How Do You Know If A House Should Be Staged?

I just recently gave a presentation to a real estate office and one of the Realtors asked a great question: “How Do You Know If A House Should Be Staged?” I think that his real question is about value.

How do I know if it is worth the investment to stage a house? I think that this is a legitimate question when you are presented with a house that you think shows nicely.

After several years of staging, I have been in so many houses and they range the gamut from “OMG, how do people live like this?” to being very tidy and well kept.  The OMG end of the spectrum is obvious, right? But, it is those neat and tidy ones that can lull you into thinking staging wouldn't be worth it.

Setting the Stage

When I first started staging, I really didn't think that neat houses would need staging.  I thought that I would spend most of my time working in the obvious messes.  But, I feel so different now.  Honestly, most houses should be staged and could benefit from having a professional stager's eye on it and here is why:

This house sat on the market for 7 months.  You can see that this was the listing photo and the house was immaculate.  It was also in a phenomenal location.  The homeowners moved out after it had been on the market for a few months, very confident that they would sell it.  It didn't.  People didn't know where to put a tv in this house since this was the only room that would really be a family room. Do you believe it? That was the most frequent feedback!

We brought in new furniture (and mixed in some of the homeowner's) since this house was empty when we arrived and placed the tv where the small sofa was in the above photo.  We also staged the bookshelves very differently than how they had been.  Staging tip:  too many books don't photograph well in online listings.  Offer in 8 days!

Here is a house that was on the market for 50 days before we arrived for an Evaluation.  It was immaculate and beautifully updated but it was a split-level house in an area where that is not a desirable layout at all.  The realtor is someone that I partner with regularly and she felt that this listing would likely linger because of the layout but thought I may have some stroke of insight.  Yikes!

I made two recommendations and they followed through on one: painting the kitchen cabinets a white that would coordinate with the granite counters.

I made this recommendation because the cabinets were the first thing you saw when you looked up the stairs from the entry landing and because white kitchens have been the number one selling kitchen for 10 years in a row according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association.  After they relisted, this house sold in 5 days! The realtor said that at the open house she had after the cabinets were painted, there was a huge shift in people's reaction to the house.  They were actually enthusiastic. Proof that white kitchens sell!

When should a house be staged?

So, over to you my realtor friends, how do you decide if one of your new listings should have a stager involved? Please share your thoughts and comments with us!