Everything You Need to Know About Home Staging

Everything You Need to Know About Home Staging — Expert Tips and Advice from the Moving Professionals at E.E. Ward Moving & Storage

What is Home Staging?
Most simply put, home staging is the act of preparing a residence for sale, the goal being to make the property appealing to as many potential buyers as possible. Staging techniques focus on improving the appeal of a property by transforming it into a welcoming, attractive product that anyone might want. Home staging is all about presenting the home at its very best. You and your realtor can stage the home yourselves, however you may want to look into hiring a professional home stager.

Why Do I Need a Professional?
Without the help of a professional home stager, you are left to your own discretion when it comes to preparing your home for showings. Realtors are experts when it comes to selling and closing, however many aren’t necessarily design savvy. Your agent knows exactly what factors will help sell your home, but may not know how to highlight those features and get the home into selling condition in a timely manner. That’s where a professional home stager comes in.

What Does a Home Stager Actually Do?
Professional home stagers are practiced in the art of preparing a home for resale. A home stager will work with the “flow” of your home and accentuate the positive aspects of the property. They will eliminate clutter, arrange furniture, paint rooms, enhance curb-appeal, etc. The stager will also focus on making the house appear bigger, brighter, and cleaner. The home stager will do everything that needs to be done to allow your home to make a notable first impression on potential home buyers.

How Much Does a Home Stager Cost?
Pricing in the home staging industry can vary over a wide range. Some home stagers charge a set fee for the entire job and some charge an hourly rate. You’ll want to ask how they determine their fee so that you can make an educated decision about hiring them. Get a few different estimates from different stagers. In addition to the cost to hire the home stager, the condition of your home, the average amount of time homes have been on the market in your area, and the asking price of your home will be factored into the overall cost. Your asking price will play a huge role in what you should be willing to spend on the staging process. Typically, between 1% and 3% of asking price would be an appropriate amount to spend on home staging.

Is Hiring a Professional Home Stager Really Worth It?
Whether or not a home stager is worth it comes down to personal preference. Much like a real estate agent, hiring a home stager is not an absolute necessity. You always have the option to do it on your own. It is possible to sell a house without a realtor, but you hired one because it is much easier to do with the help of a professional. The same goes for home staging. You can try to do it on your own but chances are you don’t have the time or skills to accomplish a professional appearance. You may want to make some calls and get some estimates to help you better decide if you’ll need a home stager’s help or not.