Our real estate agent arranged for a stager to come in. She spent about 2.5 hours with us walking through the house and giving advice.

It was very helpful. We had already done the cleaning and decluttering, so she focused on the details, such as how to position the blinds, removing a chair from the living room, adding color to the kitchen.

The realtor we used to sell an empty house decorated it completely (paint, window treatments, furniture, landscaping, artwork). The decorating and staging was included as part of the standard 6% fee, but she also arranged all the work we had done (drywall, painting, installing appliances, etc.) and I'm sure got some kind of kickback. I think it was worth it; the house sold within a week for over the asking price. At the settlement, the buyer complimented me on how pretty the house looked.

I staged it myself using 2 themes. A lot of thought went into it. House attracts more women then men though. Real pretty. Lots of compliments and I have had several buyer's agents that keep bringing in additional prospects.

No clutter, no toasters, no pictures, hanging ornaments etc. One room color complements the next space.

It is also a balancing act between pricing and weaknesses.

I just submitted this message to another member. I hope it can help you too!

I did quite a bit of research on staging sites and took pieces and parts of many. The one thing I did that I did not see anywhere was to start with one room, which was mentioned, but then take everything out (excluding heavy furniture)and only put back in what was model nice. I did move a few items from one room to another to help also.
Anything I did not put back in the room either went to charity, the trash, or in storage to see if I really wanted it once we did move. I will be surprised to see what of that I really need or want!!

Once I did those steps it was wonderful. Our house is on the market now (3 weeks) and we constantly have compliments, including a couple of people asking if some of the furniture can be negotiated. We have had 2 couples want the house, but both have to sell their homes first, but I said no sell continencies!!

If you would like to see some of what I did I have included my video link below. I wish you well and much luck!

http://www.obeo.com/Public/Viewer/Default.aspx?ID=241392

Good question and good topic.

Wow, even though I like my realtor, graywings and Harriet, you both sound like you have especially good ones. Of course, it also helps that Harriet had an empty house and that graywings had already done all the hard work. ;]

I went to an open house in an adjacent neighborhood to mine a couple of weekends ago, and it was a mix of staging and no staging. What I mean is, there were plenty of personal effects around, and the furniture and decorating weren't minimalist, but everything was probably 150% tidier and streamlined than it was when they were actually living there (they had already partly moved into their new house). According to the realtor, they had done most of their staging, so to speak, in the kitchen. They had pretty glass front cabinets, and she said they had culled a lot of stuff from them and from the tops of the cabs. I think they painted them white, too. The house had several serious offers above the asking price and had only been on the market for 2 weeks. The realtor heaved a sigh and said, "It's wonderful when you have clients who actually do what you tell them to do."

One thing about all the personal effects was that they sort of made you wish you were that couple. Probably because the house was dreamy, if small. It had a to-die-for Tuscany-esque terraced downsloping patio (or series of patios?) out the back. The word charming comes to mind, but it was more than charming. And the realtor said the couple liked the back so much they got married there. They had a son, and his room was sweet. Basically, I wished I was them: living in that house with those clean white cabinets and the Tuscan outdoors and the raised beds in front and the long, long row of plain black photo albums labeled "Seychelles, 1996;" "Italy, 1997;" "Romania, 1998;" etc.

Newjerseybt, you said it was a balancing act of pricing and weaknesses. This was a rather small house, at least by most people's standards. Just barely 1000 sf, one floor, 2 small bedrooms, and only 1 bath. There was a den space off to the side of the LR (bigger than the 2 bedrooms), but I suppose that could be a third bedroom. But this is L.A., so having that gorgeous outdoor space makes up for a lot. It was priced, I feel, really well, I think 725k, and as I said, the realtor said the offers were above that price. I could've easily imagined it listed at 899k (though it probably wouldn't have sold for that much).

(BTW, I should mention, I don't live in the L.A. of movies and television; I live on the lesser-known "bohemian" side of the city, the eastern side.)

I guess if the home has nice-enough features, it's got to be clean and tidy, but maybe not entirely staged.

My next-door neighbor, OTOH, who is doing a FSBO, staged her heart out. But here we're talking about my neighborhood, which is at the bottom of a hill, and is more of a mixed bag. Many of the homes were built in the '20s as weekend or summer houses, and they range from 450-750 sf. (Yes, you read that right.) Mine is 544 (!), but my neighbor's is somewhat less than that. Also, they're generally not much to look at from the outside. They started out as wood sided, I believe, but at one point people stuccoed them. It's not a terribly nice stucco, either.

She moved every stitch of furniture out into storage. (I think she uses a sleeping bag--or...well, I don't know where or how she sleeps, to be quite honest.) She painted everything white. She put a few mirrors up on the main facing wall as you enter. She typed up a flowery description of every room and/or space and what kind of relaxing times you might have there and affixed it to the wall of that space. She does the cookies and fragrant hot cider thing at all of her openings. She also has plenty of bottles of wine on ice in the sink! (First time I've seen that, and I think, with some reservations, that it's probably a good idea.)

And then with the small back area, which isn't much to look at, she really went all out, with a couch (used and kind of lumpy, but still with a touch of that shabby chic going on)
and a table with a flowered tablecloth and place settings for two with wine and water glasses and candles and a thick, romantic bouquet of roses in the center.

Whew. I admire her very much, but she is a very energetic Type-A person, and I think she also enjoys doing these kinds of things. It would take a lot out of me to do all that.

Oh, two other things about what she did: 1) she goes to the downtown L.A. flower market every week when they open it to the public and buys tons of roses and other flowers at cost or better. (Did I mention there were vases of flowers in every nook and cranny?) 2) to help with cleaning and painting and weeding and gardening, she gets day laborers from Home Depot. My friend calls her "the Little General" now, because you could hear her out there barking orders at them all day long in the weeks before she listed it.

Ok. Now I have to check if all of that makes sense and then get back to some of my stuff. bleah.

mh

We're in the process of fixing up our house and this weekend I'll be packing up about 50% of our stuff and putting it into storage. I have a list of the furniture I'm removing as well as how I'll rearrange the remaining furniture throughout the house. For instance, our king bed in the master is going into storage and we're moving in the Queen bed from the guest room. This will make the master appear bigger. The guest room will then get the double bed that is in the kids' room - also making that room appear larger. By removing the double from the kids room I will be left with a toddler bed and a crib - making THAT room look even larger. Daybed in the attic will go into storage.

All bookcases except one are going into storage. 1/2 of all dressers are going into storage. 1/2 of all clothes are going into storage. 90% of books, cds and dvds are going into storage. 90% of family photos will be packed away. 75% of children's toys will be packed away. The smaller of two living room sofas is going into storage. The large coffee table goes into storage and a cedar chest will act on it's behalf in the duration.

I'm confident that those things along will help sell the house. We're also doing minor fixes here and there - painting over the personal colors (not everyone likes bright peach in their guest bedroom), refinishing the deck, painting the back fence, greening up the lawn, planting new flowers in the garden, etc. It's a lot of hard work but I know it'll be worth it in the end because the house will look spacious despite it's modest size (1885 sq ft) and well kept after all this work we're putting into it.

In May '04 we had our home staged by our realtor's on-staff interior designers (he paid). That was during the height of the market (Silicon Valley). Our house listed on Friday and we evaluated eight offers the following Friday (sold for 15% above the asking price, seven figures). Even in a frenzied market, it truly helped sell our house for more.

In today's market, if you or your realtor can swing it (pay to have it done), I'd say absolutely go for it. If you have the knack yourself, go for it. There is so much info out there now about how to do it, it's a shame more people aren't doing it to help sell their homes (especially the ones sitting on the market for months now).

'Smoke & Mirrors'...(Stageing) like a Model Home, is what captures the buyer. They envision themselves in the home, and if they really like it,they want that look for themselves. I've sold three homes, one on my own, by word of mouth, in 1 day!!...The wife, wanted to purchase almost everything I owned and I did sell her quite a bit.(That house was also featured in an article about home apraisals). The other two homes, I sold thru realtors, and they both sold within a week. I did ALL the 'staging' myself..My husband and I are both in the design field, and have also done a lot of remodeling. We have that 'eye' for what looks good. I've had many friends and family, over the years ask me to come to their homes, to 'give them some ideas'..Many people do have trouble working with what they have, or even with a clean slate! My daughter, sold Three homes...ALL on her own...The first house sold in a week...and the other two homes, sold on the day she had her open house. She did ALL the staging ( I guess it runs in the family)...and NOW, is in the process of doing it professionally for some Real Estate Agencies. It is SO important to DECLUTTER your house, and CREATE a warm and inviting atmosphere. where everyone who enters...just LOVES what they see, and want that LOOK too. You must present an atmosphere, that when they come into your home and love what they see...AND if your house has all the OTHER elements that they want and need in the house, the 'staging' part Seals The Deal!... Most every time a prospective buyer walks thru a home, the first thing they remark about is how nice or how terrible the house is decorated, or how I couldn't tell how big the rooms actually were, because of ALL THE JUNK around!! That's what causes a 'distraction' FROM the house itself..it's Human Nature.. So, if your home has been on the market for a while, esp now that there is a slowdown, and there will be many competitors...you've got to ask yourself 'WHY'...and either you look at it with a fresh eye...or have a professional do it... It's worth the extra money. MTC

Like all the others who have responded to your post, I believe that staging (if done properly) can make a real difference in how quickly your home sells, and for what price. But to get a little more specific than they did...

* Bathrooms really have to sparkle! If you can only manage one major project before getting your house ready for the market, retile the master bath if it's grungy! Buyers will forgive most anything quicker than baths that don't look clean.

* The kitchen is the second most important area. Since a complete reno is not cost-effective in most cases, focus on bright (add some lighting!) and clean.

* Everyone knows to declutter, so I won't dwell on that except to say that cabinets and closets and kitchen drawers should be *very* neatly organized. Don't empty them. That's a turn-off -- and too obvious if you have limited storage space. People need to see that a reasonable amount of stuff will fit in.

* The best thing you can do is take a totally fresh approach. Empty each room completely, scrub it to a faretheewell, then put stuff back one item at a time, beginning with the larger pieces of furniture. Evaluate after each addition. Add accessories very carefully. Be ruthless in 'editing'. Remember that you're not trying to fill the space up -- you're trying to make it look as good as possible. Better a little bare than overdone!

* Pretend you're a guest in your own home. Sit where you don't normally sit. You might see a spot that badly needs dusting, realize that the furniture placement is all wrong, etc.

* Flowers and plants are such a cheap, wonderful 'fix'! Stick lots of annuals in your beds, put a plant with glossy dark green leaves in the bath, and fill a couple of vases with fragrant cut flowers. It will look sensational and, unlike scented candles, nobody is going to gag or suspect you of trying to hide odors.

* Turn on all the lights after dark, drive away and then come back home. How does it look? Truly serious prospects are just as excited about the possibility of buying your home as you are about selling it. They *will* cruise by at night, often accompanied by their parents or their best friends. If somebody in the back seat says, "Oh, wow, it looks totally awesome!", you are much more likely to make the sale. Outdoor lighting is relatively cheap. And it pays huge dividends!

* Last, but not least, I fall into the minority when it comes to color. White is blah, and beige is the pits. People buy personality, imho!

You're free to reject that last piece of advice -- but I think the rest applies to most situations.

Best of luck in selling quickly and painlessly!

This reminds me of the day I met the new owners of a house in our neighborhood. The seller had done his own brand of staging: He painted all the walls and baseboards nice neutral colors, but just up to the edges of heavy pieces of furniture. It must have been an "interesting" walk-through.

chisue - Now that is way to funny!!

I'm in the middle of this process with my fiance, as we're preparing his condo to go on the market. I agree with what's been said above about the emotional aspect of people's decision; we feel that whatever we do to inspire that 'wow this is a nice place' feel with buyers will bring in more $. I also am starting to think about what I'll need to do to get my house ready to sell (ideally it will go on the market next spring).

I ordered a couple of books; I really liked the Designed to Sell book. The other book I purchased (by someone who does a lot of home staging seminars) was so-so; the general principles were good, but the specific suggestions for decorative accents, etc., all would inspire a reaction of 'that's not very stylish' in my area, so would have the opposite effect than one wants when staging to sell.

I am a wreck about staging my house. What do you think about having a few rooms empty? I never really got to set them up and I am afraid if I just put a hodge podge of furniture they will look funny.

Personally, we'd prefer to look at an empty house, or one with as little as possible in it, rather than a staged house. I'd suggest saving the money and clearing out as much as possible. It's easier to visualize how OUR stuff would fit if some stager's stuff isn't in there, and we always wonder if furniture, art, etc. is hiding defects.

The less in the house, the better.

That is kind of what I am thinking. The rooms that are "done" make sure they are decluttered. The rooms that aren't, or are being used as storage, move it all in to offsite storage. We did have a bunch of rooms painted. they looked so dingy and were just primer on sheetrock. We are also taking care of a bunch of small projects that never got finished. I guess that is not really staging though....

As noted in another post, we got a contract 6 days after listing. We had spent 54-55 days prepping the house. Our Prime Directive in prepping was: Remove the Hurdles.
In the last year and a half, figuring we'd be selling in the next five years, I had replaced the window treatments in the master bedroom, living room and dining room. The sun porch got new flooring and a paint job, plus we added window treatments for color. One bedroom got new carpeting and a paint job.
In January, the kitchen was rehabbed - new counters, sink and faucet, built-in microwave (replacing countertop mw), added tile backsplash plus new flooring. And paint job. Friends said we were crazy to spend the money but my view was to remove the hurdles. It was awful before. We also had the contractor replace 3 light fixtures upstairs.
In March Husband was laid off, so moving out became immediate rather than near-future goal. Family photo wall was de-photo'd, holes patched and painted along with rest of hallway. Another small bedroom was painted.
He installed new vanity and faucet in our one bathroom, and regrouted the tile. We replaced the shower curtain. Cleaned and cleaned. Added toe moulding to the master BR. Painted window trim to freshen. Planted annuals outside, trimmed hedges, replaced newly dead shrub. Repaired trelliswork under deck. Painted the deck. Painted front door and the stoop, painted side door and its frame. Repaired mullions on glass door and painted. Patched 2 problematic concrete areas outside.
Removed and/or sold several pieces of furniture. Many bags of garbage went to the curb as we cleared out. Shipped stuff to daughter. We touch-up painted "divets" in the woodwork throughout the house. Practically emptied the basement utility space.
After all the decluttering and clearing of countertops in the kitchen, we decided it looked a bit naked. But then came Mother's Day and a nice plant. Voila!

I have another hint that helped me as I got our house ready. Take digital photos of rooms when you think they're right. It showed me there were still too many decorative items in the LR, for instance. I kept at it until the photos finally looked right (and then gave them to my agent for the multi-list site). Our house was in pretty good shape, but I made sure to repaint any window sills that were in need, touched up dings in the woodwork, and repaired any minor problems I saw (water mark on the wood floor, for instance) and had the carpet freshly shampooed. For us, the yard and landscaping sold it and the newly redone kitchen and bath didn't hurt. No one balked at the wallpaper (which had been one of my major concerns) or some other major downsides to the house, itself. We had four offers by the first afternoon for over the asking price. This is a slow, slow market here, but our house had some things that set it apart from the rest. One last thing that has kept me from buying some homes that might have been otherwise o.k....cheap materials, such as fiberglass tub surrounds & tubs, really cheap vinyl floors, kitchen cabinets or fixtures. I've always remodeled frugally, but never let it look that way.

Hi all -

We had our home staged and it sold in 26 days for a good price. I also did the cleaning and decluttering the weekend before, but I tried to stage it myself before the professional stager came in, she undid most of what I did...She explained that staging is the OPPOSITE of decorating. That when you decorate you are trying to show personal style and have people look at the decor, when you are staging you are trying to make people feel comfortable but look PAST the decor to the structures and features. The feel is important but has to be universal...for example she said that a cheesecake cookbook on the island would not have as much appeal as a pasta one because more people like pasta. She also said to pair it with an actual jar of pasta - that anything else would subconsciously register a disconnect with a potential buyer. I learned alot and would recommend it as it seemed painless and productive. I also got lots of complimentary feedback during showings and our buyer said she loved my style...hee hee.

i had never heard of the term "staging" at the time, but when i put my condo on the market, i spruced up, replaced some worn items, decluttered and put away all personal effects. aside from the obvious reason about the personal effects - that the buyers want to see themselves in the home and not think of it as your home - i believe it serves a great psychological purpose for the SELLER. i didn't really think of it as "my" home any more, it was simply an impersonal place. it was much easier to deal with the selling and moving process, especially when it's a place with a lot of memories, when some of the nostalgia and personality is removed from the home.

Nutella - you make an excellent point about the psychological advantage of clearing out personal stuff. I think it helped us a lot as we packed away and gave away items. We did our "mourning" already.

Our house is officially on MLS today, and I did all the staging myself, with help from my mother.

We ended up with a list of over 83 "fix-up" items that we spent just over six weeks working on and finishing. Our house looks FABULOUS and infinitely better than when we moved in!!

We packed up about 2/3rd of our stuff and put it into off-site storage. We had housecleaners come and clean the place from top to bottom. We rearranged the remaining furniture to make the rooms look larger. We even staged our kids' playroom so that it would look inviting but fun (stuffed animals sit in the chairs at the craft table with coloring books and crayons in front of them).

We took down 95% of the personal items from walls and surfaces. At this point our house looks homey and lived in, but not overly personal. No mourning going on here - we were only in this house for five years and knew all along that it was a temporary home until we could move out of state to a more affordable location.

Wow, this thread has some great tips on staging - good to keep in mind if/when we put our place on the market.

A 'staged' property I'm keeping my eye on: there's a large apartment in NYC that my husband and I looked at back in January, and it was on the market for at least two months before that. The seller made price drops - the place started at $1.1 mil, then dropped to $1.050 mil, then $999K, then $979K. One offer fell through; no other serious buyers. The apartment was in good condition and obviously decorated to the owner's taste - each room a different color, white paint on the ceilings and trim, mix of antiques and newer pieces, nice Oriental carpets, many books and paintings - very much a HOME. Well, after six months of no movement, the owner (who had already purchased another place) switched brokers, moved out and now has the place back on the market, "staged", at the original $1.1 mil asking price. The new broker/stager painted every room off-white and has decorated only the living room and dining room with streamlined beige contemporary furniture with warm accents - think Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn. All the other rooms are empty. I'm curious to see if any buyers will bite now.

Interesting. Let us know zeebee.

I remember a house my husband & I looked at years ago. The home needed a lot of updating but had great bones. I could really see our family living there and was excited about the changes that could make it beautiful. However, although the house was clean, every clothing closet I opened had a very very strong smell stinky feet and arm pit odor. We had a hard time getting past that but put a bid in anyway below asking price. The owners rejected our bid. The house sat on the market forever, they finally gave up because they could not get the value. Long story short.......Don't forget about the smelling senses. Carpet Fresh no vacuum super pet refresher for carpeted closet floors and or clorox FreshCare fabric refresher for jackets, clothing and shoes. Both have a nice clean smell. After all the usual staging stuff I also put a tiny bit of bleach in the toilets to make them seem even cleaner.

My home is for sale now, Ive had one contract fall through , ive had traffic and my realtor says everone mentions the decorating. We have been here 5 years and always knew we would move at somepoint, so we have done pretty much everything over. When i knew we were going to be putting the house on the market, talk about decluttering....I rented a 20ft garbage container for a week!! If it was not going with me, if it wasnt useable, it went in the dumpster. I packed everything we didnt need on a dialy basis and took out extra furniture. Now when we have a showing, I turn the music on very low in ll the rooms, every light in the house is on, sports center is on the big screen tv in the familyroom and on the plasma in my husbands office, candles are burning here and there, the patio tv is on, the fountain in the foyer is babbling and believe it or not the fireplace is on here in Miami!!!! I have even asked my neighbor to take a boat ride through the backyard waterway just so they see a nice guy relaxing in his boat. As my realtor says, with some people if they dont see it, they cant imagine it....so on the fireplace goes....in Miami

I've always wondered if turning the gas fireplace was safe since I was vacating the house for the agent and their buyers to come.

My fireplace is wood burning and I dont leave until my agent gets here and he calls to tell me when they left and i meet him at my house so he can tell me what the people thought of the house. Have your realtor go a few minutes before the people arrive and have him turn it on, he's probably making 6%, it wont kill him to flip a switch...

decluttering and spotless cleaning should suffice in most cases..To see a "staged" model home in a new construction development is one thing.. To see a professional staging in a 1500 sf 2 br,1 bath home would seem, well, staged!!! The buyers of my home( which was decluttered and spotless) commented on the day of walkthru, how the home looks SO different without our furniture ;)

What about basements? My basement is unfinished (has stub-ins for bathroom equpment in a corner) and is where I have some boxes and other stuff. If I declutter that's where I would like put things.
However - my house is very very small for the market and money i want and finished basements are HUGE here.
Should I rent storage to empty the basemet so that perspective buyers would think - "oh well if we finished this it would be a much bigger house"
Thoughts?
Mary

Mary
I would rent some storage space, it will make your home seem larger after removing clutter. If doing some finishing work in the basement is out of the question use some items from the upstairs to spruce it up. After you clean the area and repaint existing walls a light color, add a wall mirror, decorative area carpet and a potted plant for greenery. Here I go with the smell thing again.......some basements can have a moldy smell and people can not see themselves spending time there. Use some "clean" smelling air fresheners, nothing too strong or flowery.

We had a very small house in SoCal we sold last fall. I put the packed boxes in the attached garage and used the spare bedroom as a packing area, so it was a little cluttered but people could still see the size, the walls, the closet etc.

I wouldn't worry about having a pile of boxes in the basement, as long as buyers can tell there's no dampness. Just keep it confined to one area, not spread out. After all, buyers have stuff too and are thinking about their upcoming move. Most will be reasonable about seeing moving boxes set out.

We've decided to go ahead and move all the boxes I've packed and the furniture that has been redacted from the rooms (now residing in the attic) to storage in our new home state. DH is coming home next week and wants to load up a truck to take back. He's crazy, but I love him. I'm trying to locate a professional home stager but it is not easy when you live in L.A. (lower Alabama) I need help getting them in the front door - that has been our biggest problem, then the inside. I don't want to spend another dime on the house without real professional advice rather than real estate agents who have had "classes." Obviously, their advice hasn't worked. I read up on them and thier fees and it appears that you can get a variety of services from an initial consultation, to a stage using your stuff, then one with their stuff and on up. I tried to get one earlier but she never returned my call, probably cause most of the interior designers work for builders and don't have time for us little folks. I think if you are in a slow market and have a hard house to sell it would be best to consult with a professional.
Just my .02 cents.

We didn't use any books or a professional stager. We packed up about 1/2 of the stuff in the living spaces of the house and then made sure we kept the house spotless at all times (which is hard with two toddlers, four cats and a dog). We did basic things in addition to packing - we removed the leaf and two chairs from the dining room table to make the room appear larger, removed superfluous furniture to make rooms appear larger, took down all personal photos, cleared off kitchen counters.

We were able to sell our house in 2 weeks in a sagging NoNJ market.

We've sold two homes in the past two years (DH's job changes). I staged both. First sold in nine days, second sold in two days. In the SW Chicago 'burbs (not a booming area) in a soft market.

I am a BIG believer in the benefits of staging.

Happytobeme, I lived in a house 40 yrs ago off of 135th St. and Memorial Highway that had a fireplace. Your post sure conjured up some fond memories!! That house also had a basement, you don't see many of them down here haha