Sellers- Staging your Home for a Quick Sale

It is easy to get overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done when preparing your home for market. So when it comes to presenting your home at its best, it often helps to bring an objective eye into the picture.

Unlike home decorating, which is focused on creating an extension of a homeowner's personality, home staging is about creating a beautiful, but clean, slate so that the buyers can visualize themselves in your home.

The home staging process begins with an evaluation of your house and the comparable properties. Considerations are made based upon the marketing plan and prospects. Home staging recommendations include taking stock of clutter, personal items, rundown fixtures, the color and quality of paint and furniture arrangements. As a seller, you can implement these recommendations on your own, or hire your home stager to complete the process.

8 Tips for Low Cost Staging


In a tough sales market, staging can help move a property.

Barb Schwarz, who claims to have invented home staging in the early 1970s, estimates that about one in four homes nationwide are now staged.

Julie Dana and Marcia Layton Turn state in their book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell, that a seller stands to gain as much as $9,000 on a $200,000 house if it's staged.

Shelly Wagner, a Detroit-based stager, estimates that the cost per room for staging is $100 – small potatoes if it really helps a home sell.

Here are some ideas from Wagner for effective, low-cost staging:

  • Remove scatter rugs and knickknacks from every room.
  • Get rid of everything on the kitchen counters, including appliances, except for the coffee maker.
  • Remove as much as you can from closets.
  • Hire a cleaning service if necessary to make the house spotless. Scrub floors, walls, and windows. Pay special attention to the microwave, oven, and refrigerator.
  • Focus on the feature rooms, the living, dining, and master bedrooms. Additional bedrooms are best left empty or minimally furnished.
  • Arrange the furniture to show off each room’s best features.
  • Set the dining-room table with napkins, plates, and flatware.
  • When showing the house, turn on soft instrumental “buying” music, preferably classical or jazz.