If you’ve ever bought or sold a house, the topic of staging likely came up. There are several reasons why I almost always recommend that a house be staged before it’s put on the market and I will share those with you here. I’ll also share some before and after photos of a home we recently staged.

And you know what, within 48 hours of it being listed, it was pending.

It’s rare that a property we work on needs to be staged for longer than 4 weeks (unless it’s a very specific home or it isn’t priced properly). It’s usually snapped up well before then.

Get Buyers In The Door

The first reason to stage your home: getting buyers in the door. When your home is professionally staged, it will photograph better, which will capture the attention of buyers as they are flipping through the MLS. That means you’re getting more eyes on your property details and have a higher chance of getting them in the door for a showing.

Which is photo of the same space more likely to make you want to see this home?

Give Context To The Space

An empty room will often appear smaller than a room with furniture in it. You want buyers to know that their furniture (and more) will fit in the space. Not everyone has the ability to visualize spacial proportions without context. So you don’t want to leave anything to chance - make sure buyers know for sure that the space will work for them.

Tell a Story

One of the first things I tell homeowners when I come in to consult on their home before it goes up for sale is this: you are selling a lifestyle - the idea of what this home could be for the buyer. Once all the strategic prep work is done, the staging brings that story to life. The buyer can see what the home can be for them. The story of how the home will support them both functionally and aesthetically. They can envision themselves in it within the context of how they desire to live.

Highlight the best features

As professionals, we can identify what the best selling features are and how to showcase them. It is never about hiding anything, but it is about ensuring the focus remains on the all the good things about the home. This is especially important if your home has some different types of spaces that may not have an immediately identifiable purpose. We can give it the most ideal purpose so it identifies best with the most likely buyer of your home. Understanding what buyers are looking for and who those buyers are.

The usual process

I start all potential staging projects with a pre-sale consultation. I objectively tour your house and leave you with my top tips and recommendations for getting your home ready for sale. From there I can also help to determine whether or not a home needs to be staged. In some cases it is just a matter of making a few tweaks to the existing furniture and decor. In others, we’ll utilize the base furniture and update the space with decor. And finally, when a home is partially or fully vacant, we’ll bring in all furniture and decor. Once you’ve taken care of all the recommendations in order to prep your home, we’ll come in for a final walkthrough and then select items for your home, followed by styling / staging the space.

I recommend getting in touch with us at least 3 weeks before you’re looking to list and to be prepared to set aside time to make small changes and updates to your home. And if you think that more major updates are going to be required, give yourself as much time as possible to get the work done. 1-2 months is ideal.

Now let’s enjoy a few more images of this home.