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Why Should You Stage? No One Lives In A Staged Home

By Janet Jones

Home Stager with Just Your Style Interiors, LLC

November 23, 2011 09:19 AM

David Gibson wrote an interested post yesterday entitled,

Stagers and listing agents - what are the tipping points?, which inspired me to write this one.

David was asking for advice from Realtors and stagers as to how to convince sellers that they needed to bring in a stager. As he wrote: "The seller thinks their house is staged, when at best, it is at some point on the continuum of decorated." Given this mindset they feel that consulting with a professional stager is unnecessary.

I commented back to him that it's simple, "No one lives in a staged home". Staging is Living room Dining Room about marketing--visual merchandising, if you will. Sellers have their home arranged/decorated for their individual "livability". That "livability" doesn't transfer to "staged" just because they put a For Sale sign in the front yard and shampooed the carpeting. Staging is about transitioning their "livability" into a house that the targeted community of buyers can see themselves living in.

Sellers may think that their 60" wide screen TV and twin La-Z-Boy recliners sitting in the traffic flow in the family room are just fine because that is the best arrangement for their personal enjoyment (livability). Or they may have a professionally decorated home with lovely furnishings. However, when it comes to selling the home, neither the La-Z-Boy-filled family room or the personal decorating choices appeal to a wide range of prospective buyers.

The truth is that the majority of the homes I see have 25-50% more furniture and furnishings than are necessary--again livability and a real detriment for marketing. Sellers have lost their objectivity after living in the home for a while, and they can't see their home through the eyes of a buyer. Buyer's can't/don't imagine alternatives for what they see in homes. Staging takes all the guess work out of it for the buyers.

If I put my house up for sale today even I would stage! My husband and I "live" in our house. We have two working offices. So even though my house is decorated, and I am the queen of neat, clean, and organized, there are still items I would remove, accessories I would add and furniture I would move. Once I decide to sell, it's all about the marketing and my "liveability" has to go to the back burner.

Why consult with a professional stager? The only way to transition your property from "livable home" to "competitively marketable house" is to bring in a professional with the expertise and knowledge to do that. No one lives in a staged home--unless it has been staged and it is now up for sale!

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DeeDee Riley

Lyon Real Estate - El Dorado Hills CA - El Dorado Hills, CA

Realtor - El Dorado Hills & the Surrounding Areas

Great job on this post, Janet! And I agree with you 100%. Thanks for sharing!

Nov 26, 2011 10:42 AM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Penny--I definitely think you should write that post about your daughter.

Hi DeeDee--Thank you and thanks for stopping by.

Nov 26, 2011 11:07 AM

Bob Miller

Keller Williams Cornerstone Realty - Ocala, FL

The Ocala Dream Team

Hi Janet, Exceelent post. But what would yoy do here in Ocala, Fl., where average sale price is $80k?

Nov 26, 2011 11:24 AM

Dagny Eason

Dagny's Real Estate - Wilton, CT

Fairfield County CT, CDPE Homes For Sale and Condo

Janet - Nice Post! There is a definite difference between a tidied up house, and one that is staged to accentuate the good points in a home for the buyer....

Nov 26, 2011 02:54 PM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Dagny--thank you, and yes, there is a huge difference. Thanks for stopping by!

Nov 26, 2011 03:17 PM

Cheryl Dukes . . . . . Intown Atlanta

Guaranteed Offer for your Home - eXp realty - Atlanta, GA

Your post is great info Janet. No one lives in a staged home. But people WANT to live in a staged home -- they want to envision themselves there, just like they want to envision themselves as their favorite celebrity - they want their clothes, they want their haircut, they want to dream that their home can look like the one they see that is appropriately staged. That's why builders always sell more of the model home floorplan. (It must be staged correctly though. I've seen "staging" that subtracted from instead of adding to a home's appeal.)

Nov 28, 2011 03:00 AM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Cheryl--you are so right--people want to live in staged homes. And that is absolutely what developers figured out a along time ago. You've inspired me--maybe that should be the subject of my next post!

Nov 28, 2011 08:29 AM

Birgit Anich

Birgit Anich Staging & Interiors, 203.807.4040 - Norwalk, CT

CT Home Stager Fairfield & New Haven County

Janet, thank you for this post. I agree with you that there is still the wide spread perception out there that staging is making a space look pretty, But as you pointed out we still have much education to do that a house on the market is a product and therefore needs to be marketed as such. It is not enough to just tidy up - especially not in today's real estate market. Today sellers need to do everything possible to stand out from the competition to sell their house. Yes, and we stagers are here to help them with our expertise.

Congratulations your post has been featured on "The Realtors and Home Stagers Information Exchange".

Nov 29, 2011 02:14 PM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Birgit--thank you very, very much for your comments and the feature. I find such a disparity in the market between what people believe staging is and what the reality is. I only hope more and more sellers can read these posts and understand that they do, indeed have a product and that it needs to look its best when being placed on the market.

Nov 29, 2011 04:48 PM

Sylvie Stuart

Realty One Group Mountain Desert 928-600-2765 - Flagstaff, AZ

Home Buying, Home Selling and Investment - Flagsta

Staging is very important. We don't live in staged homes, but buyers need to have that emotional connection with a home and see the possibilities, staging makes that connection for them easier.

Dec 17, 2011 03:25 AM

Ritu Desai 703-625-4949

Samson Properties - Chantilly, VA

Northern Virginia,Washington DC & Maryland Realtor

I think staging is a great levarage not just for the seller but also for the buyer to understand the potential of the home. Great Blog!

Dec 17, 2011 03:32 AM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Sylvie--Yes, you are so right about that and thank you very much for commenting.

Hi Ritu--thanks so much. Yes, staging is all about the marketing and, as you say, helping buyers understand the potential of the home.

Dec 17, 2011 04:35 AM

Winston Heverly

Coldwell Banker Access Realty - South Macon, GA

GRI, ABR, SFR, CDPE, CIAS, PA

I love the concept of staging and wish I had a real need for it. Most of the sales here in S. Florida seem to be shorts and reo's. The homes are vacant or a mess. With no real budget, staging seems to be absent from the radar.

Dec 30, 2011 03:05 PM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Winston--understandably so. When a property is sold on price staging doesn't become a necessity. Hope your market improves soon!

Dec 30, 2011 08:13 PM

Dale Taylor

Re/Max 10 New Lenox Illinois http://dtaylor.remax.com - Frankfort, IL

Realtor = Chicago Illinois Homes Townhomes Condos

Your photos are powerful.

Jan 02, 2012 03:08 PM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Dale--thanks very much. And greetings to Chicago, which is my hometown!

Jan 02, 2012 04:04 PM

Linda Thompson

Selling By Design-Staging - Fresno, CA

Janet, super post! I reblogged it. We can't stress this enough.

Apr 16, 2012 06:44 AM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Linda--thanks so much. I agree with you that we can never stress this enough.

Apr 16, 2012 03:03 PM

Matt Robinson

Professional Investors Guild - Pensacola, FL

www.professionalinvestorsguild.com

I'm a big believer in staging. While it's sometimes hard to convince sellers to spend the money, I do it on EVERY SINGLE REHAB that I sell. I usually go in and place my staging furniture the way I think looks good, and then my stager comes behind me and changes everything around and makes it look MUCH better. LOL.

May 29, 2012 09:20 AM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Matt--love what you wrote! A good stager is worth her weight in gold and glad you are a fan of staging. Greetings to Pensacola, Florida, where I spent most of of my summers as a child!

May 29, 2012 10:57 AM