Staged homes are more likely to sell faster and for a better price than homes that are not staged. Staging is not about major repairs or improvements. It is all about presentation and superficial aesthetics. It includes props such as freshly painted walls and baseboards, rented furniture, and window treatments.

Staging can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The good news is that it is used mostly for pictures to encourage online shoppers to make the trip, even if they are only coming from across town.

Create An Objective Reality

It takes money to make money and to sell homes. You must create a platform that encourages people to see themselves in a particular space. Potential buyers are not coming to see your home; they are looking for a place to call home. They are ready to move in and need to see a space where they can immediately start a new life chapter.

It is your job to set the stage for them. Your taste and style need not be reflected. You only need to present a place where someone lives and where buyers can see themselves living even better.

Functionality is a big part of staging. Emphasizing space is important, and the contents of a room should reflect its function. Don’t leave too much to the imagination. It’s hard for some people to fill an empty room in their heads. A kitchen big enough to eat in should have a kitchen table in it. Potential buyers may not agree with the style table that is used, but it makes it easier for them to picture a table more to their liking in the place of it as opposed to wondering what a table would even look like in that space.

Lived in, but Not by You

If you know you are moving it with you, but really don’t need it or use it at the time (pictures, memorabilia, momentos, seasonal clothing and decorations), then go ahead and pack it up and put it in storage. You are in transition and your mindset should reflect it.

The beauty of staging, especially if you are not living in the home, is that only certain rooms need to be staged. If you have more than one of the same kind of room, then only one needs to be staged. For example, a multiple bedroom house only needs one bedroom staged. The others can remain empty; be sure they are clean and always ready for inspection.

No one wants to see a bare bathroom, so limited accents are in order such as a shower curtain and maybe a rug. Generic accessories should be used to allow the buyer to impose his or her own vision upon the space. The same goes for the kitchen. Generic curtains in the windows and a nondecsript rug on the floor would be enough.

You don’t want the house to look barren as it can give people a sense of work that needs to be done. These are two rooms that are consistently in use and they need to speak to the buyer.

Jodi Bakst, Broker-Owner of Real Estate Experts, works with a highly trained team of strong buyer and seller agents serving Chapel Hill, Durham, Cary, Apex and Morrisville, North Carolina