Okay, that's a bit of a trick question, I think we all know that staging is important. The better question would be "how far do we go with staging?"
My professional experiences lead me to believe that a properly staged home is the difference between a home selling and not-with everything else being equal. I can't even count the number of buyers I and my team have carted around to homes that were not well staged, but were otherwise good homes, that I couldn't get the buyers interested in. It's sad to say that the vast majority of people don't have the imagination necessary to see through all the clutter or bad taste of the current residents belongings.
So, I'm putting my house on the market this month. (I will feel your pain!) The house was professionally decorated a few years ago when we moved in, so I'm pretty comfortable that I won't too much. I will confess to a sense of restlessness about my meeting with the professional stager that is coming next week to tell me to hide the photos and artifacts of... well, MY LIFE.
From the perspective of dealing with clients. I believe that a staging professional can help you avoid the awkwardness of "You need to change X" that I know I often feel when listing a home, especially if it's someone that I know personally.
I stumbled across an ad by a local staging professional, Ellen Boettcher, that had some great tips in it. I've posted them on my website here. Ellen's contact info is also there in case you're in the Austin area.
Wish me luck!
Maxwell McDaniel
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