I've been trying to decide wether or not to stage my own personal house before I list it for sale in a few weeks. I keep thinking to myself price, product and promotion. Seems like price is always the bottom line.. Is it worth the $2000 to stage my 1700 sq. ft home? It's market value is 170-175k.

I agree that staging is a contributing factor to the success of a sale--however, I also think that you don't need to do it with every single listing.  As agents, we should be able to assist our Sellers with minimizing the furnishings, decluttering and 'staging' it themselves for a sale.  It can be costly but, most of the time, it IS well worth the expense to save on a additional month or two or ten of mortgage payments that it will save you paying!

To stage or not to stage I don't remember Shakespeare writhing that one?

Jesse, the cheeto's visual is priceless!! "Yep, yep" LOL!!  There's definitely a market for staging, but not every house needs it, as you so entertainingly have pointed out!

Christopher - I would think most agents could stage their own home... the kicker is getting to the right price (on any home).  I think price is more important than staging, but staging does have benefits.

Debe - I think a stagers value comes into play where they can bring an empty house to life... where it's just decluttering and cleaning, agents can tell clients what needs to be done to make it market ready.

John - I don't know that 'ol Willie said it, but hopefully he won't mind my taking  a little poetic liberty.

Colleen - Glad I could make you laugh this afternoon.  My job is done. :)  Back to my cheetos. haha

I believe I am the Stager that you referred to in the above story which you read in Bryant's Blog, "3rd Realtor called us, house sold in record time...."  Just so you DO have the whole story, they made only 1 price reduction while listing with the 2nd Realtor, the 3rd Realtor who called us simply re-listed it knowing that it was in a VERY highly sought after area, but it DID and still does have an awkward floor plan, where when left empty, left buyers confused - we simply made sense of it all...  We have since staged several homes for this Realtor AS WELL AS THREE MORE for the property owner, which have all sold in yes, record time.... 

Price definitely IS the main factor - however, all things being equal, when looking at hundreds of houses on the market today, a staged home will be the one which makes a connection with buyers. Just my $ .02 ~ thanks.  

BTW - Realtors & Stagers can make all the suggestions in the world when it comes to fixing homes, such as removing wallpaper, painting, "grouting" lol, water damage, etc...  Some Staging companies, such as ours, can actually serve as Project Managers and take care of all these things for the home owners, so it's less on their plates as they are caught in the whirl-wind of trying to sell their home.

Connie - Thanks for chiming in.  As I said staging does have its benefits.. and where you went in and made sense of awkward spaces, it worked and that is where the value of a stager lies... to me anyway.  Cleaning and decluttering is childs play... bringing the house to life is where the value is.

For the record, I don't consider all of the recommendations and "to dos'" staging, I call it preparing your house for the actual staging process.  We provide a Home Consultation Report, that includes, recommendations, ideas, tips, paint & color selections, curb appeal, what to keep and get rid of and lots more.  But the reality of home staging is not just cleaning, de-cluttering, painting, and de-personalizing.  And your photo is a prime example of what we do.  After all of the necessary repairs are done, we then come in and do hands-on staging.  Actual placement of furniture and accessories in rooms according to scale, balance, and flow of house.  Also being visually appealing which is what your picture portrays.  Imagine that as an empty room, after we come in and say, bring in rental furniture and accessories, your photo will be the end result.  If I just gave out a to do list, I'd be long out of business.  Hope this helps to explain a little more of what we do.  But, not all stagers offer full-service home staging, so it depends on who you talk to, it's like comparing apples to oranges.  The biggest cost in staging is the furniture.

Hi Ladies, I'd like to clarify...  When I told the stories about price, yes I was the one that talked about $800, and that wasn't to paint a room.  First we did a walk through of the home, creating a detail suggestion list of what the seller should do.  For the record the agent had already suggested most of the basic things, however he didn't have an eye for design so some things he didn't mention.  Anyway so what did that $800 cover, painting of 1 room, plus we boxed up over 50 boxes of personal stuff and clutter for the man, carry it downstairs,  moved alot of furniture out of the house and moved even more around within the house, straighten and organized everywhere, including the basement, closets etc.  We took 3 empty rooms and turned them back into bedrooms, made beds, created an office area, contacted a antique dealer and arranged for him to meet with her.  We trimmed his landscaping, rearranged his outdoor living area.  Moved rugs and prints from all over the house, went shopping for a few extra touches, rented him accessories for the whole time the house was on the market, including prints, trees, plants and bedding for $800.  The job was worth alot more than that, it took 2 of us alot of sweet and over 12hrs each, The house was amazing when it was done, the agent couldn't believe it was the same place.

The agent told him to replace the red carpet and declutter, but he had no one who can do that for him.  Staging is not just making a house pretty.  Sometimes having a 3rd eye confirms what the agent tells them, it makes the agent look good.  Sometimes it allows for the agent to be the good guy and were the doctor with the bad news.   Stager are part of the team, not the enemy here!!  I just don't understand why Realtors feel it's a "sin" for a seller to market there home like a product is marketed, Big Business spend tons of time and money to do that - so why can't a home owner.  Oh and the agent was right by or side, thanking us for convincing the man it needed doing.  Because you see this man last sold a house when it was a different market, he figured people still bought things as is, why would you replace red carpet, they will just replace it when they move in.  With so many homes on the market buyers look for the house with the least amount of work and money they have to put into it.  The Seller needed to hear this from more than one person.

I just notice where you are located.  Here in Upstate NY it's all about status and having the "model" home to show off to your family.  Perhaps Alaska is different, don't get me wrong.  I am simply trying to say is that home-staging is alot of work, yes it can cost but not as much as you think, and most importantly is we are here to help Realtors not make them look foolish or anything.  It's all part of the package our Realtors offer. 

Good Luck to you and God Bless

Becky

Jesse & Kathy -  Staging is a tricky thing. Look, this is something that increases the value, however, this does not change the characteristics of the property. It does not change its size, or other parameters. It could be called the art of creating optical illusions, which, often are gone the minute it is sold.

So in a sense it is fooling the Buyers. So, when I am dealing with Buyers, I am telling them to look beyond all these niceties, and try to calm them down. As a buyer's agent I would love for them to see the empty space, and nothing else, so that they can really compare the properties. If, however, working with Sellers, I wouldn't mind staging, as this helps to sell.

I had enough situations when we had to show a condo, which was rented, so though we could show the unit, the tenant was always leaving it in a pigstyle condition. And I have seen women storming out of the unit and refusing even to talk about it, because there were pants and socks, and underware all over th unit floor. We finally begged the owner to kick the tenant out, just cleaned it and sold it within 2 weeks. Even the price did not help when it was a mess, so I can understand why staging works. We just need to be careful and not get hooked on a smart way to show the best and hide the worst. In a staged home I would look behind the painting, as I wouldn't be surprised to find a problem spot behind.

Cindy - Setting the stage I totally understand, I truly do, but I'm struggling with the value aspect.  Here price is still king.  Hitting the right price is the key to getting an offer on a property - staged or not.  Would even full service staging improve the value of the property?  The perception perhaps, but not actual value.  Then again, maybe perception is enough in some cases. 

Becky - I honestly don't think of stagers are the enemy, please don't read that into my post/comments.  I'm just working to understand the concept.  You explanation of what you did for the $800 makes sense.  I question not that you worked hard, but that I could have given him the same advice and told him point by point how to accomplish it... sans $800, although with due respect that fee wasn't simply consulting, and I do realize that.  The time spent moving/cutting/cleaning/organizing does have value, don't get me wrong.  God Bless you as well. Thank you.

Jon - Good to see you.  We've seen some Realtors here quasi-staging to hide defects, which is annoying, to get the same price as a house without defects.  Where empty houses are concerned I think staging can be a good thing, but not necessarily always.  I like showing vacant homes so I can really see what's there. 

THere is often a problem of preception, and it staging is not a way of hiding defects, then it can help Buyers to visualize the space.

It is so oftena surprise for Buyers, that empty space looks smaller, not bigger than a furnished room. I remember the lady standing in a master bedroom and sayitng that her furniture would not even fit. It was funny to visit her after they moved, as she was laughing that there was enough space to dance there.

But you can use the measuring tape, and when you show them where the bed will end, they are often surprised, that there is enough space between the wall and the bed. And many people (including myself) do not see it.

You are so right in that it's part of an agent's job to stage.  Fully stage w/ furniture, paint colors, etc?  No, but to advise on de-cluttering, cleaning, arranging furniture, YES!  Our job is to sell the house, not be the seller's best friend.

Tina in Virginia