You may have heard of the latest trend that people are turning to in order to sell their home quickly is home staging. Basically, home staging is like window dressing your house. Staging usually only applies to vacant homes that don't have a stick of furniture in them, or homes that are so sparsely decorated (or badly decorated) that they are screaming out for attention. We have all looked at homes like this; they really have nothing terribly wrong with them as far as location or layout but for some reason they just show horribly.
Is Home Staging Right For Me?
Usually a good sign of house that needs staging is one that has been on the market for quite some time but has not sold. This is not the only thing to look for, however. Many homes are just plain over-priced for this market, and this more than anything leads to their market time. But if your house is at or below market values yet you still have not had any interest in it, then perhaps looking at home staging is something that will help you sell your home more quickly.
Another good sign of a house in need of staging is one that is full of clutter (yes, by 'clutter', I mean junk). You know what I mean because you see it when you look at other peoples homes: if they have junk and personal slop all throughout the home - on the floors, on the counters, on the deck, on the beds, on the furniture -- then it is extremely off-putting and will not help sell the home. If this describes your house (and you know who you are so don't deny it) then please consider staging. Of course, since staging is usually done on an empty home, some stagers will work with your existing items and try to complement them with some of their own in order to try to pull off a good showing.
Consider renting some storage space and hauling most of your non-essentials away. Think about it this way: if you sell you home, you will have to pack it all up anyway. So, if it helps to sell the home more quickly then why not do it sooner? You could even go all the way and just move completely out. This is the way that both stagers and real estate agents prefer to work. They do not like to have you and your stuff in the way. Much easier to start from scratch because most all of the home stagers already have their matching sets of furniture and knick-knacks that they move from project to project. It only complicates matters when they are forced to work your stuff into the formula. Real estate agents don't like you to be constantly there because it makes showing the house more difficult. They want to be able to allow the buyers to arrive at their own impressions of the home without you following them around telling them how great everything is. You really just need to leave for showings and open houses.
I hate to say this, but most people have no clue when it comes to decoration or themes of a home. They put together the most unusually eclectic assortment of furniture and odds and ends. This looks really, really bad when someone is looking at your home and especially when they are trying to visualize themselves living there. People will not be able to imagine themselves in your house if it is full of clutter and/or badly decorated.
Check the prices of local stagers. Normally, it is like getting new carpet: they will want to inspect your house in order to try to get a feel for the size, style, and type of home that it is and also a general impression of the neighborhood. From this first look they will then formulate their plan of attack as far as desired furniture pairings and accents. This is the best time to talk to your potential staging company about price, time frame, and other details. The reason that you will need to discuss contracts is because you need to consider what to do if the house does not sell during the term that it is staged. Will you still owe the stager? (usually yes!). Do they make any guarantees? Find out how long they recommend to do the staging and if they offer any other perks or discounts based on our economy. Also, it is highly important that they would be available should the house sell quickly. You want to be assured that they can remove their staging stuff prior to closing so that you do not incur any liability or so that it does not impede the sale.
