When did everybody start staging houses?

[Anonymous]

I always thought buyers could see past it. But after seeing some houses go so much over list, I know think a fresh paint job and some trendy decor makes a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Lived in homes have more furniture, often in functional size and bit mismatched as acquired over a period of time to meet need or impulsive buys. You do have lots of other things needed for a family. It makes house look ordinary, smaller and cluttered.

Stagers only put thought out and limited selection of smaller aesthetically appealing pieces. They try to make space, bigger, nicer and brighter. They sell HGTV dreams.

[Anonymous]

I will admit I didn’t know about staging until we started looking. When we bought 9 years ahi wasn’t really a thing near us. I like really thought everyone else had more amazing furniture than me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All buyers believe they are the ones with imagination to see past bad furniture and cosmetic issues. And yet…

And yet what, exactly?

[Anonymous]

All you have to do is read this forum to see that many (most?) people can’t see past decor and paint.

We owned a house that had a small living room that was difficult to furnish. We had purchased furniture that was scaled properly for the room and when we got ready to sell, we worked with a stager to make the most of the possibilities and it sold quickly (even in a relatively slow, post 2007 crash market). The house is back on the market and has sat for two months, despite being in a very desirable location. The current owners only have a couple of pieces of furniture that are way too big for the room, and it makes the room look unusable. I think the fact that the awkward living room is the first thing people see when they walk into the house is a big factor in the house not selling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I prefer an empty house.

Everyone thinks this. And yet…

[Anonymous]

i am ok with staging or the peoples own furniture. empty rooms are hard to tell what might fit.

we went to look at a house today. they didn't even clean it for selling IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband needs staging. He gets very stressed about the sizes of rooms and how functional they will be, and appropriately sized furniture that vaguely resembles what we will have helps him enormously. He will serious argue for a week about whether a table and chairs can actually fit in the open kitchen, even if we measure it and map it out and I show him how they would fit. If you just put a table there, we don't even have to have this conversation and can just focus on the actual house itself.

I think some people like staging to inspire them in how they might decorate or use space, but for us it is truly just a very practical way to get a sense of size and layout, much easier than an empty house. And yes, a bunch of antique furniture won't work as well because the scale is often very different and it gets used differently. It really is easier if they just put some bland west elm/ikea stuff in there, because then we get a sense of how a normal sized couch looks agains the long wall, or whether that kids room can actually fit two twin beds comfortably.

Educate your husband to know that stagers use tricks like beds that have a smaller footprint than a twin bed that are put in bedrooms other than the primary. My husband was always swayed too too much by the flash vs the substance. This happened twice when our realtor try to do quick deals when there was little inventory like a house with a basement that was so wet it was like having a pool. I had a real fight getting him to drop interest in a house owned by a decorator that had such poor maintenance that if you looked beyond the paint and furnishings you'd see all the damage she hid. This was when the sellers market was not hot and the house was overpriced. Everything was falling apart or damaged. The realtor tried to push these houses on us knowing we might fall for the paint over the flood damage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always thought buyers could see past it. But after seeing some houses go so much over list, I know think a fresh paint job and some trendy decor makes a huge difference.

Same here. I used to think it was just another RE industry scam to get more money. But then I saw how some homes that got the grey paint & staging went for so much more.

[Anonymous]

Our house is empty (rental we are selling) and our realtor included virtual staging for free. I actually think it helps a lot, but the market has absolutely cratered and we've had no offers in 2 weeks and only about 15 people have come through.

[Anonymous]

Turnkey homes attract everyone, specially deep pocket buyers who would rather pay a bit more to save time and stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Turnkey homes attract everyone, specially deep pocket buyers who would rather pay a bit more to save time and stress.

??? You don’t get to keep the staging furniture.

[Anonymous]

I really do think it helps. The homes that sell quick are turn key, staged, fresh coat of NEUTRAL paint at a price under comps. I had my eye on one listed Thurs night and it was already pending on Friday, even in this market. Meanwhile a house right across the street from that one listed Friday- is outdated, has bright orange paint in the foyer, is cluttered with junk and is asking 175k more. I think that one will sit a while!

[Anonymous]

it should be free and provided by your realtor,

any realtor that wants you to pay for staging is an AVOID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I prefer an empty house.

Everyone thinks this. And yet…

How many times are you going to post?