Home Staging in the Sales Process

Home Staging is the act of preparing a home for sale using interior design techniques, adding or removing furniture, home goods and artwork to provide a stylish yet "lived in" look.

Home staging takes various forms, but is most commonly done by professional home stagers in vacant homes.   Homes that are already lived in with furniture can be staged by removing or re-arranging furniture, de-personalizing and adding artwork and other types of home goods.  Staging can be done by an experienced listing agent, a professional interior designer, or a home stager.  Occasionally home seller's just have friends with an eye for style come in and assist.  

Having staging done on a home drastically improves the likelyhood of recieving offers quickly and improves the price recieved on a home.  In current times, staging is even more critical than years ago, since most homes are photographed more extensively than in previous years due to the explosion of online marketing with the dramatic reduction of newspaper advertising.  

Choosing a home stager

Most experienced realtors have recommended staging companies and may provide some staging as a servce to the home seller.  Questions to ask a prospective home stager would be:

1.  Do you have photos of your work?

2. When is payment due?  (some take payment up front, others may accept payment at closing from the title company.

3.  What time increments are used in the staging agreement? (some stagers charge per month, others may allow for indefinate contract length to coincide with the closing.)

4.  How many homes do you stage per year?

5.  How many homes do you stage in this neighborhood?

Sometimes staging can be done by the home owner with guidance from their realtor.  Rearanging furniture, removing unused kitchen appliances, clearing out closets, opening drapes and blinds and de-personalizing the home is commonly suggested in order to make the home more attractive to prospective buyers.