home that sold low - it was a good home in a good location; but sold low - when I thought about it I remembered the house had heavy drapes and it was very dark inside and I had to turn on lights to see the interior; not only was the house dark, but it had too much furniture - hense a low offer price.

Beverly A. Bayer

Sharon

Great post. This is good information for a seller looking to get their home in selling condition.

Edward

Your before and after pictures are really illustrative of your point. You have a great eye and appear to be an invaluable aid to marketing a home. I would think that so many people watch the TV shows that urge staging that clients would understand why it is so important, but the problem is that once folks have decluttered from what they are used to, their home feels bare to them, even though we could argue that it is still way too busy. I'm sure you have an album of before and afters. If you have not made a brochure including some of them, you should - and distribute to as many agents as you can. It is often difficult for an agent to convince their clients to stage without showing them such pictures.

Pamela: Thanks for commenting! It is always harder coming in after the house has been listed a long time. Staging will still make a difference, it is just the damage is already done...the price has already been lowered and the buyers are wondering what the problem is because it has been on so long. You can't redeem the lost money.

Andrew: There are some people who you can never please and who you can never convince to change their mind. For these people, only time will make them reconsider. Sometimes you just have to let them have their way and sit on the market for so long that they have no choice but to finally agree to listen to your advice.

David: You are right, there are a lot of houses on the market that are in terrible, neglected condition. Buyers in lower price ranges get used to seeing one after another in the same condition. If they walk into a house in the same price range that has been staged, it will certainly stand out and be perceived as more valuable.

Sharon: Good points! There is no reason to let staging be a last-ditch effort. It would have saved these people weeks of letting their home sit on the market. Thanks for the post!

Great improvement Sharon! You are so right. Often sellers think they have prepared their home properly for selling only to waste valuable time on market. It is understandably hard for them to be objective. Your photos show what a difference bringing in a professional can make.

Bob and Carolin: There is usually so much more to do even after they think they are ready to go on the market. Thanks for the comment.

Beverly: It is amazing the photos that people use for MLS. Isn't the point to attract buyers? Many of the photos out there are scaring people away! Is it too much to ask not to have their dirty clothes on the floor? It sounds like you really go above and beyond in your attempt to get your photos! Your inner "stager" is showing!

Edward Thank you, I appreciate it! Hopefully I'll inspire some sellers to consider staging.

Well put, Sharon. As Yoda said, "There is no 'try.' There is only 'Do, or don't do.'" Don't try staging - do it! Thanks for the post!

DEC

Sharon -- This post is right on -- Staging is Preparing -- not just a life preserver to save the drowning listing (because it's overweight with clutter!).

Susan: What a beautiful comment, thank you so much! It is true that there is a lot of staging information on tv and sellers, by now, should be aware of clutter...but, not so. They just can't see their own! Many times people say "it is too plain" when I remove their stuff. They are so used to so much that their reference point is faulty. Having before and after pictures to show their clients is a great idea for realtors. I appreciate all your input, thanks again!

Ilyce: They actually made the comment, "why didn't we do this months ago?" Thanks for the comment.

Michele: "waste valuable time" is exactly what they did. Now we just wait and see if the new pictures bring in any buyers. It is a beautiful house...fingers crossed!

DEC

Laurie: Good ole Yoda! There is another way to go though....Do or Hire someone to Do.

Margaret: Awesome analogy, "drowning listing, overweight with clutter" I love it!

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