One of the questions I frequently get asked when I am in consultation with my Seller clients is that of, “should I stage my Home when I list it For Sale”?

The answer to this question is always not so clear. You see many people confuse “preparing their home for sale” with “staging the home for sale”.

In the sixteen years that I have been an active  full time real estate agent (Realtor) I have always been involved in assisting clients on how they should prepare their home for sale. This preparation almost always includes de-cluttering the home, condo or loft as well pointing out areas that can be improved upon to increase the value of your home.

It’s also important to note that combining these two first steps along with the “timing” of when your home is ready is equally of value. In some instances it actually makes better financial sense to put your home on the market at say 90% readiness than to wait the extra week or two and miss out on a great selling opportunity.

Now experience and having a through understanding of the markets that I work in enable me to provide this knowledge and value to my clients. Also knowing when to bring in a professional stager to enhance a clients space with suitable furniture, artwork and accessories  or simply re-arranging my clients current furniture to a more suitable (read marketable) configuration is all part of a real estate agents job.

Today it seems that many real estate sales people lack this basic knowledge. I continue to show properties (in price ranges of $300,000-$1,200,000) where little to no effort has been put in on behalf of the seller in having their home “show worthy”! And always it leads to the same responses on behalf of my clients…this seller doesn’t seem to care much about the condition of their home!

And do you not think this is almost always reflective in the sale price the sellers will receive (or if the home even sells at all)?

So yes my reply is that you should always “prepare your home” to be shown in its best condition to what today’s buyers expect. And if need be, to have a stager be a part of this process. Be questionable with your agent though if they do not suggest these two things, or cannot explain to you clearly the value in doing so. It’s your bottom line that will be hurt the most by not doing so.