The Benefits of Staging When You Sell

We believe most homes should be staged before being listed for sale – in fact, we’re such strong believers that we own a staging company, complete with a giant warehouse and full-time staff, and include it as a standard part of our commission.

So why is it a good idea to consider professional staging before you list your home for sale?

Here are 5 important reasons to consider staging:

A “Fresh Eye”

Although many homeowners are reluctant to bring a stranger into their home, it’s an essential part of ensuring your home appeals to the widest range of buyers as possible.  Homeowners may not see all of the potential issues with their home or be as discriminating as a professional home stager who evaluates several homes in a day.

When stagers step through the front door of a property, they do their best to look at it through the lens of the potential buyer and find out who that buyer may be.  Is it a young professional looking for a great condo?  Busy working parents who are looking for a comfortable starter home that suits their lifestyle?  Stagers can make suggestions so that the property will appeal to whoever the buyer may be.

An Honest Opinion

A stager’s job is to be honest, frank and focused on enabling a more successful sale.  Sometimes homeowners don’t like what we have to say but when they implement our recommendations and the property sells, they are always glad they took our advice.  Because we don’t live in your home and have no emotional connection to it, it’s relatively easy to point out issues that should be dealt with prior to listing.

A cracked tile in the front hallway leads to questions as to how more important areas of the home have been maintained.  Fix it.  Leaky faucets, stained toilets, carpets, countertops, clutter, pet smells, and the list goes on and on.  It’s absolutely essential that all of these issues are dealt with.  If you don’t want to fix them, why would your buyer?  They won’t.  They will put in a lower price or walk away.

Paint Colour Choices

This is an area that so many homeowners go wrong.  Picking paint colours with peach undertones, colours that are far too dark, or no colour at all are all big mistakes.  Choosing the correct paint colour can open up a space, make it look clean and bright, more modern or feel cozy. It is the most affordable thing to do and will make the biggest impact on a property.

Professional stagers can pick wonderful colours that will appeal to everyone.  The home will look fresh and modern, and give it a “designer” look.  Trim and baseboards almost always need touching up to ensure the house looks clean and well cared for.

Furniture Arrangement

Sellers often forget that when they are selling their home, they are essentially marketing and selling a product.  When serious buyers are viewing a property, they will have their realtor with them, their partner, perhaps a parent and even their kids.  That’s a lot of people roaming through the house.  They want to access each window to look at the view and they want to be able to easily move through each room.  Stagers can help with furniture arrangement to ensure that there is space to walk around and rooms look spacious and easy to live in.

The “Wow Factor”

There is a good reason why builders of new homes invest in model homes.  The model homes are always the first ones to sell.  They sell fast because of the lifestyle and that “wow factor” is set out beautifully for buyers.  Most of us don’t live with immaculate kitchens and perfectly staged family rooms, with everything in its place, but the lifestyle that it portrays is what helps sell the property.  A pretty chair and ottoman by a window, suggests a lovely nook to read, a gorgeous bedroom with crystal lamps and immaculate bedding implies a wonderful master retreat.  Effective home staging ensures that a property has that “wow” factor and that buyers are excited to see each room and envision themselves living there.