The Importance of a Well-Staged Home

One of the toughest conversations we have with sellers is centered around their home's presentation. The first step in marketing the home is hiring a professional photographer to get the home's "best side" for all the marketing materials including web presentation and flyers. That means the home has to be ready for its close up immediately after the listing contract is signed.

If the home is empty, the task of getting good photos is not so challenging. Perhaps the home just needs to have a little paint or bushes need a little trimming. Sometimes it is photo ready right away and there doesn't need to be any tough conversations with the seller.

The occupied home presents the greatest challenge

If the home is occupied, especially by renters, the challenge of getting impressive marketing photos is greater. The fact is that the home is filled with the accoutrement of living a normal life. Unfortunately, the stuff of normal living can get in the way of buyers envisioning themselves in the space.

Sometimes, our professional photographer can get creative and move items around temporarily to get impressive shots. Sometimes he can zoom in to be able to crop out undesirable areas of the home. All this works for the marketing shots, but of course it can't work for in-person showings of the home. Better to have the home showing its best.

A Well-Staged Home Sells Better and Faster

What sellers sometimes fail to realize is how important a well-staged home is in the marketing of the property. Photos buyers view on line could greatly influence their decision to see the home in person. Furthermore, not only does a well-staged home garner more in person traffic but it also has a higher chance of fetching the desired price. People perceive a lovely home as being more valuable and having fewer issues than a "comfortable" or "cluttered" home.

Justin Riordan of Spade and Archer Design Agency has written a wonderful article for Realtor.org giving Top 10 Tips for Staging a Home for Photos. Click through to read some awesome ideas.