Staged to Sell

How it works.

Though staging’s name connotes a certain level of superficiality—creating something of an artificial environment—those who do it professionally insist that there is far more to it than placing flowers and positioning furniture. “It’s a very systematic process of preparing your home to be sold—of merchandising the property,” says Palm, who notes that the majority of her business is funneled through real estate agents. The overall goal of staging, she adds, is not to cover up flaws and inadequacies, but rather to neutralize the influence of the homeowner’s personality on the home and dramatize the property’s distinct features.

“Staging is beneficial whether you have a cute little bungalow or 15,000 square feet,” says Liana Palaikis, an agent with Keller Williams Realty who also offers staging services through her Dellwood-based business, Dragonfly Homescapes. The staging process begins with a consultation, which typically runs in the neighborhood of $250 for an accredited stager, according to Palm. The stager will do a room-by-room, front-to-backyard assessment of the home and compile a comprehensive checklist of the updates, repairs, and organizational modifications needed to raise the home to move-in status.

“The seller will get a blueprint of what they need to do,” explains Linda Tobin, owner of Staging Plus II, Inc., in Hudson, Wisconsin. Sellers can then decide how much time and effort they’re willing to devote to making the stager-recommended changes, and how much money they’re able to spend. “I’m not the one who makes the final decisions about what work gets done and how it gets done; the seller makes those decisions,” she says.

No doubt, some sellers are reluctant to spend money on a house they intend to sell. Yet stagers and realtors are quick to point out that there’s a significant distinction between attending to deferred maintenance and investing in upgrades. “I don’t advise my clients to do any remodeling before they sell the house—we leave the remodeling to the next couple,” Wille says. “But I do want all the maintenance done.”

In fact, that’s what today’s buyers demand. Which means, be prepared to put fresh, neutral-colored paint on the walls, replace worn carpeting and remove wallpaper, update light fixtures, replace gold and bronze for brushed nickel, and generally de-clutter the property. It doesn’t take a significant investment to make a sizeable impact on potential buyers, Erks claims.

“There are a lot of small, inexpensive things you can do to your house to make it more appealing,” she says. “Those staged homes are the first to be seen in the neighborhood, and the first to be sold in the neighborhood. When a home has been properly, professionally staged, buyers don’t mind paying the asking price . . . versus a home that needs a lot of work.”

“Buyers are tending to expect perfection,” Palaikis adds. “They’re looking for a home that will deliver everything to them without needing to have the vision to make changes.”

That said, the real estate pros offer some tips for sale-generating staging.