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Home Staging 101 - A Very Basic Explanation of Home Staging

By
Home Stager with Sharon Tara Transformations

Presentation is key when marketing a home for sale.

A buyer's perception of a home will determine it's value to them.

 

Does it appear to have been well maintained?

Is it spacious, with a good flow from room to room?

Are the rooms painted in current, neutral colors?

Does it have any special features like custom cabinetry or molding?

Are the appliances new or in like-new condition?

Are the floors and carpets in good condition?

Is the home emotionally appealing?

Home Staging is the key to answering all these questions "YES".

 

 

The term "Home Staging" is often times misinterpreted.

Here is a very basic.... Staging For Dummies....explanation of Home Staging:

 

Home Staging falls into two basic categories....Vacant Staging and Owner Occupied Staging.

 

Vacant Staging:  The house is empty. Stager gives advice on paint colors, flooring and any other improvements needed.

Stager furnishes home. Sometimes it's fully furnished and sometimes just key rooms are furnished. Owners pay staging fee and monthly rental fee for furniture and accessories.

 

Owner Occupied Staging:  Owners will be living in home while it's listed. Stager gives advice on paint colors, flooring and any other improvements needed. 

A decision is made as to whether or not owner's furniture will be used or new furniture will be bought or rented.

Option 1:

Owners hire stager to do all the work.

Option 2:

Owners follow prioritized To-Do list provided by stager and when they have completed their "homework" stager returns to tweak and finalize the transformation.

 

Home Staging is a broad term. It's about identifying and completing what needs to be done in order to make a home as visually and emotionally appealing as possible.

Home Staging includes cleaning, organizing, repairing, repurposing, and replacing.

It's choosing wall color,  flooring and light fixtures.

It's determining furniture placement and room definition. 

 

Whether it's Vacant or Owner Occupied  Staging ,

the first step is a Home Staging Consult.

 

 

 

Comments(51)

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Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Dick Greenberg  Thank you!  I hope it makes it a bit clearer.

 

Feb 29, 2016 03:14 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Sharon Lee   OK now I understand. Very good question!

 It is almost always best to have the home furnished. It helps define the space and function of each room. Rooms look smaller when empty and any defects are more obvious when the room is empty.

Obviously it depends on the furniture....but purchasing slipcovers and a few new accessories can make old furniture work just fine.

Knowing what to keep and what to get rid of isn't always obvious....but it's safe to remove collections, hobby stuff, personal and religious items and keep just enough to make a room look inviting.

Without seeing the room and flooring I couldn't suggest an exact color, but something in a light to medium grey with white trim should be a good choice.

Feb 29, 2016 03:22 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Ron and Alexandra Seigel  Thank you!  I shall treasure my awards!

Feb 29, 2016 03:23 AM
Paul S. Henderson, REALTOR®, CRS
Fathom Realty Washington LLC - Tacoma, WA
South Puget Sound Washington Agent/Broker!

I hope you are ready to teach us some higher level courses or perhaps some post graduate studies for the class clowns Sharon Tara! Nice Post BTW... 

Feb 29, 2016 04:09 AM
Sharon Lee
Sharon Lee's Virtual Assistance - Jonesborough, TN
Retired and loving life

Thank you. I appreciate your input. It is a 2 BR 1 BA about 1000 sq ft. Wonder why people are going to gray. 

Feb 29, 2016 05:53 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Paul S. Henderson, REALTOR®, Broker, Tacoma Washington   Higher level courses I am not prepared for at this time. LOL

Sharon Lee  When it gets time, send me some pics and I'll let you know what I think.

 

Feb 29, 2016 05:56 AM
Sharon Lee
Sharon Lee's Virtual Assistance - Jonesborough, TN
Retired and loving life

I got a lot of prep work to do which I am starting tomorrow. It is an old house and part of the house the woodwork is the dark stain and the other is painted wht and the walls are painted paneling in the living room. I have LOTS of holes to fills on the window casings especially the front living room window and front door, Should be fun. NOT!!!!.

Feb 29, 2016 06:05 AM
Robert Vegas Bob Swetz
Las Vegas, NV

Hello Sharon ... Great post on Home Staging 101 and congrats on the Oscar ;o)

Feb 29, 2016 01:53 PM
James Dray
Fathom Realty - Bentonville, AR

Good morning Sharon.  Well now this is timeless advice that everyone should be listening to

Feb 29, 2016 06:41 PM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Sharon Lee  Don't push yourself to hard....would hate to see you end up hurting.

Robert 'VEGAS BOB' Swetz  Thank you!

James Dray   Looking at mls photos it's obvious people haven't been listening.

Feb 29, 2016 09:33 PM
Robert Vegas Bob Swetz

;o)))

Mar 01, 2016 12:48 AM
Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

I have a seller that has been working on staging her home herself for months now. She insists you knows what to do and I believe she does. She just has so much to do.

Feb 29, 2016 10:10 PM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Debbie Reynolds  Most sellers have "so much to do"....years of accumulation to deal with. She is wise to give herself the time to prepare instead of prematurely listing like many sellers do.

Mar 01, 2016 12:10 AM
Janice Ankrett
Burlington, ON
Staging Professional

Great explanation Sharon! When I first started telling people I was a Stager, they thought I set up stages for plays! Staging a home is such an important part of marketing a home.

Mar 01, 2016 12:54 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Janice Ankrett  When I first heard about staging I thought it had to do with the staging that painters stand on. LOL

Mar 01, 2016 05:30 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Sharon- so well said.  I am so happy that you explained the different kinds of staging as well as what can be accomplished in a staging consultation!!  

Mar 01, 2016 10:48 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Kathy Streib Thank you. You know better than anyone just how misunderstood the term can be.

Mar 01, 2016 09:23 PM
Joanna Cohlan
Fresh Eyes For Your Home - Chappaqua, NY
Designing, Decorating & Staging Westchester Homes

Great post Sharon.  It could not be more comprehensible.  What is incomprehensible is that people actually hesitate when putting their homes on the market to call someone in with a fresh eye!!

Mar 01, 2016 10:23 PM
Beth Atalay
Cam Realty and Property Management - Clermont, FL
Cam Realty of Clermont FL

Sharon, when I mention home staging, I'm shocked to hear most have absolutely no clue what it actually is, they can't even imagine a vacant home staging. Great explanation!

Mar 01, 2016 10:27 PM
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Hi Sharon -- clear and concise.  I imagine that this post will make home staging a lot more approachable.  

Mar 01, 2016 11:52 PM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Joanna Cohlan  The old "I'll see what happens and stage later if we need to."  OMG!

Beth Atalay  it is shocking that there are still people who don't know what it is and that we still have to do so much educating.

Michael Jacobs  Thank you. I certainly hope so. 

Mar 02, 2016 12:49 AM