My house was not staged when we bought it: family just toned it down and had it absolutely extra tidy and clean. It got a LOT of interest and a bidding war. I think most families like to project themselves in a home, so warmth and "real" helps more than staging would.

Op again.

Btw, the stager’s assistant who I was talking to yesterday was shocked that we had been quoted 16k to stage our home. She thought a max of 6K including changing out lights (that was not included in our quote and cost around 1k). Our realtor said an average of 3-5K. When we turned her down, she said she had made a mistake in the quote, but had declined to answer my earlier question about it. I don’t know her or what was going on! It felt like a money grab to me.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. If you want to get top dollar, and the realtor tells you to stage, do it. Your taste in decor is not as nice as you think.

OP here….No, the realtor paid for the staging consult after we asked for it.

The stager gave good advice which we acted upon ( updated lighting and hardware). She said our furniture is great and she would not change anything about that - a couple of previous home buyers have negotiated our furniture so I know I have decent taste. However, I did take the stager’s advice and bought modern table lamps for 3 rooms. I can take feedback too. 😊

Our realtor came in after we painted and decluttered a bit, and said he could get traffic in here based on how good it looked.

I was a bit worried that he was just being nice. This morning, another home in our price point came on the market and I would say ours should look better. Just stress!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. If you want to get top dollar, and the realtor tells you to stage, do it. Your taste in decor is not as nice as you think.

No. Tell the realtor no staging. Empty houses sell faster.

Virtually all of the data says otherwise. Can you provide an actual link?

Anonymous wrote:Yes. If you want to get top dollar, and the realtor tells you to stage, do it. Your taste in decor is not as nice as you think.

No. Tell the realtor no staging. Empty houses sell faster.

No staging. I’ve bought three houses and would always much rather see it empty than stages.

We paid for staging and the place looked better than we ever could have imagined. It’s never a bad idea to have a truly objective and experienced eye giving your place a makeover. We sold for over our already aggressive asking price in two days.

You don’t need to stage every room. Just the main living areas and one bedroom. Everything else can be empty.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. If you want to get top dollar, and the realtor tells you to stage, do it. Your taste in decor is not as nice as you think.

The realtor should pay for it herself. I would never pay for staging.

Yes. If you want to get top dollar, and the realtor tells you to stage, do it. Your taste in decor is not as nice as you think.

Anonymous wrote:It’s a money grab from your agent. You don’t need their staging.

This. We had staging because we have already moved and it was empty. But there is no need to pay 15K to stage a furnished house. As long as it’s decluttered it should be fine. If you spend 15K you’d want the house to sell for at least 20K higher just to compensate for this expense. Doubt the staging will bring you 20K more than what you’d get with your own furniture.

Don’t worry about it.

We moved out and left the home clean and empty when it was listed. We got an offer for well over asking immediately.

We staged my house with my own stuff. Painted and recarpeted, got a storage unit and stored anything nonessential. Kept the art neutral, got rid of clutter. Did some minor landscaping. It sold in eight days.

Take a few more things out of every room. Just remember you want the room to be light and airy and have absolutely no clutter.

No, I hate staging. I want to see the floors, walls, etc.