Is Staging Really Important?

If you are considering selling your home, you've probably been thinking about staging and where to begin, where to end, where to start. Staging is talked about A LOT among brokers. There are TV shows about it, magazine articles about it and businesses devoted to it.

Just how important is it really?  VERY!  I view properties all the time and, believe me, I can tell by the pictures of the home how it's going to present itself. I have an opinion just like the buyers who are walking through the door and it is formed VERY quickly. It's about sight AND smell.

I want to start with the one thing that is so basic, everyone is qualified to do it:  CLEAN! Your home must be spotless, from the front entry, through the kitchen, to the corners of the bathrooms. I'm not just talking picking up the clutter (although you need to do that too). I'm talking sweeping, scrubbing and making-windows-shine clean. The stovetop looks good enough to cook on; the bath looks clean enough to take a bath in; and the buyer will WANT to take-their-shoes-off-in-your-house clean.

And here's another tip:  your house needs to smell clean. No cooking odors, pet smells or smoking residue. Be careful not to overdo the air freshener or any type of perfuming of the air either, which can be offputting and make buyers wonder what you are trying to cover up.

A clean house tells the buyer that you care about your home. That it's been well cared for. It is smells good enough to hang around.

So, yes, staging IS important. But you need to clean first.

It can seem overwhelming, but with the guidance of your broker or a professional stager, you can accomplish a lot more than you think fairly easily.