Is Staging Really All That Important?

The following is a guest blog, written by my seller, Robin Anderson.  I believe you will find this blog entry entertaining, enlightening and informative!  Thank you so much, Robin, for contributing to my Blog!  Readers, enjoy!

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So… several months ago, I hired a personal trainer to help me get in shape.  He was highly recommended by friends, I’d seen the results of his work, and I wanted to have what THOSE people had.

It turns out, he wasn’t so great after all.  Get this: He wanted me to work out on my own on days when I wasn’t in his studio.  Seriously!  He wanted me to do these exercises that made my muscles ache.  Was he insane?  There was this one exercise called “planking” that flat-out made my entire body tremble after about 15 seconds.   Clearly, this guy did not have a clue what he was doing!   After spending two one-hour sessions with him… and seeing NO results… I realized I knew more than he did about fitness, and I quit.

I know what you’re thinking.  He was the expert… not me.  I had to put in some effort on my own, but I wasn’t willing to do what he recommended.  It wasn’t so much about HIM making me fit as it was about a partnership where we worked together for me to get myself into better shape.  And I wasn’t being much of a partner.

It’s the same with your realtor.  Your realtor will make suggestions to get your house “in shape” for showings.  It’s called STAGING.  Your realtor KNOWS what buyers want, and can help you catch the eye of the buyers who might be looking at your house.

As a seasoned buyer (I have made several moves in my lifetime), I have learned to look beyond clutter, and paint color, and dog hair, and that leaky faucet in the shower… but I’m not the average buyer.  The average buyer wants to walk into a home and say, “I could live here RIGHT NOW.  This home is inviting and warm and well maintained.”  Your realtor can help you make your home THAT home.

But you need to be part of the partnership.  Maybe you can’t repaint the house or replace the carpet, but you can clean the smudges off of the walls and vacuum before showings.  Maybe you can’t rent “perfect” furniture to place in your home, but you can remove clutter and rearrange the furniture you do have to help the rooms flow with traffic patterns… AND to make them more inviting.  Maybe you can’t replace window coverings, but you can clean the windows to have a clear view of the outside and let in those rays of sunshine.  And those dirty dishes in the sink… really?????

Is all of this work at staging your home going to make your home worth more money?  Probably not.  But out of all of the houses available on the market, it WILL make your home stand out from the others.  When the buyer narrows down to their final two or three choices, you want YOUR home to be the one they remember as being warm, inviting, and ready to move-in.

Listen to your realtor.  Let them help you to do the things you CAN do, and put in the extra work on your own to make your home the one that stands out.  (But I would still avoid like crazy anything that includes “planking.”)