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[CANDLEQUEEN]

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@wagirl wrote:

When I sold my house last January, the Realtor and the photographer staged it using my stuff. and then---I went after and tweaked it a bit. got the photos taken for the sale/open house and have to say, it all looked darn good. I packed up a ton of stuff before tho, so it wasn't as full. If there was a fee, which I doubt there was for that, it was so low, I don't remember even seeing an amount. The house was on the market Friday afternoon and sold Sunday a.m.---sold for $140K over asking and had 10 offers----the craziest thing I ever went thru!!!! Paid $100K to buy the land and build the house 1986. Amazing!!!

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@wagirl That is great, that they used your furnishings! I think that is best, then at least you are not paying for furnishings that they have stored away. Plus it was nice that you were able to still tweak it a bit.... 

[chrystaltree]

We are house hunting now, we've looked at about 20 homes and thise homeowners  certainly were not staged by a professional.  Some are spotlessly clean and lovely but most of the time, they have that "lived in" look.  One or two were messy.   Personally I prefer to look at houses that are empty.  A lot can be hidden and covered up by "stuff".  

[World Traveler]

Very interesting topic. 

I have watched all the Million Dollar Listings for New York and Los Angeles on T V, and they have paid around $40,000 for staging, which has helped sell those huge-roomed houses.

I am thinking of selling my home of 30 years, which I had built. At the same time I have been looking online at listings in the area I want to move. Quite honestly, the ones that are staged, which you can pretty much tell, look so much better than the ones that are not staged or are just empty rooms, which doesn't you give you the perspective of how uch you can put in them.

I cringe when I look at ones that show the clothes piled up in an area of a room, too many pieces of furniture for the room, too many personal items out that tell people too much about you, etc.

[jubilant]

I wouldn't pay the money for staging. Like others, I prefer to see empty rooms.  

[LindaSal]

It's interesting on how many people feel differently about staging.   When we sold our home a few years ago we had waited until we moved into our townhouse before putting it on the market.  We're very private people and the thought of having strangers walking through our home was a bit much for us.  Our home was extremely well taken care of and we had built it so we were the only ones who ever lived in it.  It took a while to sell, of course it was way out in the woods so the location was not pleasing to many.   Our realtor suggested staging but we didn't want to pay for that though we may have reconsidered if it stayed on the market much longer.   Myself, I am on the side of those who like to see the home empty.  As another poster mentioned, things that are wrong or need repair can easily be "covered up" so I like to see the entire place.

[Puppy Lips]

Here is my advice:  DO IT YOURSELF

We had our home staged in 2006 and it was one of the worst experiences for me.  Moving is emotional enough as it is.  But to have people come in and move things, clear things, hang things up, etc., was just too much for me.

So we left our house to let these "stagers in training" to do their thing.  Hours later I walked back in our home with ladies waiting in my foyer all staring at me, to see my shock and excitement.  I could not get them out of my house fast enough.  That was after one of them told me that she broke a decorative plate that was my Grandmother's.

Here are some of the really stupid things they did:  

* took small twigs with leaves on them from our yard and used sticky gum to stick them to our dining room wall.  When the leaves turned brown and started to fall off, I took them down.  The sticky whatever it was took the paint off and I had to touch it up.

* took albums OUT OF THEIR COVERS and stuck the album covers, with tape, onto our basment walls.  Some of the covers were ruined

*  Used permanent marker to write on plastic storage boxes I had

*  Moved some very important papers I had on my nightstand and put them in the garage, (they moved a lot of stuff to the garage).  I was in tears because I could not find them, so the realator's wife came over to help me find them.

* Then there is my Grandmother's plate that someone broke.  I did get compensated for it, but I would rather it not be broken.

I am sure there were other things, but that is all that sticks in my mind for now, as it was in 2006.

My house was not that cluttered to begin with, so it would have sold anyway.  It did eventually sell.  But I was not happy with the whole experience.  It made moving that much worse for me.

I think any homeowner, with help from friends and family, should be able to clear stuff out and rearrange things so that it is still livable for themselves, yet shows nicely to prospective buyers.

There is no way in H*ll I would ever pay to have it done.  And no way I would have it done again for free either.

This is just another "service" that is happy to take your hard earned money for something you can do on your own.

[ECBG]

I would never pay for a staging service, and doubt I could even find one here locally!  The closest those services could be found around here are the big metro cities in the middle of the state.

[faeriemoon]

I think there are a lot of factors in making that decision, but I think it is fairly common knowledge that rooms look larger when there is furniture in them.

I'd say that for the cost of staging, it really needs to pay off in the end.  

[Zhills]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

Kind of a waste of time and money in my area where homes often go under contract the day they're listed.  The inventory of homes for sale is so low and the demand is so great, nobody cares if the house is empty or furnished.

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Same here in Central Florida!  They sell faster than the Realtors can keep the ads updated!

[Knit-Chick]

We staged my parents home based on the advice of our realtor.  Price was based on the size of the home, and it was a 3-bedroom ranch, so it was reasonable.  This was before COVID and I can't say it if helped sell it quicker, but it looked great.  It wasn't overly done or filled with furniture.  I think it was especially helpful so folks could see how the rooms could be set up. It looked much more inviting vs empty.