Hey Krystal

 As a stager I too see many homes that I would love to stage, but the sellers aren't buying...Guess what? the house actually sells! But for many thousands less, why? People with a good eye for what needs to be done to enhance the property will buy it knowing the costs of repairs and negotiate down. That is how I bought all my houses as well as my childrens houses. Oh yeah, the dump sold, we remodeled them and we would always comment If only the sellers could see this house now, they would not recognize it, we would have to pay so much more for it if we bought it like this...Staging is not necessary to sell, but it can attract more dollars  

Krystal,

Congratulations, this is the type of buyer we need, however, 80% of our population does not have the ability to see past the "stuff". I am a licensed PSC Stager as well as an active real estate agent. In today's market we are seeing a large influx of stagers that simply decorate, which can in effect have an affect on our sale. I have seen several times a "designer or stager" covering up what I classify as a closing issue to me. The buyers must be able to view a property instead of the personal "items". We must clarify to the public that HGTV is a televised and dramatized production. These customers haven't a clue where to begin or what to do because their things are "invisible to them. Yet, the items are eye candy to a buyer, therefore we begin selling their things instead of the property. If you get that buyer to purchase, they will usually go through a negotiation process first. Did you drop the price?  Was it priced to sell with all the "stuff"? YOu obviously did a great job on your side in selling the property, congratulations and keep up the good work..