All I did was...turn a 1970's home into a must see for todays Buyer!

Hi Suzanne, I know it is a continuing task we have as stagers and agents to educate our sellers on this point. I keep stats for my agents or suggest that they do so when a seller asks if it "is worth it" , they can speak from their own stats not a national survey.  Works every time.

Hi Aaron, I work with many agents that include a home staging consultation as part of their marketing for the listing. It is just how they do business. When they get a referral, that seller already knows from whomever referred them that a home staging consultation is part of the process. 

Hi Sarah and Les, yes that storage room wasn't increasing the value of the home one bit. Now it says "move in ready".

HI Roger, thank you for taking the time to switch browsers. The before and afters are pretty dramatic and are used with the next seller to show them how much a difference a professional stager can make in the appearance of their home for sale. Pretty hard to argue with a picture, as they say they are worth a thousand words.  The best thing to do is to take pictures of your sellers home as it is now and show them to your seller. You should see how wide their eyes go when they "see" their home the way others see it.

Hi Ralph, they call me the go to girl, it is even on  my license plate. When you want a job done, I am the person they call to make it happen no matter what the budget is.  IF they have NO BUDGET AT ALL, I can still give them enough information so that they can get their house prepared for sale. I am part of an brokerage that has 300 agents. I am part of their marketing plan. My job is to get the house prepared for listing photos whether I do the work or the home owner does. Works like magic every time!

H Michelle, professional photos are the only way to go but I have to add that this particular photographer does an outstanding job of capturing the heart of a home. You may have to go through a few photographers to find the right one but when you do...they are worth their weight in gold. They actually get you more listings and more importantly ... the right buyers.

Hi Jimmy, if you search on AR under state or town you can find a professional home stager right here. You can see their work ahead of time.   I have only had one person decide not to sell after we staged their home for sale. They were going to list in spring and decided to stay for the summer to enjoy their "new home".. I can assure you that most people have their reasons for moving and they are moving no matter what.  I offer the same service at the new house so they know that I can do exactly the same thing there, no need to stay here. Hope that helps!

Hi Joan, I think most people think it will be too expensive as most people have never had a home staged before. It is all new territory for them. I have different packages for sellers, there is always one that is right for a particular seller. Some stagers do not offer that type of service so best to interview several stagers to find the right one for a particular job. You don't have to use the same stager for each job, nor do you have to ask a professional stager to lower their fees. I always say there is a cup of tea for every one.   

I work in homes worth several million and  I work in homes where there is literally no budget at all. They all get staged for listing photos one way or another.  I wish you well finding the right stager here on AR.

HI David, it doesn't matter how many homes we stage we are always pleasantly surprized by the end result ourselves. Thank you for the kind words about our skills. It is a skill to be able to envision what a home can look like during a 2 hour walk through, selecting inventory in our head that we know is in stock and will suit the home.

Hi Fernando, thank you for stopping in, staging as many houses as we do we come across almost every type of house. We have even staged a nunnery!

HI Andrea, simple and elegant.... that is the look we are known for whether it is a condo or 1970's bungalow. Less is more as they say.

Hi Wayne and Jean, It's funny you say that we used wizardry... a  seller last week said we were like a fairy god mother dropping in with fairy dust and sprinkled it over her home and shazaam! it looks amazing a couple of hours later.

Hi Karen, as I know you can attest to ... sellers need a focused plan to start preparing their home for sale. We want the seller to spend their limited budget where it will bring the most pay back. Some people are short on time... and that is where our advice can help as well.

Hi Julia,we are always pretty adamant about the wallpaper coming down but in this property it wasn't going to happen. So when you have lemons you make lemonade! I was at the broker open house today. The house showed really well and the agents gave their thumbs up on the presentation.

HI Francine, we bring value to the eye of the buyer in every property we stage. Better a bright spacious bedroom than storage room. It really did look much smaller with the just the rack in the room than when we put a queen size bed in the same room.

Hi Debra, The rental fees for furniture would be different in every city as per demand. I know by reading here on AR there are many states that do not have rental companies available at all and that furniture stores are used for rentals.

In our area to rent furniture for the 3 rooms you have listed would be approximately $ 1065 - $1760 depending on the price point of home that you would require the furniture for.  We use different companies to supply the rental furniture depending on the price point of home.

Delivery, set up and pick up would be extra.

That is for the furniture only, all artwork, accessories, props, bedding, accent cushions, staging and destaging fees would be in addition to the rental furniture amount. 

Industry standards here suggest 1 - 1.5% of the list price would be a reasonable expectation to pay for staging fees. This property did not require any where near that figure to be staged. It was approximatley .4%

The return on investment for staging this home was definitely worth the investment to the seller and of course the marketing material looked outstanding compared to the original look of the home. By staging the property the home was allowed to be marketed to the target buyer who would be looking in this area for their next dream home.

HI Kristin, we find that until we take pictures of the home in its current state that sellers really don't"see" what their home looks like to outsiders.  They really have a light bulb moment when we show them. Don't know why this works so well...but it does! We suggest all Realtors try this with their reluctant sellers when they will not agree to have a professional stager come out to give suggestions to prepare the home for listing photos.

Thank you Janelle, appreciate your comments on this topic. We try our best to keep the staging investment to a minimum for our clients. By using the home owners belongings as much as possible and renting some key pieces to update the look of the house we were able to assist in getting this home sold in a few days instead of the usual 9 months in the area.