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So much of it depends on the market. Here, staging might help as this has never been a hot market that people are willing to pay over asking within hours of the listing going up. Staging would help in many cases in this city. I think , in our case, having a realtor give advice as to clear out extra furniture and clutter( my wife is bad about this!) would be helpful. I will not move out a parlor sized grand piano in order to give more space ( the room is 24 x 24 anyway).
When looking at houses, I didn't need staging as I was thinking about our furniture and how it would work in that house, not somebody's "ideal" setting.
I prefer a house that is REASONABLY PRICED. If it's in need of cleaning, I can clean it. I just don't want to get my clock cleaned buying an overpriced 'bubble' house that will be underwater in 6 months.
This thread is not representative of the general buying population.
You know, Dave, Yes, I suspect that there are far more clinically, scientific means to gather opinion data, and that the potential margin of error here may be vast.
But, how does one just ignore the results?
Continually, <20% of consumers preferring staging. I am happy to see that 148 CDers offered input.
One indicator to me, though: I believe that many agents prefer staging, and that is not reflected.
But, I just do that to separate agent input from consumer input.
If I were to try to make a poll for just consumers or just agents, well, that would equal the Impossible Dream.
I prefer staged homes, but not lived in homes, if that makes sense.
Makes perfect sense. The staged furniture is brand new, without scratches or wear marks. It's usually scaled small, so it makes rooms look artificially bigger, and includes all sorts of designer-y details that a real person would never have because in real life that stuff would be in the way of things you actually use, or it would be be quickly ruined.
I think this changes the longer you look at houses. When I was first looking I admit the staged furniture helped me see how a room could be furnished. Now that we've been looking for awhile, I increasingly appreciate vacant houses.
It's funny how staging initially appealed but hasn't grown on me. I guess I've gotten good at sizing up a house without it, plus it feels just a little too manipulative for me. I tend to rebel against liking a house when I see it (especially the feel good artwork that says "home" or "this is where I want to be." Give me a break.)
Plus, I feel like the seller would pass the cost of staging on to the buyer. And there's the argument that defects can be hidden by the staging.
In a perfect world, I'd prefer an empty house to seeing the seller's furniture. I feel more comfortable lingering and really looking at a house when it's empty. But I can appreciate that people need to sell a house before they can move, so I just try to block it out and focus on the bones of the house. furniture or no furniture, It's all good.
Location: Finally the house is done and we are in Port St. Lucie!
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Another thing to consider are room shapes. If there is an odd shaped room, it helps to have the room furnished or staged to show how to functionally place furniture. If classic box shaped, no real need for staging or furnishings.
Either way, I chose the option that it didn't matter one way or the other.
I will show my age a bit here-- I am in my late 30s and my mate is in his early 30s. We both watch way too much HGTV and it has informed how we look at houses. So we kind of expect them to be staged. He is from SoCal and we looked at some properties in San Diego where 99% of them were staged.
We also buy a lot of investment/fixers and really don't care if those are staged-- the worse they look, the better for us as we can usually see more issues in a place that is empty and not cared for rather than one which has been cosmetically enhanced. But when we have been looking for our own residence, staged is more likely to get a positive reaction.
I would appreciate staging for a room that has an ambiguous purpose, or that is difficult to place furniture in, it would help define that space. Other then that I prefer empty homes
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