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Being in the business staging is a good idea and it works BUT it can be costly and difficult to justify.
The number one path to a fast sale is to have your home clean, uncluttered and with no glaring problems. My wife and I own our own Real Estate business and we are very hands on to the point of helping our sellers rearrange their own furniture for staging purposes. Perhaps your agent is friends with the stager which is the case in many instances but $2300 WOW seems like alot.
If I were you I would take a look at your home through a buyers eyes. The more of a blank slate the better.
Good luck
I wonder about depersonalizing. A few years ago I sold a home in a mountain area about fifty miles from Denver. The realtor had a couple who were interested but they could only come at 9:00 AM. When they arrived there was a strong smell of recent breakfast and we offered them coffee and homemade sweet rolls. Our dogs greeted them and our little 9# dog immediately jumped into the woman's lap. Although the realtor seemed ill at ease the people liked it. Our prospective buyers ended up staying more than four hours and missed their plane. Before they left we had settled on the price and shaken hands. Most of the time we were outside the house as this was a beautiful place with extraordinary views. They were enchanted by a spring that fed a tiny creek.
These people were only the third ones to see the place and it had been on the market less than a week. A home stager probably would have vomited. I suspect that an impersonal place might work in a subdivision but would be imprudent in other places. The realtor told me that I should have left the selling to her which seemed rather silly as we got more than we had anticipated.
I wonder about depersonalizing. A few years ago I sold a home in a mountain area about fifty miles from Denver. The realtor had a couple who were interested but they could only come at 9:00 AM. When they arrived there was a strong smell of recent breakfast and we offered them coffee and homemade sweet rolls. Our dogs greeted them and our little 9# dog immediately jumped into the woman's lap. Although the realtor seemed ill at ease the people liked it. Our prospective buyers ended up staying more than four hours and missed their plane. Before they left we had settled on the price and shaken hands. Most of the time we were outside the house as this was a beautiful place with extraordinary views. They were enchanted by a spring that fed a tiny creek.
These people were only the third ones to see the place and it had been on the market less than a week. A home stager probably would have vomited. I suspect that an impersonal place might work in a subdivision but would be imprudent in other places. The realtor told me that I should have left the selling to her which seemed rather silly as we got more than we had anticipated.
There is depersonalization and then there is warmth. People often take too much stuff down and make their home sterile as a result. Yes, the naked woman poster needs to go as does the ginormous cross and doll collection. You don't have to pull down every family photo though. Sometimes people have family photos beautifully displayed and we often leave those up for homes where the likely buyer is a family. It just depends. You want the home to appear warm and welcoming.
While there are agents that can stage, most can't. I can get a seller 75% of the way there, but my stager is just amazing. I pay for her services most of the time though, but I don't do open houses so it all works out in my marketing budget.
Clean the house to within an inch of its life, declutter, and fix everything that isn't working. That's all the staging you need to do.
That is it. This is the advise that works.
The house will sell exactly the same way with or with out the stager, if you declutter, fix everything and shine everything. Think of it as detailing your home, like detailing a car?
...While decluttering is really important, most people don't have nice art and decor since they actually live in their homes. ...
What? This is such an odd statement. Not really sure what you mean.... the only people who HAVE nice art and decor DON'T live in their homes???
At any rate, when I interviewed realtors, only one mentioned a stager, and had a brochure in the packet that she left with me. The realtor I hired said don't change a thing -- I was ready to show.
Why? I had already watched a gazillion shows on HGTV about staging. I got it. I moved out half my stuff and all of my clutter (the ONE advantage to purchasing before selling), painted what needed painting, and cleaned everything. Only thing I bought were new kitchen curtains, hand towels for the bath room, and a few plants.
The best compliment I got was by way of a neighbor -- she had the exact same sized house, but noticed how nice and fresh mine looked, not to mention roomy. When she sold her house, I noticed from the pics that she rented a POD, and decluttered to the point where you couldn't even tell that she had 2 active boys at home. It really looked nice, and her home sold quickly.
I honestly can't think of ANY homes that I looked at from either my first or second purchase that were staged. None. I was savvy enough to look at room sizes and layout, bypassing the outdated decor and wallpaper. Easily changed. There was only one house that was so horribly cluttered, it was difficult to tell how big the room was or what the layout of the "finished" basement was -- they had so many clothes hanging on all the pipes! That house was a trip, but it also sold.
I don't understand using a "stager"......just make your property as welcoming as possible!
Sold my home myself x 2. Got a fireplace? Have a fire going....something wonderful on stove ie cinnamon, if you still live there.
Otherwise...a few house plants, maybe towels in bathrms, leave a pretty shower curtain...a set of curtains...blooming flowers in pots outside...a table or two.
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Bingo
