<p>I am selling the house. The Realtor proposed to stage the house, quotes range from $6000 to $3500. What would be the ultimate selling price between staging vs. not staging? Is it worth the cost?</p>
<p>Your experiences or comments please?</p>
<p>Who is the likely market for the house?</p>
<p>The Realtor</p>
<p>Who is your target market? Is it ‘move up’ older buyers? Is it first time buyers? Is it a duplex or multi-unit - investor buyers? Is it families with children? </p>
<p>Is it a high-end area? Low end area? Asking price range is also an indicator of whether it should be staged or not. If you can share the demographics I could help with your decision</p>
<p>Also, there are many realtors who include staging in their services. Once you have made your decision on staging, you might have to change realtors - but you probably don’t want to do that. There are only a few rooms that need to be staged</p>
<p>It is a large deluxe duplex penthouse condo(4&5th floor), 3bd 3ba with a 500sf patio and a 2nd story loft upscale downtown area with Hospital and doctors surrounded. There is no age restrictions, but it is targeted to empty nester and up to down size from $2-5 million dollar homes. The complex is gated, very nice.</p>
<p>It also depends on what’s customary for your town/city/suburb. I sold a house in a small market – small town, rural state – where no one stages their house. Staging is a foreign concept. I bought in a neighborhood where I’d guess maybe 25% of the homes are staged. There were many houses filled with the owner’s photos, overflowing shelves and closets – and if the house was well-priced and had a good layout and didn’t need a lot of work, it sold quickly at a good price. The house I bought was totally empty – not a stick of furniture in it – and there were three offers within four days of going on the market.</p>
<p>A friend of mine spent a lot of money – I think more than you were quoted – on staging her house, plus doing some fixing up. Even after lowering the price three times, the house is still on the market 6 months later. She still insists the staging was necessary; I wonder if it really made a difference. </p>
<p>I’d say if comparable homes use a staging company it would be worth it. As a frequent home buyer (I hope I’m done now!!) a well staged, uncluttered home with professional photos and a virtual tour online were very important to me. I staged my own homes with the help of friends and a very talented sister and we always had good luck selling our homes. </p>
<p>When we sold two properties a while back, we fixed one destroyed cabinet and replaced carpets throughout the home, painted and put new shower curtains and cute soaps and towels hanging in the bathroom. Both places sold to the first family that walked in to tour! We didn’t formally “stage,” but did what we and realtor believed was necessary for the properties to be marketable. Since we fixed both at the same time, we got a deal on the carpet tear out and installation, plus painting.</p>
<p>Around here, I don’t think most folks bother with staging. Our market is pretty “hot,” and properties that are properly priced tend to move well. Vanilla, baked cookies and bread tend to be “inviting” aromas. Having all the stuff out and no or minimal furniture is a big plus–makes things look much more spacious.</p>
<p>Self-staging may be all that is needed. This means a lot of decluttering. I remember one house we looked at where only the couple lived but all closets were jammed with hanging clothes and the rest of the house cluttered (plus all of the wallpaper…).</p>
<p>How fast do homes in your area sell? Will it make a difference in time on the market/selling price? I wouldn’t be surprised if it is more to the benefit of the stagers and reputation of the realtor to stage. The realtor may not want to be dealing with your quality of furnishings- it may be beneath the client level she wants to be seen dealing with. Potential homeowners want to visualize their stuff. Is your realtor trying to tell you your furniture isn’t good enough for your building? Well, guess what, any future owner who can afford what you can could be similar to you.</p>
<p>Is this the right agent for you? Is staging needed to be instep with your market? Perhaps to imply wealth and hence a higher price? I might add that many physicians won’t be impressed with the furnishings- they may be rich enough to afford your place and like the location but aren’t typically big into seeing ostentatious decorating (physician couple here- some, especially wives, fit the “high society” model but many do not).</p>
<p>Staging makes a huge differences in photographs, and many (most?) buyers prescreen on Realtor.com, Zillow and other sites. It’s irrational, but it is hard to see beyond clutter and dated furniture in photos. And it is hard to get a sense of scale from photos of unfurnished places. </p>
<p>On the other hand, when you are talking about a condo complex, many potential buyers will be generally familiar with the range of units available and staging may be less important.</p>
<p>Depending on the price of the property, you may be able to get the realtor to agree to pay for the staging as part of the marketing expenses. In my area, the scope of marketing – and the amount of money the realtor intends to spend on marketing – are hotly negotiated items in the competitions for listings. </p>
<p>The best way to answer this question would be to go on Realtor.com and look at properties in your area at a similar price point. Sort by price high to low and scroll through listings within a $200k price bracket of your place. How will the photos of your place compare? You could take some photos of your place without staging to get a good sense of what your place will look like. </p>
<p>One of the two properties we sold had a tenant and the other was vacant. The vacant one looked very spacious with no furniture and no “stuff.” I actually wanted to keep it and move there but H was adamant that he wanted to live in a different neighborhood (where we happily purchased). I never saw the interior of the one that was occupied by the tenant.</p>
<p>If you have nice furnishings, why can’t you stage it yourself? Many Realtors help with this…advice, etc. </p>
<p>Sometimes all you have to do is rent a storage unit to remove any “extra stuff” you have to make the place seem more spacious. </p>
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<p>Great advise! I have reviewed all the comparable sold condos and MOST of them in our area had nice furniture, either self staged or staged by professionals.</p>
<p>We did not have the right furniture for staging, therefore, we have already stripped the house and based on what I saw, it has to be staged.</p>
<p>So,stage it. It doesn’t need to be filled. Do you have things that you can use from your own home that will work?</p>
<p>It’s definitely important to be uncluttered. Is the place currently empty? Or does it still have your furniture?</p>
<p>The ones in our area that sell quickly have had all cosmetics and repairs done and are staged. The staging can include some items from owner and some from stager depending on condition and quality. The difference is stunning. Staged house sold in less than a month at top price. Not staged on the market 6 months and were discounted. </p>
<p>The agent did the staging for my in-law’s condo as part of the commission. It had multiple offers and sold in a week.
Having some furnishings in there made all the difference. (It was a condo in a desirable area, marketed to empty nesters. Completely updated by my husband prior to going on the market.)</p>
<p>As I said, we have stripped the house and only mattresses have left in the house.</p>
<p>I have done all the cosmetics, New every thing, paint, carpet, floor, appliances, led lighting. Everything cosmetics were done professionally. We spent a whole day just to make sure all appliances were perfectly installed. </p>