I prefer an empty house.

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

Long before this staging craze, homeowners sold homes without any issues. It's a money grab. I say leave it as is or empty the house.

Like with everything else, it all depends.

If you have a pretty straightforward house where the rooms are easily defined, no staging required. But if you have a lot of different rooms that can be used for various purposes, then stage. For example you have a 4 bedroom house - stage one as an office. If you have two living rooms stage one as an office and one as a family room.

Our agent paid for it back in 2008.

I have a home staging business so the discussion is illuminating to me. Yes, while some people are able envision the function of an empty room, others may not. I can appreciate OP's dismay about not using her mother's quality furnishings, most realtors want a bland-ish canvas: no loud colors, or styles of furniture that might turn away younger, hipper prospectives - which if you're selling a house in a family neighborhood, that's going to be the market.

Staging started to really take hold in the 1990s, and grew more popular in urban/higher end suburbia in the 2000s. It's seen as a recession-proof industry as it creates interest in recessionary times, and in higher flying periods, no buyer is ever upset their property went for 'too much money'. They might be amazed and incredulous their parent's house, which was originally purchased for $25K has gone for over $1MM.

PP laid her finger on it.

Staging is essential for photos and virtual tours. It attracts the most views.

Staging can work against the seller in real-life visits.

So during the pandemic, I imagine that staging took off, since everyone probably formed first impressions online.

It’s definitely helpful (to the seller!) in our neighborhood, which is mostly Victorian rowhomes. We did a lot of open houses before buying, and the staging was sooo clever. In the pics, it would look like a room could comfortably fit a queen bed. In real life, it’s an awkwardly shaped room with a tiny bed of no standard sizing and a desk that couldn’t even fit a laptop. Another house went viral on this thread because it became clear that the table and chairs in one photo were literally for a pre-schooler. But you couldn’t tell from the photos!

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.

I want to look at a house un-staged.

Anonymous wrote:It’s another expense for the seller, but I’m not convinced it does much besides line the agent’s and stager’s pockets.

I wrote on another thread that my mom’s place had lovely 18th and 19th century furniture and zero clutter, all under huge windows. The agent had us move it all out and brought in cheap beige and grey furniture.

I can maybe see it if your furniture is torn, stained, BarcaLoungers that smell like cigarettes and boxes of stuff climbing up every wall. But even there, most buyers have enough imagination to see beyond that.

Am I missing something?

You are missing something. Some buyers can see beyond that but MOST buyers CANNOT. A house that is well staged will always attract more people.
If your house is in the most desirable location, and inventory is low, and it is priced right, of course people won't care if the furniture look crappy and smell like shit.

omg, it is so worth it. My next door neighbor had her house staged -- got about $150K more than anyone else w/ same model. It allows the buyers to see the home in a a more functional and neutral.

Anonymous wrote:But even there, most buyers have enough imagination to see beyond that.

The experts say otherwise, and I tend to believe they are correct.

Some agents will cover the cost of staging.

Most buyers lack imagination and can't see past 18th century furniture - they need to see clean lines/modern furniture like they are looking at a magazine.

It’s another expense for the seller, but I’m not convinced it does much besides line the agent’s and stager’s pockets.

I wrote on another thread that my mom’s place had lovely 18th and 19th century furniture and zero clutter, all under huge windows. The agent had us move it all out and brought in cheap beige and grey furniture.

I can maybe see it if your furniture is torn, stained, BarcaLoungers that smell like cigarettes and boxes of stuff climbing up every wall. But even there, most buyers have enough imagination to see beyond that.

Am I missing something?