Staging is Critical

Selling a home in this market requires more than a "for sale" sign. Competition is fierce, and if you want to get the best offers and sell quickly, home staging is essential. Staging involves cleaning, decluttering and undecorating a home in ways that appeal to most buyers. It's crucial to "appeal to the masses."



A summary of the results of HomeGain's national survey, based on the ten areas of home improvement identified by real estate agents in HomeGain's survey. They are listed from the highest to lowest returns on investment. You will see that many of the items gaining the biggest return on investment deal with home staging and are quite economical.

The key to prepare a house for the market is to not confuse home staging with decorating. Decor is an expression of style. It's looking at the things that you like: momentos from trips, pictures, etc. Staging is setting up a house to look like a home, anyone's home, while giving a guest a welcoming and warm feeling. Staging is about selling your house.

There are many things an Accredited Staging Professional, such as myself, will assist with but before we enter a home, two of the biggest things that you can do are cleaning and de-cluttering.

Cleaning is not only picking things up off of the floor, the house should be 'Q-tip clean'. Over the years I have showed many wonderful properties that ended up sitting on the market far longer than they should have because they were not clean. It leaves a bad impression on a buyer. All the little nicks and dents, dust, stains, etc., add up in a buyers eye.

De-cluttering helps to show space. I constantly remind my sellers that we are selling floor space and wall space. That being said, all spaces count...that includes inside of closets, cabinets, the basement, garage, etc. Having all of your belongings in view creates a visual waste. Grab a bunch of boxes and pack away all of the items you will not immediately need. Look around where you are currently sitting, how many items do you see that you haven't touched in more than one week?! Those things can be packed away. I've found sellers are able to clear out at least 1/2 of their closets. One key to remember when decluttering every room is to keep all horizontal surfaces as clean and clear as possible...and keep the end goal in site, which is to move. By de-cluttering you are already preparing for moving day!

When it is time to stage, ASPs have a trained eye for how to prep each room in the house. ASPs know how to accent a room to show it off. Whether there is a budget or not, we can do a lot. I feel extremely fortunate to have gone through ASP training and have definitely seen the impact staging provides.