Whats up everyone
Today we’re going to talk about the pros and cons of staging your house when you’re selling it. More importantly, I’m going to show you before and after pics of a home I sold and let you decide if you think its worth it.
I have a lot of thoughts about staging and besides the cost, its a no brainer to me, the house will look so much better, the pictures are better and buyers will like it better- so of course you should always stage your home. But then, there is the cost and a lot of sellers don’t want to spend the money, and I get that, – so we need to weigh that in to see if it’s worth it.
Lets dive right in
In this HGTV world, the more your home pops, the more views it will get. The more views, the more activity and hopefully the more money in your pocket. And thats the point of it all.
There are 2 ways to stage.
One is with your own furniture. This usually is more decluttering, removing big pieces and adding some cute touches.
I always bring fresh flowers for the kitchen, usually sunflowers or tulips, and fresh orchids for the bathrooms and entry way. I’ll also add some cute towels, soaps, candles and table settings to create an elegant vibe.
Now, I need to preface that if your furniture is old and dated, staging with your furniture may not work. So if you’re selling grandmas house and you may love her furniture, but your realtor is advising on emptying the house and staging it, there is usually a reason for that. Dated furniture makes a house look dated. So keep that in mind.
The good thing about using your own furniture doesn’t cost you money and is effective, esp with professional photography. It does take time though so you need to be prepared to do the work. This isn’t a last minute project.
Some of the most frequently asked questions are:
“where do I put my stuff that I’m removing from shelves or the bigger pieces of furniture”.
There are 2 answers, both fine.
1- if taking with you, box up and put neatly in garage or rent a pod
2- if not, donate, discard, sell (fb marketplace)
“How do I know how much to remove from the shelves?”
If you are working with a realtor, they will advise you but the short answer is think in 3s. If you have a surface with a lot of stuff on it, whether it’s a book shelf or coffee table, usually 3 things will do it.
And if your couch is looking tired, try getting some bright pillows and a throw from homegoods or amazon to lighten it up.
I have a couple of gorgeous homes on the market right now, well, they’re actually under contract, but I can show you some pics where the sellers did just that. Decluttered. Added some candles in the bathroom and fresh orchids and removed some of the bigger pieces.
The next way to stage is an empty house. This does cost money but honestly I think you get way more out of it than the money you put into it.
And you don’t need to stage the whole house!
*main living level
*primary bedroom
Cute stuff for the bathrooms.
And maybe the basement but usually not.
Take a look at this house I sold in Bethesda. It was a super cute house in a great location and my sellers had already moved out. When a house is empty, it looks smaller. The rooms will always look smaller empty.
Let’s start with the family room. Nice windows. Floors were ok. The house was built in 1940 and only 1658 sq ft. Now look at it staged. The rug brightens it up, the staged furniture shows the new buyers how they could live in the space. Where to put the tv. I love the bright blue pillows and the pop of red flowers. The room comes to life.
Moving onto the living room. All we did was all a few chairs, a rug, some plants and once again created a pop of color on the fireplace mantel. The mirror was a brilliant idea as it made the room feel bigger.
The dining room was pretty small so we didn’t want to overwhelm it with a big table. Remember this is to create space. The art work and orchid created an elegant vibe.
Onto the office. What a difference. It shows how to use the space and that you are able to fit a desk and a few chairs. I think it looks great!
Finally the primary bedroom. These bedrooms in the older homes are really small so adding the bed with side tables and the tv makes it appear bigger and nice.
Even the most beautiful, expensive brand new construction home will look smaller empty. Thats why they are usually staged.
We transformed this little empty house into a super cute warm inviting home. All for $2600. And we ended up with 9 offers and almost 100k over the asking price. Def worth the $2600!
So about the cost. I would always suggest getting a couple of quotes to compare but like I said previously, I really don’t think you need to stage the entire house. So around here, it would cost approx $2500 -$5000 to stage the rooms we spoke about- it just depends on how big the house is. This price is usually for 2 months and then there is an additional cost per month after that.
Remember photos are the buyers first impression and may be the deciding factor on whether they choose to see your home.
So I’m curious to your thoughts. Do you think it’s worth it? I 100% do!!
Check out 10 Things To REMOVE From Your House When Selling Your Home next!