“Reality TV” versus Real Staging

By Catherine E. Brown

The so-called “reality” home staging television shows, such as “Sell This House” and “Designed to Sell,” have greatly raised awareness of the need for staging to give a property an edge over the competition. These programs show that a staged home will sell faster and for more money, however, they may have given a false perception of what staging is and what it is not.

It’s true that a Canadian Staging Professional™ often has a team of skilled people who can be counted on to help prepare the house for sale; a CSP does not have an army of trades at her disposal who are “not-for-profit”! That “$2,000 (U.S.) budget” doesn’t include labour rates for all those workers! And personally, I don’t know where I can buy enough paint to cover an entire house for $40.00, but I’d love to find out!

How accurate is that $2,000 budget? A 2005 Royal LePage House Staging Poll conducted by Maritz Research illustrates that 54% of Canadians think that $2,000 or more is the appropriate amount to spend in preparing a house for sale, with a surprising 25% willing to pay over $5,000!

Here are a few facts to clarify what Staging is and is not for the real world!

Staging Is…

§ Staging is not just for homes that need a lot of TLC! Even the best homes can benefit from professional staging recommendations, such as furniture placement, traffic flow, colour selection, and lifestyle selling techniques. Details matter!

§ Staging begins by providing realtors and sellers with a complete analysis of the property and recommendations to create the all-important “WOW” factor.

§ Staging looks at the home with all-important objectivity and “buyers’ eyes.”

§ Staging is like applying makeup; when done skillfully, it looks natural.

§ Staging will always be less than a price reduction or the cost of the few full-colour ads in the newspaper.

Staging Is Not…

§ Staging does not mean painting everything off-white and stripping the house of its personality. Buyers won’t get excited over a bland house.

§ A Canadian Staging Professional will not offend or criticize the seller’s decorating taste or the way they live, unlike the brazen “real estate experts” on shows like “Designed to Sell” or “Sell This House,” however, a CSP can tactfully make recommendations about issues in the home that a realtor may not prefer to mention.

§ Staging is not simply about packing away family photos and personal possessions.

§ Staging is not simply about painting the front door red, brewing fresh coffee, baking cookies, or setting out trays of chardonnay on the master bed. Contrived staging will only raise buyers’ suspicions.

§ Staging almost never involves knocking down walls or creating new doors/windows where there were none as on “Designed to Sell” – that's renovation and decorating.

§ Staging does not have to cost a lot. A consultation by a Canadian Staging Professional™ starts at $175.00 for homes under 2,000 square feet. Do-it-yourselfers may then choose to do the suggested preparation themselves, or those with time constraints may enlist the help of a CSP™ to manage the project for them.

Buyers look for a home they can envision themselves living in, and statistics show 63% of Canadian buyers will pay more for a move-in-ready property.

CSP’s understand it’s often difficult for sellers to justify spending money on the house they’re leaving, but a modest investment often reaps huge rewards.

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Catherine E. Brown is an Accredited Staging Professional and owner of Staged to Move. Catherine is committed to helping clients sell their home for the best price in the least amount of time. She can be contacted at (519) 868-7171 or by email at catherine@stagedtomove.ca. Visit her Web site at www.stagedtomove.ca.

Published in Networking Today, August 2006.