To Stage or Not to Stage: Realtors Are on Both Side of the Issue

Some home sellers are looking to staging as a way to give them a competitive advantage in the current buyer’s market. Real estate agents and professional stagers generally agree that keeping a hot clean is important, but whether sellers should go beyond that is up for debate. Professional stagers, for example, believe every dwelling needs to be staged to a certain extent. Blair Hamaty of Setting the Space, says, “A professional stager needs to come in and be able to depersonalize the house to turn it into a commodity.” He says staging — which involves rearranging or changing furniture and making cosmetic alterations — costs less than a price reduction. Residences staged by an Accredited Staging Professional spent 80 percent less time on the market and had sales prices between 7.9 percent and 25 percent more than unstaged properties, according to Stagedhomes.com. However, some Realtors stage clients’ homes themselves, saving their clients money. Others, meanwhile, believe that staging is only necessary when selling a vacant home. | Read More