Selling house-need help with furniture--staging?

[Mid America Mom]

Good luck on selling your home!

We are moving into our 4th house this month as a relocation to Denver. We have sold three places and if you ask a realtor honestly they will tell you to stage it. So even if you do not paint or add trim etc- at least have your possessions staged. You do not have to hire anyone or anything to do it.

You have to make your place SIMPLE.

1. People are not good at visualizing. It is better to give them an idea what COULD work. If the living room is a formal room you can get away with a couch and chair and side/ coffee table. If this is the room for the TV then put that plus a couch and some side or coffee table. Get a slip cover. For the bedroom you need a bed and side table OR desk OR dresser. You do not have to invest in a new comforter... a nice blanket will do. Make sure to have a pillow on it.

2. People do pay attention to decorating - more so than your lack of new paint on a wall or trim. It is amazing how much you pay attention to that instead of the BONES of a room. Remove all family pics, take down the majority of other art and mirrors, pack all knick knack (you will have to anyways!), reduce all books and bookcases, get rid of worn throw rugs and throw blankets, have no or small number of plants, have little or next to nothing on the kitchen counters (I think a coffee pot and micro are the max- get rid of cookie jars etc) clear all the stuff from on top of and on the refrigerator door, and remove most things from the soffit area of the kitchen , and for the bathroom get things off the back of the toilet and off the counters and put out the guest towels.

I probably could list more but that should help.

3. Though some tell you to clear the garage and basement storage areas... you really do not need to clear it out. People understand and all of us do it. Now if that room could qualify you for a visit by the producers of Hoarders - at least organize it and maybe get rid of some of it.

4. A cleared room versus others does stand out. People wonder what is up- why is it different? No money to decorate? Instead they should be visualizing how they can live there.

Hopefully you find this helpful. Just reply if you have other questions.

Mid America Mom

[MaryleeII]

Well, I disagree with "staging".

For one thing, its terribly expensive. Many furniture companies rent packages, along with coordinated accessories, but it costs thousands! No joke---for a small house, basic package, could run about $800-$1000/month, with a 3 mo minimum, and then there's a delivery/pick up fee, deposit, etc.

We had our house on the market to rent for 3 months, no offers. It was completely empty.

I "staged" it by adding a few accessories here and there, mostly bought at Goodwill (all in new condition):

First, keep window coverings, for security as well as asthetics

then, in each room I put something, a few pictures, plants, in the kitchen I put a teapot on a trivet, a tray with some glasses, a throw rug in front of the fireplace, a mirror above the fireplace, you get it

Especially the bathrooms, without anything at all they look scary! I put in shower curtains, towel set, some scented soaps, make it look like people will live here, not an institution

Also, leave the utilities turned on--we live in TX, usually hot as blazes! Keep the ac running, otherwise the house will quickly develop a musty smell But, do get one of those lock box things that goes over the theromostat control, then keep it set fairly high, about 79. that's enough to keep it from getting musty and dank in there, and still feels fairly cool, but realtors are notorious for turning the AC down to show then forget to turn it back up when they leave (bet they don't forget their own AC)

Realtors NEVER turn off a light behind them, just get used to it. They can turn a light on, but can't turn it off. that can quickly run up a bill---but there again, its your bill, not the agent's. Defend yourself by installing low-energy lights, or sometimes you can get a timer to turn the lights off automatically, but usually too expensive, just let the lights run. It can help if you can enlist the aid of a neighbor who can go over and turn things off at night, we did that, it saved us a fortune.

Also, install outside lighting that automatically comes on at night. many houses are shown at night, it helps when driving up to see a house that looks lit up and inviting. Also a security feature.


I don't think you necessarily have to completely furnish a house to show it, just little touches here and there to make it feel inviting. Walk through your house and ask if it feels inviting, or cold and lonely. You don't want the house to have that abandonded feel.

Oh, also, a good air freshner helps, nothing overpowering, vanilla is a nice, cozy scent, get one of those plug in things with the fan

BTW, after I did my little touch ups at my house, it rented in a week!

[Cupcake77]

Some staging companies have furniture that is slightly on a smaller scale. Makes the rooms look bigger and you really don't notice it when you walk through the house.