Home Staging... Busting Some of the Arguments Against It.

It's been said that there are no more original thoughts, and when it comes to reasons about why not to stage, well I can almost agree.  When home sellers express their concerns about staging, we usually hear one of the following:

#1 - Professional Home Staging is expensive... Actually we can tailor to almost any budget, but the truth is that we need to start thinking of staging as an INVESTMENT, and not an "expense" anyway.  Showcasing a home for sale typically returns up to 300% of the original cash outlay, and what other investment can boast that?

#2 - I'm not spending money on a house I'm planning to sell.  Buyers buy with emotion, and once they've attached a negative emotion to a perceived flaw in the property its going to inflate the cost.  Investing in repairs, enhancements and improvements before selling will protect the equity in your home by reducing any wiggle room a buyer may have at the negotiating table.  HomeGain.com provides reliable statistics that can help us decide where best to focus your efforts, and the expected returns. 

#3 - My house was professionally decorated so I don't need to stage.  We offer decorating through New View Home Staging as well, and decorating clients want us to reflect their personal taste, which is the opposite goal in staging.  The purpose of staging is to allow any buyer to enter and immediately feel that they can live there, not to reflect personalities of those that already do.  Staging will neutralize and make a property more appealing to the broadest base of potential buyers, within the target market!

#4 - I'm going to try listing for a month without staging, and then do it if the house still hasn't sold.   This is one of the biggest mistakes that a seller can make because no one is going to come back to see the house a second time.  Your best chance of selling at the highest price is right out of the gates, so you really need to have photos that present the property in the best possible light right from the start.

#5 - Staging will require me to make a lot of changes, and spend money on things I can't take with me.  Actually, the starting point for almost every staging job in an occupied home is using exactly what you've already got!  We usually take away far more than we add, but when we do bring items in we offer rental rates well below anything that you could purchase, so its a really cost-effective option for the homeowner on a short-term basis.