While Some Tips Are Worth Your Time, Better to Hire a Stager Instead of Following NAR’s Staging Field Guide
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Eubank Staging: Image courtesy of Jim Olvera
The National Association of Realtors’ Field Guide To Preparing & Staging a House for Sale hit our inbox last week. It’s a compilation of staging tips and information gathered over the course of the past two years. There’s some great information and some ridiculous information. So let me break it down for you.
Probably the most ludicrous information I read was from one of the Extreme Makeover designers. Note I said “designer” not “stager.” While this show is a favorite of mine it is not remotely related to selling a home. They are creating a design, a plan for a specific family. That’s about as far from staging as you can get. I’ve worked in television and you do things differently for TV than you do in real life. Unless a stager has done both, they have no business handing out staging advice.
The bad advice included the idea of using a TV as artwork. It was referred to as the “modern family hearth.” That is completely absurd. The focal point of a room for sale is always architecture not a television that will be moving with the seller. This designer also advocated using window treatments and not using artificial plants. Stagers ditch window treatments in favor of light and revealing architectural detail constantly. We also love our “fake” plants. At last count I had 35 gorgeous artificial orchids that look so real they almost fooled my horticulturist neighbor! There is bad fake and good fake, stagers know how to fake it!
Some really questionable advice about staging a home in the winter included lighting a fire and not showing the house at night. Just stunning. Definitely get your MLS photos with that roaring fire but leave the house for work with a fire going? Never! An agent could be delayed and then you’ve got the potential of a real safety issue at home. If you have a remote starter that would allow a Realtor to immediately turn the fire on and off that’s one way to handle it, otherwise do not fan the flames! Advising sellers not to show their house at night in the winter just blew my mind. Really? Let’s be serious here. The majority of folks see houses after work. There is nothing more inviting than a snow covered lawn with a freshly shoveled walkway, some great landscape illumination and lights glowing from every room in the house.
The Field Guide had a great article on staging garages. Now garages really never mattered until this market. Stagers will always tell you to store your excess off site. It’s worth the money and right now garages are definitely turning away buyers. They should be clean, no oil stains on the floor and no cobwebs on the walls.
We’re all pretty sophisticated about holiday decoration when it comes to selling. It’s a no brainer to keep the 200-piece Santa village packed and just have a tree and a wreath. I was glad to see a tip about using timers in the winter months, which is one I’ve always suggested regardless of the season. Walking into a home with lamps lit equals instant ambience. Another useful piece of information is to ensure holiday decorations are not in the MLS photos! You do not want Valentines Day buyers looking at a bathroom with a snowman toilet seat cover.
Now one tip I loved and I’ve never come across was in an article on staging your laundry room. If your dryer vents outside as opposed to under the house you can have some nasty build up on a side of the house you seldom visit. No one wants to see that! Clotheslines are something else I consider. We’re all trying to be green but it’s worth reeling it in for showings!
We have a lot of multi-million dollar homes in Dallas so I was pleased to read that Ryan Serhant, an agent often seen on the reality show, “Million Dollar Listings New York,” advised luxury listing need staging too! Price point is irrelevant when it comes to creating that emotional connection. Every buyer wants to see “home” when they walk into a house.
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Always blows my mind when I see pictures in June of a home with a Christmas tree and stockings on the mantel.
Always blows my mind when I see pictures in June of a home with a Christmas tree and stockings on the mantel.
Staging is not decorating – it is preparing the home for the market to appeal to the prospective buyers – not the homeowner. After all, once it hits the market, it is no longer their home – it is a product on the market. It is important that the homeowner is able to detach from their home and pack away those personal photos and collections. It's not the "stuff", it's the space you are selling. Staging by an Accredited Staging Professional creates an emotional connection with the prospective buyer and that is your goal!
I love to look at a staged house. Staging helped sell ours in a few days not weeks. Many people can't declutter or remove "their" family pics.
That's why they should hire a professional :>)))) – the statistics on how much faster Staged homes sell don't lie!
Staging is not decorating – it is preparing the home for the market to appeal to the prospective buyers – not the homeowner. After all, once it hits the market, it is no longer their home – it is a product on the market. It is important that the homeowner is able to detach from their home and pack away those personal photos and collections. It's not the "stuff", it's the space you are selling. Staging by an Accredited Staging Professional creates an emotional connection with the prospective buyer and that is your goal!
I love to look at a staged house. Staging helped sell ours in a few days not weeks. Many people can't declutter or remove "their" family pics.
That's why they should hire a professional :>)))) – the statistics on how much faster Staged homes sell don't lie!
Wow Karen- excellent article, thanks for "keeping it real!" I agree on all your points. Our philosophy is to NOT make blanket rules about Staging. Eventually there will come a time where we need to be more flexible in our approach, so it makes no sense ruling out techniques that may help.
I too am addicted to faux orchids. I even watered one once by accident so- they work just fine!
Great breakdown of the right and wrongs of the article.
Wow Karen- excellent article, thanks for "keeping it real!" I agree on all your points. Our philosophy is to NOT make blanket rules about Staging. Eventually there will come a time where we need to be more flexible in our approach, so it makes no sense ruling out techniques that may help.
I too am addicted to faux orchids. I even watered one once by accident so- they work just fine!
Great breakdown of the right and wrongs of the article.
Good advice! We should always look to a professional.
Good advice! We should always look to a professional.
Well written! My fav pet peeve is MLS pictures with the TV ON! Especially if it's a big old 50+ incher! UGH! And I love your last line, "Every buyer wants to see “home” when they walk into a house." Going to share it now… and not just on FB! 😉
Well written! My fav pet peeve is MLS pictures with the TV ON! Especially if it's a big old 50+ incher! UGH! And I love your last line, "Every buyer wants to see “home” when they walk into a house." Going to share it now… and not just on FB! 😉
Great article! I am looking for such kind of advice.
Great article! I am looking for such kind of advice.
Great information. Although there is quite a bit basic advice to offer on how to stage a home for sale, it is also important to also be flexible. One size does not fit all, especially in occupied stagings. My clients appreciate that. And I love your comment on artificial plants: " There is bad fake and good fake, stagers know how to fake it!"
Great information. Although there is quite a bit basic advice to offer on how to stage a home for sale, it is also important to also be flexible. One size does not fit all, especially in occupied stagings. My clients appreciate that. And I love your comment on artificial plants: " There is bad fake and good fake, stagers know how to fake it!"
Great article. As Home Stagers, we have the same pet peeves here in Toronto, Canada. Thanks for posting this one!
Great article. As Home Stagers, we have the same pet peeves here in Toronto, Canada. Thanks for posting this one!
Absolutely spot on advice!
Absolutely spot on advice!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing!
All great points, Karen! I generally run into the scenario of the "designer" who "stages" and creates such elaborate spaces that the actual HOUSE (that is for sale!) gets lost in the details. Less is so much more in staging whereas more is more oftentimes in design. It's important to hire somebody who knows the difference.
All great points, Karen! I generally run into the scenario of the "designer" who "stages" and creates such elaborate spaces that the actual HOUSE (that is for sale!) gets lost in the details. Less is so much more in staging whereas more is more oftentimes in design. It's important to hire somebody who knows the difference.
This is a great article, Karen! I was in a house today with some faux plants and flowers that had to go because they looked terrible! I have faux orchids and tropical plants in my inventory so you are right when you say some fake plants are good and some are not!
This is a great article, Karen! I was in a house today with some faux plants and flowers that had to go because they looked terrible! I have faux orchids and tropical plants in my inventory so you are right when you say some fake plants are good and some are not!
Good article Karen Eubank. Your point about garages is also very important. Too often folks store (dump) items in the garage and underestimate it's importance and value. I am putting more emphasis on this during my walk and talk as well as refrigerators, silverware drawers and electric meter cabinets. We don't do owners any favors by being too soft with them when it comes to selling their homes.
Good article Karen Eubank. Your point about garages is also very important. Too often folks store (dump) items in the garage and underestimate it's importance and value. I am putting more emphasis on this during my walk and talk as well as refrigerators, silverware drawers and electric meter cabinets. We don't do owners any favors by being too soft with them when it comes to selling their homes.
Thank you for sharing this Karen! Your points are spot on. What's bothersome a bit about this "field guide" is that these tips are hitting a professional group home stagers work with – Realtors – and for some they'll take this information as gospel which leads to more issues & misinformation. Was even ONE home staging professional interviewed?
My hope is that the profession of Staging is reaching levels of acceptance that will make it an industry standard and an expected part of every residential real estate transaction (I know even some commercial real estate is being staged too). It's getting there but it still has a way to go. Education is still a critical part of our job.
Thank you for sharing this Karen! Your points are spot on. What's bothersome a bit about this "field guide" is that these tips are hitting a professional group home stagers work with – Realtors – and for some they'll take this information as gospel which leads to more issues & misinformation. Was even ONE home staging professional interviewed?
My hope is that the profession of Staging is reaching levels of acceptance that will make it an industry standard and an expected part of every residential real estate transaction (I know even some commercial real estate is being staged too). It's getting there but it still has a way to go. Education is still a critical part of our job.